Links (Gone With The Wind, Farscape, B5, politics)

[selenak]

A question to Gone With The Wind readers: has anyone, like me, become severely disillusioned with Rhett Butler upon rereading the book as an adult? If so, you might find yahtzee63's post very enjoyable. She makes a good case for the man usually dismissed as a useless loser, Ashley Wilkes, as being the one who's less of a hypocrite and has the more "real" relationship with Scarlett. Even if you disagree, go and read her thoughts here.

Recently, someone tormented me by telling me there is in fact a Londo vid, just not online. However, the people who created that unseen (by me) endeavour also, among other things, made a Rygel vid, and since Rygel is another favourite of mine, I was mildly consoled in my frustration. It's called King of Spain, much fun to watch, and can be downloaded here.

hobsonphile's site continues to be updated, which makes this Centauri-phile incredibly happy. She has just added a stunning story about Vir during the Day of the Dead, by Flora. Vir's visitor for the night? Emperor Cartagia. Go and shiver here.

It shouldn't surprise anyone following these notes I'm somewhat interested in politics. I'm far from the only one in the livejournal community. If you are, too, and want to read a lengthy and well-put analysis of the Iraq situation, complete with historical background, have a look here.

Comments

[searose.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Ashley and Scarlett. Perhaps Leslie Howard's portrayal of Ashley has too permanently entrenched itself in my mind, rather than the Ashley *in* the book.

Okay, from the book I got that even prior to marriage, Ashley had noticed Scarlett. She was quite, quite shocked that Ashley married Melanie, but given the rules of their society she understood the family alliances involved in the union. (Melanie, if I'm not mistaken, was a cousin to Ashley, and their marriage probably consolidated two branches of family fortunes.)

And he did keep her on the hook for-freaking-ever, even when they both were married. He never said bluntly, "Do not act so improprietous around me. We'll get into trouble." But I'm not sure that Margaret Mitchell clearly dispelled the ambiguous nature of Ashley's feelings for Scarlett.

Because the book did show that Ashley was devoted to his wife Melanie, as in he drew strength from her, had a refuge with her, and shared so many of the more softer elements of genteel Antebellum behavior that their union wasn't beset with strife; Ashley and Melanie understood each other, and that weighed heavily in the success of their marriage.

There is no Ashley and Scarlett without the overlay of Melanie. Granted, at times, Scarlett behaved as if Melanie conveniently did not exist, but I view with suspicion what she thought she was going to get out of eventually forcing Ashley to acknowledge their attraction. Modern readers might think, Scarlett wants to break up the marriage, take Ashley away and later become his wife, but in the social context of the times, a divorced Ashley and Scarlett remarried to each other probably would have had to leave the South, perhaps America, in order to circumvent the social death both would have received.

It is a fallacy to think men of the times involved jovially winked at other men divorcing as they pleased while condemning the divorcee. Ashley would have been perceived as a man who broke an oath before God by his peers; he didn't have the clout or charisma of a rogue like Rhett to weather such a storm. The judiciary system, the religious community and society at large would have scorned a man who abandoned his family (with his wife being blood kin) for a fallen woman.

So, what did Scarlett want from Ashley - realistically? Perhaps at the point before Melanie's death, Scarlett was wanting something on the order of 'courtly' love, feverous relevation without the messiness of real life travails. If Ashley would only admit that she was his 'true' love, then all her feelings over the years would have been validated; it wouldn't have all been for nothing. As selfish as she was, I don't think Scarlett would have consciously advocated the reduction of Melanie to the social ghost of an abandoned woman.

I don't think Scarlett was *thinking* much at all beyond simply pursuing Ashley as she always had. If she had ever caught him for real, the decision she would have had to make, giving up everything, would have terrified her. The courts would have left her with nothing.

As for Rhett, he definitely fell in love with a fierce woman, the opposite of the passive woman put on a pedestal by Southern society, but then he later distanced himself from his wife, castigating her for the very selfishness inherent in her strength. Margaret Mitchell was able to get away with a scene that could be construed as marital rape, simply because there was no such thing acknowledged as possible. I have big, big troubles with the Rhett/Scarlett 'ship just because of that scene, but it went to show how the marriage had dissolved in order to lead to such a point.