Editing Gone with the Wind (novel) (section)

==Characters==
===Main characters===
* '''[[Scarlett O'Hara|Katie Scarlett Hamilton-Kennedy-Butler née O'Hara]]:''' Scarlett is the oldest O'Hara daughter. Her forthright Irish blood is always at variance with the French teachings of style from her mother. Scarlett marries Charles Hamilton, Frank Kennedy, and Rhett Butler, in that order, always wishing that she was married to Ashley Wilkes instead. She is secretly scornful of Melanie Wilkes,<ref name=autogenerated9 /> wife to Ashley, who has always shown her love. She has three children, one from each husband: Wade Hampton Hamilton (son to Charles Hamilton), Ella Lorena Kennedy (daughter to Frank Kennedy), and Eugenie Victoria "Bonnie Blue" Butler (daughter to Rhett Butler). During a quarrel with Rhett, she miscarries a fourth child (and her second with Rhett) when she accidentally falls down the stairs.<ref name=autogenerated15 /> Scarlett is unaware of the extent of Rhett's love for her or that she might love him.<ref name=autogenerated86 />
* '''[[Rhett Butler|Captain Rhett K. Butler]]:''' Scarlett's admirer and her third husband. He is often publicly shunned for his scandalous behavior<ref name=autogenerated3 /> and sometimes accepted for his charm. Rhett declares he is not a marrying man and initially propositions Scarlett to be his mistress,<ref name=autogenerated11>Part 3, chapter 19</ref> but marries her after the death of Frank Kennedy. He says he won't risk losing her to someone else since it is unlikely she will ever need money again.<ref name=autogenerated12 /> At the end of the novel, Rhett confesses to Scarlett, "I loved you but I couldn't let you know it. You're so brutal to those who love you, Scarlett."<ref name=autogenerated50 /> Mitchell took the character's name from the prominent [[Rhett family]] of South Carolina.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inn History |url=https://rhetthouseinn.com/inn-history/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=Rhett House Inn |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''[[Ashley Wilkes|Major George Ashley Wilkes]]:''' Ashley is a noble and honorable man. He is well read and cultured. He marries his cousin, Melanie, because "Like must marry like or there'll be no happiness."<ref name=autogenerated3 /> He enlists in the [[Confederate States Army]] though he says he would have freed the people his father enslaved after his father's death if the war had not done it first.<ref name=autogenerated16 /> Although many of his friends and relations are killed in the Civil War, Ashley survives to see its brutal aftermath. Ashley is "the Perfect Knight",<ref name=autogenerated177>Part 2, chapter 11</ref> in the mind of Scarlett, even throughout her three marriages. "She loved him and wanted him and did not understand him."<ref name=autogenerated6 />
* '''[[Melanie Hamilton|Melanie Wilkes née Hamilton]]:''' Ashley's wife and cousin. Melanie is a humble, serene, and gracious Southern woman.<ref name=autogenerated13 /> Her extremely warm heart and tenderness towards all she loves is notable throughout her life. As the story unfolds, Melanie becomes progressively physically weaker, first by childbirth, then "the hard work she had done at Tara",<ref name=autogenerated13 /> and she dies after a miscarriage.<ref name=autogenerated53>Part 5, chapter 61</ref> As Rhett Butler says, "She never had any strength. She's never had anything but heart."<ref name=autogenerated53 />

