WOW...by far the best section yet! It kills me to stop reading now, but I know if i don't I'll never get another post in. So here's a short catch up summary so I can hurry up and start ranting about my feelings over this:
Atlanta is filled with gossip about Scarlett’s shocking behavior (dancing with Rhett.) Pittypat says that Rhett is a terrible man, but forgives him when he sends Melanie’s wedding ring, which he bought back. Gerald, her father, arrives to confront Rhett and take Scarlett back to Tara in disgrace. He leaves to talk to Rhett and returns in the middle of the night, drunk and penniless from playing poker. In the morning, Scarlett promises to keep his behavior a secret as long as he allows her to stay in Atlanta and he agrees. The following week, Scarlett sneaks into Melanie’s room to read a letter Melanie recently received from Ashley. In it Ashley discusses his doubts about the war, but Scarlett pays little attention to his soul-searching questions. She is simply relieved that Ashley has not written Melanie a love letter. Scarlett puts away the letter, convinced that Ashley still loves her. The war still drags on and Rhett is the most famous Confederate blockade invader, sneaking boats through the Yankee blockade in order to sell cotton and other Southern products in exchange for necessities. He becomes the most popular man in town despite his reputation for disregarding socially acceptable behavior. He and Scarlett talk frequently. She enjoys the informality occasioned by the war and lives an active social life. After months of polite behavior, Rhett starts publicly expressing his contempt for Confederate idealism and declares that he works for personal gain, not for the Southern cause. One night at a party, Rhett scandalizes his audience by exclaiming that the war is about money, not pride, rights, or glory. In the carriage ride home, Melanie defends Rhett, revealing that in his letters Ashley has expressed beliefs similar to Rhett’s. The revelation that her shining idol and a scoundrel have the same opinions about the war confuses Scarlett, again relating back to her belief that all men are vile. The entire city, with the exception of the Hamilton household, alienates Rhett. He continues to call on Scarlett, however, and gives her a fancy hat from Paris so she will stop wearing the required black mourning veil. One day Melanie tells Scarlett that a prostitute named Belle Watling gave her a considerable sum of money for the hospital. Belle wrapped the money in a handkerchief, which Melanie now holds, and Scarlett sees that it bears Rhett’s initials, obviously meaning he had been with the prostitute. Scarlett is enraged that Rhett would do something like this. She believed that only vulgar men would consult women like this and after this event realizes that maybe all men participate in these activities and is appalled at the thought. She decides that men are vile, and Rhett Butler was the worst of them all. She thinks of the most awful thing she could do to him, but instead chooses to put the handkerchief in the stove and watch it burn.
I guess that really wasn't too short, but oh well. I find it funny how easily Scarlett comes across men, and how she finds men with similar tastes so different from eachother. Rhett and Ashley seem so similar except that Rhett is actually telling Scarlett he loves her. I don't see what Scarlett's problem is, even though I guess I've kind of felt the same way. It's always more intriguing to go after something, or in her case, someone that you know you can't have. Unfortunately for Scarlett though, not only is her dream man taken, but he's also at war meaning he could die any day. I'm afraid she wont get the chance to be with him as she had hoped. And after this scandal with Rhett and the prostitute, I can feel a major event coming on...Just as the war is reaching a low point of failure, Scarlett's love life is also reaching a low point of deception and lies. Microcosm once again?
No comments:
Post a Comment