“I forgot a lot, Cinara… the scent of roses was carried away by the wind,” this motif from Dawson’s poem migrated to the title of one of the most famous works of the twentieth century, Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone with the Wind.
The "Book of the Century," as the novel is defined in the Literary History of the United States, quickly became a bestseller. "Gone with the Wind" lost first place in popularity to the Bible, but took second place firmly. According to some reports, the popularity of Mitchell's novel in 2014 in the United States surpassed that of the Potter series.
What was the biography of Margaret Mitchell? The writer, author of the cult novel, seemed to be living a fairly standard life. What is the secret of this success story?
Life path and early career
Margaret was born in the family of lawyer Eugene Mitchell on November 8, at the turn of the century - in 1900, in the state of Georgia. Southerner Mitchell, a descendant of the Scots, was a well-known lawyer in Atlanta and was a member of the historical society. Margaret and her brother Stephen grew up in an atmosphere of interest and respect for the past, which came to life in stories about the events that swept the South during the Civil War.
Already at school, Margaret wrote plays for the school theater, composed adventure stories. Margaret attended Washington Seminary, a prestigious Atlanta Philharmonic, where she founded a drama club and became its director. She was the editor of Facts and Fantasy, a high school yearbook, and she also earned the presidency of the Washington Literary Society.
In September 1918, Mitchell entered Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was there that her pseudonym appeared - Peggy. She was carried away by ideas, his philosophy. But soon a tragedy occurred: in January 1919, Margaret's mother died of the flu.
She then returned to Atlanta and soon met Berrien Upshaw. She married him in 1922. However, this marriage did not bring much happiness to the future writer. Four months after the wedding ceremony, Upshaw traveled to the Midwest and never returned.
Shortly after the dissolution of her first marriage, Mitchell entered into a new one, in 1925. Her second husband was named John Marsh, he worked for the railroad company in the advertising department. The couple settled in a small apartment, which they called "the Dump" ("dump").
In 1922, Margaret got a job at the Atlanta Journal Sunday Magazine, for which she wrote about 130 articles, and was a proofreader and columnist. She specialized in historical writing, using her college pseudonym.
main creation
Mitchell herself briefly described her work as a "survival novel". At the same time, the author answered negatively to questions about whether the characters have any prototypes in reality.
The years of Mitchell's life passed under the sign of the suffragist movement, the democratization of morals, the Great Depression and the development of an unprecedented, fundamentally new teaching - psychoanalysis. All this could not but leave its mark on the main character of the novel, who turned out to be, perhaps, too ambitious and purposeful for those times. Mitchell emphasized the absurdity of the situation in which a not-so-positive heroine suddenly became a symbol of America.
Apparently, the former journalist approached the writing of the novel seriously, because only ten years later he got to the publishers. The first chapter, according to various sources, had 60 options! The name of the main character was determined at the last moment: Scarlett found it when Mitchell was already preparing to hand over the manuscript to the publisher, and at first the heroine's name was Pansy.
In the end, a goldmine was opened for Macmillan's publishing house - in 1936 the book "Gone with the Wind" came out of print. Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel a year later. Almost from the first days, Mitchell's work captured the attention of the public (more than a million copies were bought during the first half of the year). The film rights were sold back in those days for $50,000.
In our time, this literary masterpiece does not lose ground: the novel sells a quarter of a million copies annually, it has been translated into twenty-seven languages, withstood 70 editions in the United States. Three years after the publication of the novel, an Oscar-winning (receiving eight Oscars) film was made, which became no less popular than the book. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh unconditionally won the hearts of those who preferred watching movies to reading.
No other novels were published under Mitchell's name. The writer dedicated her life to her only literary offspring. She handled copyright protection for Gone overseas. In addition, Mitchell personally answered the letters that came to her about the sensational novel.
Soon the Second World War began, and Margaret devoted a lot of time and energy to work in the American Red Cross.
A tragic accident in 1949 ended the life of an outstanding writer. Margaret and her husband went to the cinema, but on the way they were hit by a car that lost control.
Data
- Mitchell can hardly be called a lucky person: three car accidents, two falls from a horse, clothes on fire right on her (as a result - severe burns), concussion.
- Margaret was by no means a good girl: she was sharp-tongued and loved to collect "French postcards."
- The author of Gone with the Wind smoked three packs of cigarettes a day.
- It seems that the writer began to write a novel out of boredom: at least she spoke of her book as “rotten” and claimed that she hated the process of writing.