===Secondary characters===
====Scarlett's immediate family====

* '''Ellen O'Hara née Robillard:''' is Scarlett's mother. Of French ancestry, Ellen married Gerald O'Hara, who was 28 years her senior, after her true love, Philippe Robillard, died in a bar fight. She is Scarlett's ideal of a "great lady".<ref name=autogenerated7 /> Ellen ran all aspects of the household and nursed enslaved people and poor whites.<ref name=autogenerated7>Part 1, chapter 3</ref> She dies from typhoid in August 1864 after nursing Emmie Slattery.<ref name=autogenerated9 />
* '''Gerald O'Hara:''' is Scarlett's Irish father.<ref name=autogenerated5 /> An excellent horseman,<ref name=autogenerated6>Part 1, chapter 2</ref> Gerald likes to jump fences on horseback while intoxicated, which eventually leads to his death.<ref name="autogenerated58">Part 4, chapter 39</ref> Gerald's mind becomes addled after the death of his wife, Ellen.<ref name=autogenerated8>Part 3, chapter 25</ref>
* '''Susan Elinor "Suellen" Benteen née O'Hara:''' is Scarlett's younger sister, born in 1846, whom Scarlett mostly despised due to her opinion of Suellen being "an annoying sister with her whining and selfishness". She became sickened by typhoid during the siege of Atlanta.<ref name=autogenerated11 /> After the war, Scarlett steals and marries Suellen's beau, Frank Kennedy.<ref name=autogenerated56 /> Later, Suellen marries Will Benteen, and they have a child, Susie.<ref name=autogenerated13>Part 4, chapter 41</ref>
* '''Caroline Irene "Carreen" O'Hara:''' is Scarlett's youngest sister, born in 1848. She was also ill with typhoid during the siege of Atlanta.<ref name=autogenerated11 /> She is infatuated with and later engaged to Brent Tarleton, who dies in the war.<ref name=autogenerated54>Part 3, chapter 30</ref> Broken-hearted by Brent's death, Carreen eventually joins a convent.<ref name=autogenerated58 />
* '''Gerald O'Hara Junior:''' are the three sons of Ellen and Gerald who died in infancy and are buried 100&nbsp;yards from the house. Each was named after the father; they were born and died in quick succession. The headstone of each boy is inscribed "Gerald O'Hara, Jr."<ref name=autogenerated7 /> 
* '''Charles Hamilton:''' is Melanie Wilkes' brother and Scarlett's first husband. Charles is a shy and loving man.<ref name=autogenerated3 /> Father to Wade Hampton, Charles dies of pneumonia caused by measles before reaching a battlefield or seeing his son.<ref name=autogenerated4 />
* '''Wade Hampton Hamilton:''' is the son of Scarlett and Charles, born in early 1862. He was named for his father's commanding officer, [[Wade Hampton III]].<ref name=autogenerated4 />
* '''Frank Kennedy:''' is Suellen O'Hara's former fiancé and Scarlett's second husband. Frank is an unattractive older man. He originally proposes to Suellen, but instead, Scarlett marries him for his money to pay the taxes on Tara.<ref name=autogenerated19>Part 4, chapter 36</ref> Frank is unable to comprehend Scarlett's fears and her desperate struggle for survival after the war. He is unwilling to be as ruthless in business as Scarlett is.<ref name=autogenerated19 /> Unknown to Scarlett, Frank is involved in the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. He is "shot through the head",<ref name=autogenerated51>Part 4, chapter 46</ref> according to Rhett Butler, while attempting to defend Scarlett's honor after she is attacked.
* '''Ella Lorena Kennedy:''' is the daughter of Scarlett and Frank.<ref name=autogenerated14>Part 4, chapter 42</ref>
* '''Eugenie Victoria "Bonnie Blue" Butler:''' is Scarlett and Rhett's pretty and spoiled daughter, as Irish in looks and temper as Gerald O'Hara, with the same blue eyes. She is doted on by her father and later dies in a fatal accident while riding her horse.<ref name=autogenerated18 />

====Tara====
{{quote box
| quote = I made Tara up, just as I made up every character in the book. But nobody will believe me.
| source =—Margaret Mitchell<ref>[http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/pdf/Margaret_Mitchell_Life_and_Times.pdf "The Strange Story Behind Gone With the Wind"], Actor Cordell, Jr. (February 1961) ''Coronet'', p. 106. Retrieved April 24, 2011.</ref>
| width = 30%
| align = right 
}}
* '''Mammy:''' {{anchor|Mammy}}is Scarlett's nurse. An enslaved woman, Scarlett's grandmother enslaved her; she raises Ellen O'Hara.<ref name=autogenerated6 /> Mammy is "head woman of the plantation".<ref name=autogenerated2>Part 1, chapter 5</ref>
* '''Pork:''' is Gerald O'Hara's valet and the first person he enslaved. Gerald won the enslavement of Pork in a poker game (as he did ownership of the Tara plantation in a separate poker game).<ref name=autogenerated7 /> When Gerald died, Scarlett gave his pocket watch to Pork. She offered to have the watch engraved, but Pork declined the offer.
* '''Dilcey:''' is Pork's wife and an enslaved woman of mixed Native American and African descent.<ref name=autogenerated57>Part 1, chapter 4</ref> Scarlett encourages her father to buy Dilcey and her daughter from John Wilkes, the latter as a favor to Dilcey that she never forgets.<ref name=autogenerated6 />
* '''Prissy:''' is Dilcey's daughter.<ref name=autogenerated57 /> Prissy is Wade's nurse and goes with Scarlett to Atlanta.<ref name=autogenerated4 />
* '''Jonas Wilkerson:''' is the Yankee overseer of Tara before the Civil War.<ref name=autogenerated57 />
* '''Big Sam:''' is a strong, hardworking, enslaved field worker and the foreman at Tara. In post-war lawlessness, Sam rescues Scarlett from would-be thieves.<ref>Part 4, chapter 44</ref>
* '''Will Benteen:''' is a "South Georgia [[Cracker (term)|cracker]]",<ref name=autogenerated54>Part 3, chapter 30</ref> Confederate soldier, and patient listener to the troubles of all. Will lost part of his leg in the war and walks with the aid of a wooden stump. The O'Haras take him in on his journey home from the war; he manages the farm after his recovery.<ref name=autogenerated54 /> Fond of Carreen O'Hara, he is disappointed when she decides to enter a convent.<ref name=autogenerated58>Part 4, chapter 39</ref> He later marries Suellen and has at least one child, Susie, with her.<ref name=autogenerated13 />

