Sixtyeight years ago this week, on 15 December, 1939 the movie "Gone with the Wind" had its premiere. Sixtyeight years and no re-make? That must be some sort of record. Come to think of it though, who could play Rhett Butler these days? Johnny Depp - perhaps.
It has been said that Margaret Mitchell, author of the book, source of the movie's plot, used astrological stereotypes to help develop the characters. I searched for confirmation of this. Perhaps it's common knowledge, but it was new to me.
I eventually found a piece by astrologer Alex Trenoweth HERE which states
".......readers have failed to notice that Gone With the Wind is, as Neil Spencer describes: “a thinly disguised astrological allegory. Margaret Mitchell based the characters of her torrid epic on the zodiac, leaving a blatant trail of clues which were only picked up in 1978 when US astrologer Darrell Martinie was shown photocopies of notes from Mitchell`s library.”
That's fairly reliable provenance. I'm careful, not because I have an overly suspicious mind, but because, as we all know, you cannot automatically trust everything you read on the internet!
Further investigation threw up, in a discussion forum, a list of zodiac signs and related GWTW characters. ( I don't know the origin of this list, or whether it is reliable.)
Aries - Scarlett O'Hara
Taurus - Scarlett's Father, and Tara the Plantation
Gemini: Prissy and Aunt Pitty Pat
Cancer: Melanie (Ashley's Wife)
Leo: Rhett Butler
Virgo: Scarlett's Mother
Libra: Belle Wattling (The Madam and friend of Rhett Butler)
Scorpio: Mammy
Sagittarius: Bonnie (daughter of Rhett and Scarlett)
Capricorn: Ashley Wilkes
Aquarius: Mr Kennedy, Scarlett's 2nd husband and Ashley's sister India Wilkes
Pisces: Scarlett's sisters and Scarlett's 1st husband.
The Ashley Wilkes Plantation named 12 Oaks after the 12 Zodiac Signs.
Wikipedia tells us that many of Mitchell's characters are based on people she knew. Both theories could be correct.
"While Margaret Mitchell used to say that her Gone with the Wind characters were not based on real people, modern researchers have found similarities to some of the people in Mitchell's own life as well as to individuals she knew or she heard of....
Researchers believed Rhett Butler to be based on Mitchell's first husband, Red Upshaw. She divorced him after she learned he was a bootlegger. ........".And more
And:
"Over the past years, the novel Gone with the Wind has also been analyzed for its symbolism and mythological treatment of archetypes".
Which may, or may not, be an oblique reference to the astrological connection.
During the times in which the story is set, segregation and slavery were part of life in the southern states of the USA. I found that, even on the date of the movie's Atlanta premiere, December 1939, the ugliness of segregation hadn't disappeared. This from an article HERE
"Noticeably absent were Hattie McDaniel (Mammy) and Butterfly McQueen (Prissy), black actresses with major roles who were not welcome in the white side of the segregated Atlanta society. Noticeably present was a young Martin Luther King, Jr., who sang in a "negro boys choir" from his father's church, Ebenezer Baptist. "
Many years ago, I worked with a young woman who was obsessed with Margaret Mitchell's novel. I remembered her as I was typing this. She had a battered paperback copy of the book which went everywhere with her. She'd finish the book, then immediately start again at the beginning. Proof indeed of the power of the author's storytelling talent - and perhaps of the strength of astrology's archetypes!
It has been said that Margaret Mitchell, author of the book, source of the movie's plot, used astrological stereotypes to help develop the characters. I searched for confirmation of this. Perhaps it's common knowledge, but it was new to me.
I eventually found a piece by astrologer Alex Trenoweth HERE which states
".......readers have failed to notice that Gone With the Wind is, as Neil Spencer describes: “a thinly disguised astrological allegory. Margaret Mitchell based the characters of her torrid epic on the zodiac, leaving a blatant trail of clues which were only picked up in 1978 when US astrologer Darrell Martinie was shown photocopies of notes from Mitchell`s library.”
That's fairly reliable provenance. I'm careful, not because I have an overly suspicious mind, but because, as we all know, you cannot automatically trust everything you read on the internet!
Further investigation threw up, in a discussion forum, a list of zodiac signs and related GWTW characters. ( I don't know the origin of this list, or whether it is reliable.)
Aries - Scarlett O'Hara
Taurus - Scarlett's Father, and Tara the Plantation
Gemini: Prissy and Aunt Pitty Pat
Cancer: Melanie (Ashley's Wife)
Leo: Rhett Butler
Virgo: Scarlett's Mother
Libra: Belle Wattling (The Madam and friend of Rhett Butler)
Scorpio: Mammy
Sagittarius: Bonnie (daughter of Rhett and Scarlett)
Capricorn: Ashley Wilkes
Aquarius: Mr Kennedy, Scarlett's 2nd husband and Ashley's sister India Wilkes
Pisces: Scarlett's sisters and Scarlett's 1st husband.
The Ashley Wilkes Plantation named 12 Oaks after the 12 Zodiac Signs.
Wikipedia tells us that many of Mitchell's characters are based on people she knew. Both theories could be correct.
"While Margaret Mitchell used to say that her Gone with the Wind characters were not based on real people, modern researchers have found similarities to some of the people in Mitchell's own life as well as to individuals she knew or she heard of....
Researchers believed Rhett Butler to be based on Mitchell's first husband, Red Upshaw. She divorced him after she learned he was a bootlegger. ........".And more
And:
"Over the past years, the novel Gone with the Wind has also been analyzed for its symbolism and mythological treatment of archetypes".
Which may, or may not, be an oblique reference to the astrological connection.
During the times in which the story is set, segregation and slavery were part of life in the southern states of the USA. I found that, even on the date of the movie's Atlanta premiere, December 1939, the ugliness of segregation hadn't disappeared. This from an article HERE "Noticeably absent were Hattie McDaniel (Mammy) and Butterfly McQueen (Prissy), black actresses with major roles who were not welcome in the white side of the segregated Atlanta society. Noticeably present was a young Martin Luther King, Jr., who sang in a "negro boys choir" from his father's church, Ebenezer Baptist. "
Many years ago, I worked with a young woman who was obsessed with Margaret Mitchell's novel. I remembered her as I was typing this. She had a battered paperback copy of the book which went everywhere with her. She'd finish the book, then immediately start again at the beginning. Proof indeed of the power of the author's storytelling talent - and perhaps of the strength of astrology's archetypes!