- Death overtook her on August 16, 1949 - two years before her 50th birthday and five days after a car accident on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta.
Margaret Manerlyn Mitchell lived a busy life, but certainly too short for such an extraordinary person - she managed to write a novel that for decades has consistently ranked as one of the most popular books in the world.
It is difficult to explain such great success with the public, because most critics disapproved of Gone with the Wind, and the attitude towards Mitchell's work is still ambiguous. But everything in the end is always decided by the readers, and the audience award unconditionally belongs to Margaret Mitchell: having written only one book, she went down in history. Author: Ekaterina Volkova
The author of the great novel Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell, lived a not too long and very difficult life. The only literary work she created brought the writer world fame and fortune, but took away too much mental strength.
The film based on the novel by American writer Margaret Mitchell "Gone with the Wind" was released in 1939 - just three years after the publication of the book. The premiere was attended by Hollywood stars Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, who played the roles of the main characters - Scarlett O "Hara and Rhett Butler. Away from the cinematic beauties stood a modest thin woman in a hat. The raging crowd almost did not notice her. But it was Margaret Mitchell herself - the author of a book that during the life of the writer became a classic of American literature.In the glory of her work, she basked in the glory of her work from 1936 to 1949 - until the very day of her death.
Sportswoman and coquette
Margaret Mitchell was almost the same age as the 20th century. She was born in the same Atlanta (Georgia), which became the setting for her immortal novel. The girl was born in a prosperous and wealthy family. Her father was a lawyer. Mother, although officially listed as a housewife, joined the movement of suffragettes - women who fought for their voting rights. In general, the author largely wrote off the green-eyed Scarlett O "Hara from herself. Mitchell was half Irish and a southerner to the marrow of her bones. But one should not think that the writer was a kind of old maid in a pince-nez and with a pen in her hand. Not at all.The novel Gone with the Wind begins with the line: "Scarlett O Hara wasn't pretty." But Margaret Mitchell was beautiful. Although, apparently, she did not consider herself particularly attractive, since she began the novel with such a phrase. But she was clearly being modest. Her dark hair, almond-shaped green eyes and slender figure attracted men like a magnet. But contemporaries remembered Margaret not as a windy beauty, but first of all as a wonderful storyteller and an amazing listener of other people's memories. Both of Mitchell's grandfathers had served in the North-South Civil War, and the future writer was ready to listen to hours of stories about their exploits at the time.
Here is how one of her friends later recalled Mitchell: “It is difficult to describe Peggy (Margaret's childhood nickname. - Approx. Auth.) With a pen, to convey her gaiety, her interest in people and a thorough knowledge of their nature, the breadth of her interests and range of reading, her devotion to friends, as well as the liveliness and charm of her speech. Many southerners are born storytellers, but Peggy told her stories in such a funny and skillful way that people in a crowded room could freeze and listen to her all evening.
Margaret combined a passion for coquetry and sports entertainment, outstanding learning abilities and an interest in knowledge, a thirst for independence and ... a desire to create a good, but quite patriarchal family. Mitchell was not a romantic. Contemporaries considered it practical and even stingy. About how methodically she - cent by cent - knocked out royalties from publishers, later there were legends ...
Even at school, the daughter of a lawyer wrote simple plays in a romantic style for the student theater ... After receiving her secondary education, Mitchell studied for a year at the prestigious Massachusetts College. There, she was literally hypnotized by the ideas of the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. It is quite possible that the American would have become one of his students and followers, if not for the tragic event: in 1919, during the Spanish flu pandemic, her mother died. And shortly before that, Henry, Margaret's fiancé, died in Europe.
Desperate Reporter
Mitchell returned to Atlanta to take over the running of the house. The girl was too young and energetic to sink into despondency. She did not fussily look for a new party for herself - the suffragist "part" of her nature had an effect here. Instead, she chose to do what she loves, becoming a reporter for the Atlanta Journal. Margaret's light and sharp pen quickly made her one of the publication's leading journalists. It was difficult for the patriarchal southern society to "digest" a female journalist. The editor of the publication at first bluntly told the ambitious girl: “How can a lady from a good family afford to write about the inhabitants of the city bottom and talk with various ragamuffins?” Mitchell was surprised by this question: she could never understand why women are worse than men. Perhaps that is why her heroine Scarlett was one of those about whom in Russia they speak in the words of the poet Nekrasov: “He will stop a galloping horse, enter a burning hut.” The reports from the pen of the journalist came out crisp, clear, leaving no questions to the reader ...
