Gone With the Wind cast

Scarlett O'Hara is an atypical protagonist, especially as a female romantic lead in fiction. When the novel opens, Scarlett is sixteen. She is vain, self-centered, and very spoiled by her wealthy parents. She can also be insecure; but is very intelligent, despite her fashionable Southern-belle pretense at ignorance and helplessness around men. She is somewhat unique among Southern women, whom society preferred to act as dainty creatures who needed protection from their men. Scarlett is aware that she is only acting empty-headed, and resents the fashionable "necessity" of it, unlike most of her typical party-going Southern belles social set.

Outwardly, Scarlett is the picture of Southern charm and womanly virtues, and a popular belle with the County males. The one man she truly wants, however, is her neighbor, Ashley Wilkes – the one man she can't have. The Wilkes family has a tradition of intermarrying with their cousins, and Ashley is promised to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton of Atlanta. Scarlett's motivation in the early part of the novel centers on her desire to win Ashley's heart. When he refuses her advances (which no well-bred Southern lady would be so forward as to make), she takes refuge in childish rage, and spitefully accepts the proposal of Charles Hamilton, Melanie's brother, in a misguided effort to get back at Ashley and Melanie.

Rhett Butler, a wealthy older bachelor and a society pariah, overhears Scarlett express her love to Ashley during a barbecue at Twelve Oaks, the Wilkes' estate. Rhett admires Scarlett's willfulness and her departure from accepted propriety as well as her beauty. He pursues Scarlett, but is aware of her impetuousness, childish spite, and her fixation on Ashley. He assists Scarlett in defiance of proper Victorian mourning customs when her husband, Charles Hamilton, dies in battle, and Rhett encourages her hoydenish behavior (by antebellum custom) in Atlanta society. Scarlett, privately chafing from the strict rules of polite society, finds friendship with Rhett liberating.

The Civil War sweeps away the lifestyle for which Scarlett was raised, and Southern society falls into ruin. Scarlett, left destitute after Sherman's army marches through Georgia, becomes the sole source of strength for her family. Her character begins to harden as her relatives, the family servants and the Wilkes family look to her for protection from homelessness and starvation. Scarlett becomes money-conscious and more materialistic in her motivation to ensure that her family survives and Tara stays in her family, while other Georgia planters are losing their homes. This extends to stealing her younger sister's fiancé, going into business herself (well-bred southern ladies never worked outside the home), engaging in controversial business practices and even exploiting convict labor in order to make her lumber business profit. Her conduct results in the accidental death of her second husband, Frank Kennedy, and shortly after she marries Rhett Butler for "fun" and because he is very wealthy.

Scarlett is too insecure and vain to truly grow up and realize her pursuit of Ashley is misdirected until the climax of the novel. With the death of Melanie Wilkes, she realizes her pursuit of Ashley was a childish romance. She realizes she never really loved Ashley and that she has loved Rhett Butler for some time. She pursues Rhett from the Wilkes home to their home, only to discover he has given up hope of ever receiving her love, and is about to leave her. After telling him she loves him, he refuses to stay with her, which leads to the famous line "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn". Wracked with grief, but determined to once again pursue and win her man, realizing that Tara is what matters most to her (other than Rhett) Scarlet returns home to Tara to launch her pursuit of Rhett at a later time.

Captain Rhett K. Butler: is Scarlett's admirer and then her third husband. Rhett is often publicly shunned for his scandalous behavior and sometimes accepted for his charm. Rhett declares he is not a marrying man and propositions Scarlett to be his mistress, but marries her after the death of Frank Kennedy, explaining that he won't take a chance on losing her to someone else, since it is unlikely she will ever need money again after Frank's death. 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."
We first meet Rhett at the Twelve Oaks Plantation barbecue, the home of John Wilkes and his son Ashley and daughters Honey and India Wilkes. The novel describes Rhett as "a visitor from Charleston"; a black sheep, who was expelled from West Point and is not received by any family with reputation in the whole of Charleston, and perhaps all of South Carolina.

On her way back to Aunt Pittypat's Scarlett meets Frank Kennedy, her sister Suellen's beau. Learning that Frank has done very well for himself, she plies him with affection, falsely tells him that Suellen is tired of waiting and plans to marry someone else, and finally secures a marriage proposal from him, which she accepts. Scarlett is shocked when she sees Rhett while she is running Frank's store, free from the Yankees and amused that she has rushed into yet another marriage with a man she does not love, much less the fact that she stole him right out from under her sister's nose.

Frank Kennedy is killed during a Ku Klux Klan raid on the shanty town after Scarlett is attacked. Rhett saves Ashley Wilkes and several others by alibiing them to the Yankee captain, a man with whom he has played cards on several occasions.

