Scarlett's Corset
Before Scarlett goes off to the barbecue, she has to get her corset laced up. It's a painful process, requiring Mammy to help. Check it out:"Hole onter sumpin' an' suck in yo' breaf," [Mammy] comma...
Rhett's Swarthiness
Dark and DangerousWhen Rhett first appears in the novel he's described as "dark of face, swarthy as a pirate" (6.16). Rhett is a white man, but he looks like he's black—and in a novel as racist a...
Charles's Pistol
At Tara, Scarlett shoots a lone Yankee raider, using the pistol her first husband Charles "had worn, but never fired" (26.18). Charles died of disease almost immediately upon getting into the army;...
The Velvet Curtains
When the green velvet curtains first show up, they're connected for Scarlett to her mother, Ellen, and to her comforting childhood. Check it out:The moss-green velvet curtains felt prickly and soft...
Dialect
Miz SpelngThroughout Gone With the Wind, black characters' speech is written with phonetic misspellings. Here's an example:Miss Melly, den Ah know he los' his mine. He drunk an' he need sleep an' s...