Residents of Atlanta recalled: her return to her hometown made a splash among the male part of the population. According to rumors, an educated and elegant beauty received almost four dozen marriage proposals from gentlemen! But, as often happens in such situations, the chosen one was far from being the best. Miss Mitchell could not resist the charms of Berrien "Red" Upshaw - a tall, handsome handsome man. The bridegroom's witness at the wedding was a modest, educated young man, John Marsh.
Family life was seen by Margaret in the form of a series of entertainment: parties, receptions, horseback riding. Both spouses from childhood adored equestrian sports. The writer also endowed Scarlett with this trait ...
Red became the prototype of Rhett - their names are consonant. But, unfortunately, only in external manifestations. The husband turned out to be a man of a cruel, violent disposition. Slightly that - was grabbing for a gun. The unfortunate wife had to feel the weight of his fists. Margaret and then showed: she is not a bast of a shield. Now there was a gun in her purse too. Soon the couple divorced. All the city gossips watched the humiliating divorce procedure with bated breath. But even through such a test, Mitchell went with her head held high.
Margaret did not stay long with Mrs. Upshaw. And then - and the year did not stay divorced!
In 1925, she married the modest and devoted John Marsh. Finally, quiet happiness settled in her house!
book for husband
The new Mrs. Marsh has retired from the magazine. Why? Some say: because of the injury received when falling from a horse. Others say: Margaret decided to devote time to the family. In any case, she once said: “A married woman should be, first of all, a wife. I am Mrs. John R. Marsh.” Of course, Mrs. Marsh was acting out. She was not going to limit her life to the world of the kitchen. Margaret was clearly tired of reporting and decided to devote herself to literature.
She introduced only her husband to the first chapters of Gone with the Wind. It was he who from the first days became her best friend, critic and adviser. The novel was ready by the end of the 1920s, but Margaret was afraid to publish it. Folders of papers were gathering dust in the pantry of the big new Marsh house. Their housing became the center of the intellectual life of the town - something like a literary salon. One of the editors of the Macmillan publishing house somehow looked into the light.
Margaret could not make up her mind for a long time. But still gave the editor the manuscript. After reading, he immediately realized that he was holding a future bestseller in his hands. It took six months to finalize the novel. The final name of the heroine - Scarlett - the author came up with right in the editorial office. The name Mitchell took from a poem by the poet Dawson.
The publisher was right: the book became an instant bestseller. And the author in 1937 became the winner of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. To date, the total circulation of her book in the United States alone has reached almost thirty million copies.
But neither fame nor money brought happiness to the writer. The peace of the house, which she and her husband so guarded, was disturbed. Margaret herself tried to control the cash receipts in her own budget. But financial affairs brought only fatigue. There was no longer any energy for creativity.
And then the faithful John fell ill. Mitchell has evolved into a caring nurse. And it turned out to be difficult, because her health began to deteriorate rapidly. By the end of the 1940s, the couple's health began to improve. They even allowed themselves small "cultural" outings. But the returned happiness was short-lived. In August 1949, a car driven by a drunk driver hit Margaret, who was walking with her husband to the cinema. The author of Gone with the Wind died five days later.
the world that directly surrounds a person, adjacent to him.
3. Pigareva T. I. Jorge Guillen. Poetics of space and time: dis. ... cand. philol. Sciences. M., 2002. S. 147.
4. Ortega y Gasset X. What is philosophy? URL: http://philosophy.ru/library/ortega/wph.html
5. Salinas P. Poesias completas. Edicion a cargo de Solead Salinas de Marichal. Barcelona: Editorial Lumen, 2000. P. 121.
6. Ibid. P. 222.
7. Ibid. P. 217.
10. Ortega y Gasset X. Man and people. URL: http://www.gumer.info/bogoslov_Buks/Philos/gas_chel/02.php
11. Ibid.
12. Salinas P. Op. cit. P. 65.
13. Ibid. P. 245.
14. Ibid. P. 707.
15. Salinas P. Cartas de viaje. ABC Literario, Madrid. 5 de enero, 1996. P. 19.
16. Salinas P. Poesias completas. P. 713.
17. Ibid. P. 863.
18. Ibid. P. 914.
UDC 821.111(73)
I. B. Arkhangelskaya
NOVEL M. MITCHELL "GONE WITH THE WIND": HISTORY OF CREATION AND SPECIFICITY OF THE GENRE
Based on the analysis of the epistolary heritage of M. Mitchell and the works of American critics devoted to the work of the writer, the article discusses the history of the creation of the world-famous bestseller Gone with the Wind (1936), and also presents a discussion around the genre problem and gives the author's assessment of the novel's genre originality.