====Clayton County====

* '''India Wilkes:''' is the sister of Honey and Ashley Wilkes. She is described as plain. Stuart Tarleton courted India before he and his brother Brent both fell in love with Scarlett.<ref name=autogenerated5 />
* '''Honey née Wilkes (married last name unknown):''' is the sister of India and Ashley Wilkes. Honey is described as having the "odd lashless look of a rabbit".<ref name=autogenerated3 /> 
* '''John Wilkes:''' is the owner of "Twelve Oaks"<ref name=autogenerated6 /> and patriarch of the Wilkes family. John Wilkes is educated and gracious.<ref name=autogenerated3 /> He dies during the siege of Atlanta.<ref name=autogenerated11 />
* '''Tarleton Boys: Boyd, Tom, and the twins, Brent and Stuart:''' The red-headed Tarleton boys were in frequent scrapes, loved practical jokes and gossip, and "were worse than the [[plagues of Egypt]]",<ref name=autogenerated5 /> according to their mother. The inseparable twins, Brent and Stuart, at 19 years old, were six feet two inches tall.<ref name=autogenerated5 /> All four boys were killed in the war, the twins just moments apart at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]].<ref name=autogenerated511>Part 3, chapter 29</ref> Boyd was buried somewhere in Virginia.<ref name=autogenerated59 />
* '''Tarleton Girls: Hetty, Camilla, 'Randa, and Betsy:''' The stunning Tarleton girls have varying shades of red hair.<ref name=autogenerated2 />
* '''Beatrice Tarleton:''' is the mistress of the "Fairhill" plantation.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> She was a busy woman, managing a large cotton plantation, a hundred negroes, and eight children, and the largest horse-breeding farm in Georgia. Hot-tempered, she believed that "a lick every now and then did her boys no harm".<ref name=autogenerated5 />
* '''Calvert Family: Raiford, Cade, and Cathleen:''' are the O'Haras' [[Clayton County, Georgia|Clayton County]] neighbors from another plantation, "Pine Bloom".<ref name=autogenerated511 /> Cathleen Calvert was Scarlett's friend.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> Their widowed father '''Hugh''' married a Yankee governess.<ref name=autogenerated512>Part 3, chapter 26</ref> Raiford is killed at Gettysburg. Next to Scarlett, Cathleen "had had more beaux than any girl in the County",<ref name=autogenerated511 /> but eventually married their former Yankee overseer, Mr. Hilton.
* '''Fontaine Family: Joe, Tony, and Alex''' are known for their hot tempers. Joe is killed at Gettysburg,<ref name=autogenerated59 /> while Tony murders Jonas Wilkerson in a barroom and flees to Texas, leaving Alex to tend to their plantation.<ref name=autogenerate44/> '''Grandma Fontaine''', also known as "'''Old Miss'''", is the wife of old '''Doc Fontaine''', the boys' grandfather. "'''Young Miss'''" and young '''Dr. Fontaine''', the boys' parents, and '''Sally Fontaine née Munroe''', wife to Joe,<ref>Part 2, chapter 10</ref> make up the remaining family of the "Mimosa" plantation.<ref name=autogenerated512 />
* '''Emmie Wilkerson née Slattery:''' is a poor white woman. The daughter of Tom Slattery, her family lived on three acres along the swamp bottoms between the O'Hara and Wilkes plantations.<ref name=autogenerated7 /> Emmie gave birth to a stillborn illegitimate child fathered by Jonas Wilkerson, a Yankee and the overseer at Tara, with Ellen O'Hara attending as midwife during Emmie's labor and delivery.<ref name=autogenerated57 /> Emmie later married Jonas. After the war, flush with carpetbagger cash, they try to buy Tara, but Scarlett refuses the offer.<ref>Part 4, chapter 32</ref>

