Editing Gone with the Wind (novel) (section)

===Scallawag===
The word "scallawag" is defined as a loafer, a vagabond, or a rogue.<ref>John S. Farmer (1889), ''Farmer's Dictionary of Americanisms'', Thomas Poulter & Sons, p. 473. {{OCLC|702331118}}</ref> [[Scalawag|Scallawag]] had a special meaning after the Civil War as an epithet for a white Southerner who accepted and supported Republican reforms.<ref>Leslie Dunkling (1990), ''A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address'', London; New York: Routledge, p. 216. {{ISBN|0-415-00761-5}}</ref> Mitchell defines scallawags as "Southerners who had turned Republican very profitably."<ref>Part 4, chapter 31</ref> Rhett Butler is accused of being a "damned Scallawag".<ref>Part 4, chapters 37 & 46</ref> In addition to scallawags, Mitchell portrays other types of scoundrels in the novel: Yankees, [[carpetbagger]]s, Republicans, prostitutes, and overseers. In the early years of the Civil War, Rhett is called a "scoundrel" for his "selfish gains" profiteering as a blockade-runner.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

As a scallawag, Rhett is despised. He is the "dark, mysterious, and slightly malevolent hero loose in the world".<ref name=autogenerated85>Numan V. Bartley (1988), ''The Evolution of Southern Culture'', University of Georgia Press, p. 99. {{ISBN|0-8203-0993-1}}</ref> Literary scholars have identified elements of Mitchell's first husband, Berrien "Red" Upshaw, in the character of Rhett.<ref name=autogenerated85 /> Another sees the image of Italian actor [[Rudolph Valentino]], whom Margaret Mitchell interviewed as a young reporter for ''The Atlanta Journal''.<ref>Margaret Mitchell and Patrick Allen (2000), ''Margaret Mitchell: Reporter'', Athens: Hill Street Press, pp. 152–154. {{ISBN|978-1-57003-937-9}}</ref><ref>Young, E., ''Disarming the Nation: women's writing and the American Civil War'', p. 259.</ref> Fictional hero Rhett Butler has a "swarthy face, flashing teeth and dark alert eyes".<ref name=autogenerated86>Part 5, chapter 62</ref> He is a "scamp, blackguard, without scruple or honor".<ref name=autogenerated86 />