The creation of the worldwide known bestseller Gone with the Wind and the discussion concerning its genre are considered in the article. The analysis is based on studying of M. Mitchell's epistolary heritage and the works of American critics.
Key words: M. Mitchell, "Gone with the Wind", literature of the American South.
Keywords: M. Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, Literature of the American South.
Despite the worldwide fame of the novel Gone with the Wind, the work of its author Margaret Mitchell (Margaret Mitchell, 1900-1949) has been fragmentarily studied in Russian literary criticism. The question of the genre of the novel remains open. Perhaps domestic critics do not consider it necessary to study in detail the work of mass culture.
© Arkhangelskaya I. B., 2012
Tours, written in simple language on the model of a "Victorian" novel.
Some aspects of the work of the American writer were considered in the works of S. N. Burin, L. N. Semenova. Her work was studied in the most detail in the works of E. A. Stetsenko, the dissertation of I. B. Arkhangelskaya “The work of Margaret Mitchell and the “southern tradition” in US literature (30s of the XX century)” and the work of I. L. Ga- Linsky "Keys to the novel Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell.
Abroad, the main sources in the study of the creative heritage of M. Mitchell are her epistolary heritage, as well as monographs by E. Edwards, E. Brown and D. Wylie, F. Farrah, A. G. Jones, S. T. Raines.
The novel by M. Mitchell, as you know, was created during the so-called. "Renaissance" literature of the American South. During this period, a poetry circle arose at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. The members of this circle: D. C. Ransom, D. Davidson, A. Tate and others, published several literary magazines: Fugitive (1922-1925) , "Savanni Review" (Sewanee Review, 1892-?), etc. 30s. 20th century marked by the work of talented Southern writers: D. K. Ransom, A. Tate, S. Young (S. Young), R. P. Warren (R. P. Warren) and the future Nobel laureate W. Faulkner (W. Faulkner).
When Gone with the Wind was published in 1936, the novel by M. Mitchell, an unknown housewife from Atlanta, seemed to be about the theme of the Civil War of 1861-1865. everything has already been said in American literature. However, it was this novel that became the most popular "southern" version of the war between the North and the South and took a leading position in the list of American literary bestsellers for many years.
The story of a beautiful southern woman who fights for personal happiness and well-being in the face of the death of the world that raised her and educated her captured Americans who were experiencing an economic crisis and depression. Three weeks after the novel was published, 176,000 copies were sold, six months later, a million, and a year later, 1,176,000. In 1937, M. Mitchell received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Literature for Gone with the Wind, beating W. Faulkner, whose novel Absalom! Absalom!" (Absalom! Absalom!) (1936) was also nominated for this award. In the same year, the famous American film producer David O. Selznick bought the rights to the screen version of Mitchell's novel from Macmillan Publishing House, and in 1939 the premiere of the film Gone with the Wind took place in Atlanta, which received
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further worldwide fame. Translated into many foreign languages, the novel financially proved to be the "book of the century." And in our time, he brings a lot of income to the Macmillan publishing house.
In 1926, starting work on the novel, M. Mitchell did not count on success. She expressed her doubts a few months before the release of Gone With the Wind in a letter to her friend Julia Harris, arguing that written during the heyday of the Jazz Age, her novel is of a "Victorian type" that " does not contain obscenities, adultery, not a single degenerate ”- it is unlikely to be sold in large numbers. She also warned Harold Lathem, of Macmillan, that her manuscript was unlikely to be of interest to the general public, as it tells "about a woman who is in love with someone else's husband, but nothing happens between them," "only four times there is "damn it" and only one "dirty" word "". However, this did not frighten the experienced editor and literary agent, who felt that the novel was "doomed" to success.
Like all southern writers, M. Mitchell was "sick" of the "southern" theme. From childhood, she heard stories about the civil war from relatives, neighbors, and acquaintances. The names of Confederate generals have become sacred to her since childhood.