====Atlanta====
* '''Sarah Jane "Pittypat" Hamilton:''' acquired the nickname "Pittypat" in childhood because she walked on tiny feet. Aunt "Pittypat" is a spinster who lives in the red-brick house at the quiet end of [[Peachtree Street]] in Atlanta. The house is half-owned by Scarlett (after the death of Charles Hamilton). Her finances are managed by her brother, Henry, whom she doesn't especially care for. Aunt Pittypat raised Melanie and Charles Hamilton after the death of their father, with considerable help from "Uncle" Peter, who she enslaves.<ref name=autogenerated61 />
* '''Henry Hamilton:''' is Aunt Pittypat's brother, an attorney, and the uncle of Charles and Melanie.<ref name=autogenerated61 />
* '''"Uncle" Peter:''' is an older enslaved man who works as Aunt Pittypat's coach driver and general factotum. Uncle Peter looked after Melanie and Charles Hamilton when they were young.<ref name=autogenerated61 />
* '''Beauregard "Beau" Wilkes:''' is Melanie and Ashley's son, who is born in Atlanta when the siege begins and transported to Tara after birth.<ref>Part 3, chapter 23</ref>
* '''Archie:''' is an ex-convict and former Confederate soldier who was imprisoned for the murder of his adulterous wife (who was having an affair with his brother) before the war. Melanie takes in Archie, who becomes Scarlett's coach driver.<ref name=autogenerated14 />
* '''Meade Family:''' Atlanta society considers '''Dr. Meade''' to be "the root of all strength and all wisdom".<ref name=autogenerated61 /> He looks after injured soldiers during the siege with assistance from Melanie and Scarlett.<ref name=autogenerated60>Part 3, chapter 21</ref> '''Mrs. Meade''' is on the bandage-rolling committee.<ref name=autogenerated61 /> Their two sons are killed in the war.<ref name=autogenerated60 />
* '''Merriwether Family:''' '''Mrs. Dolly Merriwether''' is an Atlanta dowager along with Mrs. Elsing and Mrs. Whiting.<ref name=autogenerated61>Part 2, chapter 8</ref> Post-war, she sells homemade pies to survive, eventually opening a bakery.<ref name=autogenerated13 /> Her father-in-law '''Grandpa Merriwether''' fights in the Home Guard<ref>Part 3, chapter 18</ref> and survives the war. Her daughter '''Maybelle''' marries '''René Picard''', a Louisiana [[Zouave]].<ref name=autogenerated70 />
* '''Belle Watling:''' is a prostitute<ref name=autogenerated1>Part 2, chapter 13</ref> and brothel madam<ref name=autogenerate44>Part 4, chapter 37</ref> who is portrayed as a loyal Confederate.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Melanie declares she will acknowledge Belle when she passes her in the street, but Belle tells her not to.<ref name=autogenerated51>Part 4, chapter 46</ref>

====Robillard family====
* '''Pierre Robillard:''' is the father of Ellen O'Hara. Even though his family was Roman Catholic, he was staunchly [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]]. The thought of his daughter becoming a nun was worse than her marrying Gerald O'Hara.<ref name=autogenerated7 />
* '''Solange Robillard née Prudhomme:''' is the mother of Ellen O'Hara and Scarlett's grandmother. She was a dainty Frenchwoman who was haughty and cold.<ref name=autogenerated6 />
* '''Eulalie and Pauline Robillard:''' are the married sisters of Ellen O'Hara who live in [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]].<ref name=autogenerated4 />
* '''Philippe Robillard:''' is the cousin of Ellen O'Hara and her first love. Philippe died in a bar fight in New Orleans around 1844.<ref name=autogenerated6 />