Scarlett accepts Rhett's marraige proposal only for money. In the novel, Rhett's fortune is estimated at $500,000 ($8,080,682 as of 2015) Rhett secretly hopes that Scarlett will eventually return the love he's had since the day he saw her at Twelve Oaks. Her continuing affection for Ashley Wilkes becomes a problem for the couple, however.

He knows that Scarlett could never be happy with Ashley and when she discovers that, he does not want to be around when she throws her obsession onto him.

Ashley is the man with whom Scarlett O'Hara is obsessed. Gentlemanly yet indecisive, he loves Scarlett, but finds he has more in common with Melanie, his distant cousin and later his wife. However, he is tormented by his attraction to Scarlett. Unfortunately for him and Scarlett, his failure to deal with his true feelings for her ruins any chance she has for real happiness with Rhett Butler. Ashley is a complicated character. He is not sympathetic to the cause of the North. However, he isn't an ardent Confederate patriot, either. What Ashley loves about the South is the serene, peaceful life that he and his dear ones know at Twelve Oaks and similar plantations. At one point (following the war) he comments to Scarlett that "had the war not come he would have spent his life happily buried at Twelve Oaks."

In short, Ashley loves the South, but not necessarily the Confederacy. And he hates war, even telling his friends in the beginning of the book who are eager to start fighting the North that "most of the misery in the world has been caused by war", though he fights because of his loyalty to the above-mentioned peaceful life he had in Georgia.

He claims that he would have freed the slaves after the death of his father if the war hadn't freed them already. His willingness to free the slaves further demonstrates his impractical nature, because if the slaves were free, he would not be able to run the plantation. However, he has a great deal of affection for the slaves on his plantation, and the role that they played in his serene, bucolic life.

There is a sense in which the end of Ashley's life (as he knew it) is more than just the burning of Twelve Oaks. The four Tarleton brothers (Boyd, Tom, Brent and Stuart) are all killed, three of them at Gettysburg. Cade Calvert returns home terminally ill from tuberculosis. Little Joe Fontaine is killed in battle, and Tony Fontaine has to flee forever to Texas after killing a Yankee (specifically, Scarlett's family's former slave overseer, Jonas Wilkerson, during Reconstruction; after Wilkerson encouraged a former slave to attempt to rape Tony's sister-in-law). These were Ashley's childhood friends, all represented in the happy scene at the barbecue, close to the beginning of the book. When the "family circle" of the county is decimated, the life Ashley loved is gone.

At one point in the book Ashley pleads, in vain, with his wife Melanie to move to the North, after he comes back from fighting in the war. This isn't because of any affection for the North however, but because he wants to be able to stand on his own as a man, something he will never again be able to do in Georgia now that his plantation is gone and his home burned. However, he ends up working for Scarlett due to her manipulative entreaties and Melanie's naive support of her. Melanie also states that if they move to New York, Beau will not be able to go to school. This is because in New York black children are allowed to attend class, and they could not permit Beau to attend class with black children. In Georgia the schools were segregated by race, so Beau would be able to attend school if they remained in the South.

In a sense, he is the character best personifying the tragedy of the Southern upper class after the Civil War. Coming from a privileged background, Ashley is an honorable and educated man. He is in clear contrast to Rhett Butler, who is decisive and full of life but is vulgar and distasteful as well. Rhett is both ruthless and practical, and is willing to do whatever he must to survive. In contrast, Ashley is often impractical (even Melanie admits this on her deathbed), and would resist doing many things Rhett would do because they aren't "proper" or "gentlemanly". Ashley fights in the Civil War, but he does it out of love for his homeland and not a hatred of the Yankees, who he actually hopes will just leave the South in peace. As a soldier he shows enough leadership to be promoted to the rank of Major, and survives being imprisoned at the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois (a notorious prisoner-of-war camp) for several months. He eventually returns home, still able-bodied. Ashley could have lived a peaceful and respectable life had the War never taken place. The War that changed the South forever has turned his world upside down, with everything he had believed in 'gone with the wind', a phrase composed by the poet Ernest Dowson.

Melanie and her brother Charles are among the last members left of the wealthy Hamilton family. The family has always valued education and sought to provide its members with the finest available. As a result, they have gained a reputation for producing a fair number of intellectuals and several noted lawyers. For several generations they have intermarried with the like-minded Wilkes family. Unfortunately, this practice of apparent inbreeding has eventually resulted in the birth of progressively sicklier children.

