Gone with the Wind

The next morning, the sun streams into Scarlett’s bedroom. Summer is on its way. Scarlett leans out the window and thanks God that it isn’t raining. Her apple-green ball dress is lying on the bed, but if all goes to plan and she elopes with Ashley, she won’t even wear it. First, though, she has to decide what to wear to the barbecue. None of her dresses are quite right—she’s worn them too recently, they’re stained, or they don’t quite suit her. Scarlett finally decides to wear a cotton afternoon dress. It’s low-necked and she likes the way her bosom looks in it. Having made her choice, she stands in front of the mirror admiring her figure.

Scarlett calls for Mammy to come lace her waist, which is only 17 inches around. Mammy lumbers into the room carrying a plate of food. She always makes Scarlett eat before parties so that she won’t eat too much in public, an attempt to make Scarlett more ladylike. But Scarlett refuses to eat so she can eat at the party. Mammy tells her she could eat in public once she’s married, but eating in public now won’t appeal to suitors. Scarlett retorts that Ashley Wilkes once said he liked her appetite, but Mammy reminds her that what men say and what men think are different things. Then Mammy comments that Melanie Hamilton never eats in public. Irritated, Scarlett agrees to eat after she’s been laced in her dress.

When Mammy sees what Scarlett plans to wear, she says it’s inappropriate. Scarlett protests that if she changes what she’s wearing now, she won’t have time to eat. Mammy reluctantly laces Scarlett into her dress while Scarlett holds onto the bedpost. Out of breath, Scarlett says proudly that she’s never fainted from a tight corset. Mammy says it would be ladylike for her to faint more at snakes and spiders. Scarlett starts to force down some food. She says she wishes she was married so she can do the things she wants to do, like eat and run. She wonders why girls have to act silly to get husbands. Mammy says it’s because men don’t want girls who have more sense than they do. Yankee girls don’t have to act like fools to get married, but that’s only because they have money.

Scarlett eats and muses over why all mothers taught their daughters they have to be silly to get husbands. It’s actually hard work to act this way. Scarlett wonders if Ashley is turned off by her outspokenness. If he feels that way about women, she doesn’t think she could respect him. But now that time is running out, she’s ready to look as silly as necessary to win Ashley. In truth, Scarlett’s personality is more attractive than any masquerade, but no one has ever told her this. Her society doesn’t encourage women to behave naturally.

The carriage departs for the Wilkeses’ house, Twelve Oaks, carrying Scarlett, Suellen, Carreen, and Gerald. Scarlett is glad neither Mammy nor Ellen are with them; she’ll have the freedom to do what she wants. Gerald dismissed Jonas Wilkerson earlier, so Ellen and Mammy are staying home to manage matters. It’s a beautiful day, and Gerald sings Irish ditties. He’s proud of his beautiful daughters and is looking forward to talking about the war at the barbecue. Scarlett looks at him with motherly affection, knowing he’ll come home drunk, jumping his horse and nearly breaking his neck, as usual. But she’s just as happy as he is.

The roses and blackberries conceal the “savage” red earth and there are blossoms everywhere. Perhaps this beautiful day will be Scarlett’s wedding day. Her elopement will upset her parents, but they’ll eventually see how happy she is and all would be well. Suellen, jealous of Scarlett’s dress, says she doesn’t know why Scarlett is so happy; doesn’t she know Ashley Wilkes is engaged? Scarlett brushes this off. Gerald hears the Tarletons’ carriage coming and his face lights up. He likes Mrs. Tarleton almost as much as his own wife; he admires how well she handles her horses.

The O’Haras’ carriage stops at a crossroads as Beatrice Tarleton drives up, the reins in her hands and her four daughters squeezed into the back.  Mrs. Tarleton is small, with flaming red hair and tireless energy. She raised eight children with the same love and discipline she shows her colts. All she talks about is horses. She understands them better than anyone in the County. She’s an excellent breeder and horsewoman, and always wears her riding habit in case she has a moment to ride her red mare Nellie.

The Tareltons greet the O’Haras as if they hadn’t seen them in years. Gerald says to Beatrice that her daughters, fine as they are, have nothing on their mother. The four Tarleton daughters, Hetty, Camilla, Randa, and Betsy, joke that they have no chance next to their mother when a handsome man like Gerald is around. Scarlett feels a guilty pang of jealousy that these girls can joke with their mother as if she were one of them. Although she idolizes Ellen, Scarlett wishes she could be candid and playful with her like these “true Southerners”—the Tarletons—can. It’s the same internal conflict she experiences when she wants to be both decent and playful with boys.

Gerald asks Beatrice why she isn’t riding Nellie. After several playful remarks, Beatrice says Nellie foaled this morning. The Tarleton girls joke that the foal is red-haired like Hetty. Beatrice explains that her girls are giddy because of the news of Ashley and Melanie’s engagement. It’s painful for Scarlett to hear it brought up so casually. But she brightens again when she remembers her plan, confusing Hetty who’d been scrutinizing her reaction to the news.

Beatrice insists it’s wrong to marry one’s cousins. She explains that human breeding is like horse breeding; new blood keeps the family strong. Even a great family like the Wilkeses needs new blood. They’ve become weak from inbreeding and overbreeding, she says. Gerald becomes uncomfortable, knowing that Ellen would disapprove of this subject. He politely interrupts and everyone agrees they must be going.

Before parting, Gerald asks Beatrice if she’ll donate horses to the Troop. She can’t pay so little attention to the Confederacy, he says teasingly. Beatrice feistily explains that she doesn’t want her fine horses ridden by poor farmers who won’t take care of them. As she drives away, Gerald proclaims her a “fine woman” and decides to persuade her about the horses. They continue to the barbecue, Scarlett composing her face into “attractive lines.”