M. Mitchell was born on November 1900 at the home of her widowed grandmother, Annie Fitzgerald Stephens. Her house was one of the few that survived the events of the night of November 15, 1S64, when W. Sherman's Unionist army attacked the city, and then, destroying it in half, set fire to the rest. From her grandmother, Margaret learned about the siege of Atlanta, about her grandfather John Ogivens (John Stephens) - a brave Confederate officer. Probably, these stories later influenced the author of Gone with the Wind, giving many scenes of the novel a special emotional pathos, a special “atmosphere of presence”.
Margaret's father, prosperous lawyer Eugene Mitchell, her mother Mary Isabelle Stephens Mitchell and older brother Alexander Stephens Mitchell shared the views inherent in most southerners, believing that the "cause" of the Confederacy was right, and the Yankees (northerners) are mostly vulgar and dishonorable. Margaret was greatly impressed by the annual celebrations held in April to commemorate those who died during the Confederate War.
During his time at the Atlanta Journal Magazine (1922-1925)
M. Mitchell wrote 139 essays, 45 notes, led the column "Elizabeth Bennet tells", was one of the authors of the column "Advice to the reader". She considered her best work as a reporter a series of publications about Confederate generals and essays on prominent women in Georgia, which were written according to the memoirs of eyewitnesses based on materials from the Atlanta Carnegie Library.
The unconventional approach to the image of the "southern lady" in the essays on the four women of Georgia caused an outcry from the readers of the magazine. Their publication has been suspended. Of particular public interest was the story of Nancy Hart, a woman who, during the Revolutionary War, alone captured a detachment of British marauders who made their way to her kitchen. The story of the capture of the British, told in the essay, resembles the scene of the murder of a marauding soldier by the heroine of Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O'Hara.
While writing historical essays for the magazine, Mitchell spent a lot of time in the library, studying periodicals from the 1860s, reports of military operations in Georgia, Confederate memoirs, diaries, and letters from Southerners. Later, these materials formed the basis of Gone with the Wind.
In 1926, having married John Marsh (John Marsh), M. Mitchell left the magazine. While doing housework, she began to sketch for her future novel, writing the last chapter first and gradually working her way up to the first. Work on the novel lasted ten years. In a letter to the writer S. Yang-gu, M. Mitchell admitted that she rewrote each chapter ten to twelve times, and then put it aside for a month to look at what was written with a fresh eye and once again correct what seemed unsuccessful. “I strove for maximum simplicity,” she wrote to S. Young, “simplicity of expression of thoughts, simplicity of composition and style.”
Talking about the life of southern women who remained in the rear during the civil war, M. Mitchell avoided battle scenes, did not analyze the course of hostilities between the South and the North. After reading J. Boyd's novel Marching on in 1927, she decided to stop her writing career. She admired the intellectual power of D. Boyd, his knowledge of military strategy and tactics, and her own experiences in the literary field seemed untenable to her. However, on the advice of her husband, she soon continued to work on the novel, deciding that she had the right to write about what she understood and knew well - about the life of pre-war Georgia, about the history of Atlanta, about the fate of women in the South.
M. Mitchell was also strongly impressed by S. V. Benet's poem "John Brown's Body" published in 1928. And again, she, an aspiring novelist, had the feeling that everything has already been said about the civil war and it makes no sense to address this topic again.Work on the manuscript was postponed for three months, but then resumed.When in 1934 another novel about the civil war, The Red Rose, was published in the South ( "So Red the Rose") by S. Young, John Marsh did not allow his wife to read it, fearing that this would again make her doubt her own abilities, the correctness of the chosen topic.
In 1936 the novel was completed. The manuscript was already in the Macmillan publishing house, but it did not have a title. M. Mitchell for a long time did not know what to choose from a variety of options - "The Novel of the Old South" ("The Novel of the Old South"), the name proposed by the father of the writer Eugene Mitchell; "Tomorrow is Another Day" ("Tomorrow will be another day") - this phrase was the final one in the novel; "Tomorrow Morning" ("Tomorrow Morning"); "Tomorrow and Tomorrow" ("Tomorrow and Tomorrow"); "Not in our Stars" ("Not in our stars"), etc. However, neither the author nor the publishers liked any of these titles. And finally, leafing through one of the poetry collections, M. Mitchell found Horace's poems in an arrangement popular with Americans by Ernst Dowson (Ernest Dowson), one of whose phrases, as it seemed to her, could best reflect the content of her book: "I have forgotten much, Cynara "s gone with the wind" ("I forgot a lot, Sinara is gone / gone with the wind ...").