Melanie and Charles' parents die when their children are still young. Their father, Col. William R. Hamilton, was described as a hot-tempered, fiery soldier "with a ramrod for a backbone". The two siblings are placed under the joint guardianship of Henry Hamilton and Sarah Jane "Pittypat" Hamilton, their father's brother and sister. Neither Henry nor Pittypat is married and so they consider their nephew and niece as their children. Henry is a lawyer and resident of Atlanta and the family fortune has been placed under his management. Pittypat is described as having the maturity of a child herself. The one actually responsible for raising the two children is Uncle Peter, an African American slave. Peter is fiercely loyal to the Hamiltons and has served the orphans' father during his military service in the Mexican-American War. Though the Hamiltons are nominally his masters, Peter views them more as his charges and acts as the protector of Pittypat, her niece and nephew throughout their lives. He is described as a brave and intelligent man who, in serving the interests of the Hamiltons, often advises his charges and on several occasions makes decisions for them. Thanks to their devoted uncles and aunt, the siblings grow to be well-educated and well-read young people, but due to their somewhat sheltered environment, they tend to be naive in worldly ways.

Melanie becomes engaged to her distant cousin, Ashley Wilkes. Melanie is unaware that Scarlett O'Hara intended to marry Ashley. For Scarlett, the news is shocking. Nevertheless, she is present at the engagement celebration, along with her family and most other plantation owners of the county. According to her description, Melanie is a rather petite and delicate young woman with the height and weight of a child. Her most notable feature is a pair of large brown eyes. To Scarlett, she seems quite shy and sweet but not particularly beautiful. However, her way of movement is described as graceful beyond her years. To Scarlett, she seems more interested in discussing books than in flirting with men. While most young girls present at the celebration seek to impress the young men with their dress sense, Melanie is plainly clothed, discussing the works of William Makepeace Thackeray and Charles Dickens.

Scarlett is certain that Ashley will prefer her to Melanie. Confronting him privately, she confesses her love for him. Ashley admits he is attracted to her but he is determined to marry Melanie. His main stated reason is that he believes he has more in common with Melanie than with Scarlett. Scarlett feels disappointed and hurt. In her confusion she decides to hurt Ashley in return by accepting a marriage proposal by Melanie's brother Charles. Scarlett also considers that she is taking revenge against Melanie by marrying her brother.

The wedding takes place two weeks later on April 30, 1861, but Melanie is actually pleased about the marriage as she views her new sister-in-law as a true sister. Melanie seems to take an instant liking to Scarlett and welcomes her to their family. On May 1, 1861, Melanie herself marries Ashley. Meanwhile the American Civil War is raging and Georgia is now part of the Confederate States of America. Charles has to leave two weeks after his marriage to enlist in the forces of Wade Hampton, known as "Hampton's Legion". A week later Ashley follows him. In his absence Melanie accepts the invitation of Aunt Pittypat to stay with her in Atlanta. The fortunes of both women are still under the management of Uncle Henry.

After the war, Melanie becomes a social pillar of Atlanta, known for her charity and kindness. She even takes in an old convict, Archie. He, along with India Wilkes, witness Scarlett's embrace with Ashley one day at the mill. Melanie refuses to believe the rumors that there is anything wrong between her husband and 'sister', and saves Scarlett's reputation by graciously asking her to co-hostess Ashley's birthday party that night.

Melanie and Rhett have a good relationship, even as his and Scarlett's marriage falls apart. Rhett says Melanie is one of the few real ladies he's ever known. After Scarlett falls down the stairs and miscarries, Melanie comforts Rhett, who in a drunken state, cries on her lap, lamenting that his wife never loved him. He almost reveals that Scarlett has long been in love with Ashley before he realizes who he's talking to. He subsequently gives up his feelings for Scarlett and focuses his attentions on their daughter Bonnie, who later dies in a riding accident. It is Melanie that convinces the grief-stricken Rhett to allow them to bury Bonnie after her death.

Melanie becomes pregnant again, although Dr. Meade had specifically warned her against it. She weakens considerably after a miscarriage and calls Scarlett to her, tells her how much she's loved her, asks her to take care of Beau and of Ashley, and speaks her last words, which involve Rhett Butler and his intense love for Scarlett. She then dies immediately. Melanie's death serves as a catalyst for the final phase of Scarlett's character growth in the book. Scarlett mourns Melanie's death, and unselfishly thanks God for not allowing the dead woman to know about Ashley's emotional involvement with herself.

Gerald O'Hara is Scarlett's florid Irish father. An excellent horseman, Gerald is sometimes seen leaping fences on his horse while intoxicated, which eventually leads to his death. Gerald's mind becomes addled after the death of his wife, Ellen.

Ellen (Robillard) O'Hara is Scarlett's gracious mother of French ancestry. Ellen married Gerald O'Hara, who was 28 years her senior, after her true love, Philippe Robillard, was killed in a bar fight. She is Scarlett's ideal of a "great lady". Ellen ran all aspects of the household and nursed negro slaves as well as poor white trash. She dies from typhoid in August 1864 after nursing Emmie Slattery.

Mammy is Scarlett's nurse from birth. She is a slave who originally belonged to Scarlett's grandmother and raised her mother, Ellen O'Hara. Mammy is "head woman of the plantation".

Susan Elinor ("Suellen") O'Hara is Scarlett's middle sister. She became sickened by typhoid during the siege of Atlanta. After the war, Scarlett steals and marries her beau, Frank Kennedy. Later, Suellen marries Will Benteen and has at least one child, Susie, with him.

Caroline Irene ("Carreen") O'Hara is Scarlett's youngest sister and also became sickened by typhoid during the siege of Atlanta. She is infatuated with and later engaged to the rowdy red-headed Brent Tarleton, who is killed in the war. Broken-hearted by Brent's death, Carreen never truly gets over it and years later joins a convent.

Belle Watling is the Madam of an Atlanta brothel. A kind, no-nonsense, but worldly woman who maintains self-respect despite what other people think of her, Belle loves her son and has sent him away to keep him from the vices of her profession. Belle respects and admires Melanie, cares deeply for Rhett, and works to look out for their best interests.

Charles Hamilton is Melanie Wilkes' brother and Scarlett's first husband. Charles is a shy and loving boy. He is father to Wade Hampton, but Charles died of pneumonia before ever reaching a battlefield or seeing his son.

India Wilkes is the sister of Honey and Ashley Wilkes. She is described as plain. India was courted by Stuart Tarleton before he and his brother Brent fell in love with Scarlett.

Honey Wilkes is the sister of India and Ashley Wilkes. Honey is described as having the "odd, lashless look of a rabbit." Honey is so called because she indiscriminately addresses everyone, from her father to the field hands, by that endearment.

Aunt Pittypat Hamilton's real name is Sarah Jane Hamilton, but she acquired the nickname "Pittypat" in childhood because of the way she walked on her 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). Pittypat's financial affairs 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 her slave, Uncle Peter.

Uncle Henry Hamilton is Aunt Pittypat's brother and the uncle of Charles and Melanie. He is a lawyer.

Pork is Gerald O'Hara's valet and the first slave he owned. Pork was won in a game of poker (as was the plantation Tara, in a separate poker game. When Gerald died, Scarlett gave his pocket watch to Pork. She wanted to have the watch engraved with the words, "To Pork from the O'Haras—Well done good and faithful servant," but Pork declined the offer.

Prissy is a child slave-girl She is the nurse of Scarlett's son and goes with her to Atlanta when she lives with Aunt Pittypat and Melanie.

Will Benteen is a "South Georgia Cracker," 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. He is taken in by the O'Haras on his journey home from the war and after his recovery stays on to manage the farm at Tara. Fond of Carreen O'Hara, he cannot pursue that relationship as she decides to enter a convent. Not wanting to leave Tara, the land he has come to love, he later marries Suellen and has at least one child, Susie, with her.

The Tarleton twins, Brent and Stuart are just two in a gaggle of vivacious, red headed Tarleton children. The twins were in frequent scrapes, loved practical jokes and gossip, and "were worse than the plagues of Egypt," according to their mother. Mrs. Tarleton laid her riding crop on their backs if the occasion seem warranted, though Boyd, the oldest and the runt, never got hit much. The inseparable twins, Brent and Stuart, at 19 years old were six feet two inches tall. Four Tarleton boys were killed in the war, the twins just moments apart at the Battle of Gettysburg. Boyd was buried in Virginia, but only God knew where.

Frank Kennedy is Suellen O'Hara's former fiancé and Scarlett's second husband. Frank is an unattractive older man. He originally asks for Suellen's hand in marriage, but Scarlett steals him for herself in order to have enough money to pay the taxes on Tara. 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 would like him to be. Unknown to Scarlett, Frank is secretly involved in the Ku Klux Klan. He is "shot through the head", according to Rhett Butler, while attempting to defend Scarlett's honor after she is attacked.

Jonas Wilkerson is Tara’s former overseer. Thin and weasel-like, he attempts to combat his feelings of inferiority by going north after the war and becoming wealthy. He later returns, marries his mistress, and attempts to buy the plantation that once fired him. Jonas becomes enraged when Scarlett refuses to consider him her equal.

Emmie Slattery is poor white trash. The daughter of Tom Slattery, her family lived on three meager acres along the swamp bottoms between the O'Hara and Wilkes plantations. Emmie gave birth to an illegitimate child fathered by Jonas Wilkerson, a Yankee and the overseer at Tara. The child died. Emmie later married Jonas, and after the war, flush with carpetbagger cash, they try to buy Tara, but Scarlett is insulted and refuses the offer.

Cathleen Calvert was young Scarlett's only friend. Her widowed father, Hugh married a Yankee governess and she was called "the second Mrs. Calvert". Next to Scarlett, Cathleen "had had more beaux than any girl in the County," but eventually married their former Yankee overseer, Mr. Hilton.