The phrase "gone with the wind" ("Gone with the wind") sounded great on a phonetic level. It contained assonance ("gone" - "wind") and alliteration in the first letters of the last words ("with" - "wind"). This phrase was well remembered not only due to its sound, but also imagery. It felt the breath of the wind, the rustle of leaves sliding on the ground, and all these images created a feeling of aching longing for the past that is fading into oblivion, a feeling of bitter and inevitable loss that always accompanies the movement forward in life. Such a romantic title was quite consistent with the literature of the "southern tradition". Similar motifs can be found in the title of many other southern novels - for example, in "No one will turn back" ("None Shall look Back") C. Gordon, "Remember and Forget" D. D. Adams, in “Separated by Mountains” by S. X. Davis, “Scarlet Rose” by S. Young (the title of the novel by S. Young is based on a line from a pre-war romance).
The title chosen by M. Mitchell for his novel turned out to be so successful that it
later became a stable phrase, often used by journalists and critics in different contexts.
Having signed a contract with the Macmillan publishing house, M. Mitchell feared that the publication of the novel would only bring losses. However, her fears were unfounded. For many years, "Gone with the Wind" firmly took its place on the bestseller list, and only many years later, M. Puzo's novel "The Godfather" managed to compare with him in popularity. M. Mitchell took her fame seriously. She responded to almost all authors who complimented her novel in their articles. These letters, as if printed as a carbon copy, testify to the desire of the author of "Gone with the Wind" to create a certain "public image" for himself. In response to reviewers, along with words of gratitude for the attention to her novel, Mitchell reported about herself what she thought readers and critics should know about her family, about the history of the novel, about her literary tastes. These letters were published in 1976. From these few documents that survived after the death of the writer, certain conclusions can be drawn about the writer's penchant for mystification, her sense of humor, her desire to remain mysterious and incomprehensible to others. However, no document can tell more about the author of Gone with the Wind than the novel itself.
The question of the genre of Gone With the Wind has been controversial among critics since its release. American criticism of the 1930s considered Gone with the Wind as a historical novel, studying the historical concept of the author, discussing the degree of reliability of the events set forth in it, and the opinions of the reviewers were as polar as the relationship between "Confederates" and "Unionists" in 1861. If C. B. Bene, X. Brickell, E. Granberry, X. S. Commander, M. Williams, D. D. Adams, S. Young evaluated Gone with the Wind as one of the best examples of realistic prose, truthfully and accurately reflecting the events of the Civil War of 1861 -1865 and the Reconstruction period, then D. B. Bishop, M. Cowley, E. Scott considered the novel by M. Mitchell a continuation of the plantation legend that distorts the history of the South.
"Southern" critics and writers, with the exception of S. Young, ignored the appearance of "Gone with the Wind". At the same time, in relation to each other, they were very attentive and responded to the appearance of the most insignificant works of their fellow writers.
It is worth remembering the attempts of the French critics J. Derrida and A Ronella to deduce the laws of the genre. On the one hand, the researchers stated that genres should not be mixed, on the other
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parties recognized that there are no genres in their pure form. There is no genre purity in Gone with the Wind either. On the surface, this is a historical novel. By the nature of the conflict, which reflected the clash of North and South, tradition and anti-tradition, individual human destiny and the historical process, as well as the role that historical time plays in it, we can conclude that we have a historical novel.
Mitchell did not feel confident in analyzing the strategy and tactics of military operations, so there are no battle scenes in the novel. The events are conveyed through the perception of the beautiful southerner Scarlett O^ara, who is fighting for survival in the rear, desperately trying to arrange her personal life, to restore the family estate. Historical characters: Generals Robert E. Lee (Robert Lee), William T. Sherman (William T. Sherman), President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis (Jefferson Davis) and Vice President Alexander Stephens (Alexander Stephens) - appear in the conversations of characters and serve as a backdrop for ongoing events.
The fate of the heroine of the novel Scarlett O^ara is closely connected with the history of the region. The serene life of the pre-war South coincides with the happy days of Scarlett's girlhood, and her unexpected and accidental marriage is as terrible and ridiculous as the beginning of the war. The heroine's widowhood comes in the tragic days of the war, when many of the southerners lost loved ones, her struggle for survival in post-war Georgia can be an illustration of the events of the Reconstruction period. Historical time in Gone with the Wind either flows in parallel, or intersects, or merges with biographical time. The open ending makes you think not only about the specific fate of women, but also about the future of the entire American South.
In terms of the scale of the events covered in the novel, the length of the action and the number of characters, Gone with the Wind approaches the epic genre. Probably for this reason there were such frequent parallels with Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace". Some U.S. editions of Gone with the Wind have the subtitle "the epic novel of our time" as the subtitle. Thus, the publishers, as it were, emphasize the monumentality and significance of the work.
In terms of plot and type of heroine, Gone with the Wind resembles an adventurous novel. The central pair of the novel - Arlette Ogara and Rhett Butler - do not correspond to the images of the "southern beauty" and "noble gentleman" characteristic of the literature of the American South. &arlett and Rhett could be the archetypes of the "femme fatale" and "scoundrel adventurer".
American critic D. Cavelty defined Mitchell's novel as a social melodrama. The novel shows how an entire civilization disappears, the traditions of the plantation South are gradually becoming a thing of the past, and they are being replaced by a new order of the young and unprincipled bourgeoisie. The dramatic story of love, victories and disappointments of an atypical "southern beauty" against the backdrop of a change in the social system, the usual way of life and human values has become a new word in the literature of the South.
In many ways, the novel can be attributed to socio-psychological prose (however, this is typical for all literature of the 20th century), it is typologically close to Balzac's "career novel", while the dominant motive in it is survival. It was probably this theme that made it so popular in the 1930s, a period of economic crisis and depression in America.
Some critics of the time felt that Gone with the Wind contained many "stereotypes" and "platitudes". However, a careful reading of the novel refutes this view. A feature of the poetics of the novel is the repetition of clichés familiar to the reader at different levels - the plot, the system of images, style, language and their simultaneous parody, the denial of many familiar schemes, which is reflected in unexpected plot twists and interpretations of the characters and their extraordinary characters. In this case, we are dealing with a process that M. M. Bakhtin called "reaccentuation".
The principle of contradictions, a kind of literary paradox underlying Mitchell's novel, involves the combination and opposition of well-known information, the code of "old known problems" and new "original solutions". The situations in which the characters of Gone with the Wind find themselves have been played out in many literary texts, but in this case they are realized in an unusual way for the “southern” novel. E. A. Stetsenko rightly noted that Gone with the Wind goes beyond the limits of “formal literature”.
It is possible that genre hybridity, a mixture of different traditions, the creation and destruction of habitual stereotypes distinguish "Gone with the Wind" from the many "southern" historical novels of the 1930s.
M. Mitchell in his novel managed to answer many requests of his time: to create not only his own version of the history of the South, but also to write a women's novel, in the center of which is not the traditional "southern beauty", but an active heroine, energetically building her life and career. Of course, we have before us a historical novel with adventurous elements, and social melodrama, and women's prose at the same time.
E. B. Borisova, L. V. Paloyko. The image of the main character of the novel by D. Du Maurier.
"Gone with the Wind" became the most famous controversy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852) by G. Beecher Stowe. For many readers, her novel was primarily a fictional history of the war between the North and the South. M. Mitchell actually created a novel no less innovative for her time than W. Faulkner's novel Absalom! Absalom!" Her work deserves close attention of Russian researchers.
Notes
1. Burin S. N. Time in Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind // American Yearbook 1989. Moscow: Science. 1990. S. 97-121.
2. Semenova L. N. South in the literature of the USA // Literature of the USA / ed. L. G. Andreeva. M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1973. S. 162-176; Semenova L. N. The problem of the "southern tradition" in American criticism of the 60s. 20th century (Formation and development of the "southern tradition" in the US novel XIX-XX centuries): dis. ... cand. philol. Sciences. M.: MSU.
3. Stetsenko E. A. The problem of time in the "southern school" of the modern American novel: dis. ... cand. philol. Sciences. Moscow: IMLI, 1978; Stetsenko E. A. History in popular literature (M. Mitchell "Gone with the Wind") // Faces of Mass Literature in the USA. M., 1991. S. 206.
4. Arkhangelskaya I. B. The work of Margaret Mitchell and the “southern tradition” in US literature (30s of the XX century): dis. ... cand. philol. Sciences. N. Novgorod, NGPI im. M. Gorky, 1993.
5. Galinskaya I. L. Keys to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. M.: INION RAN, 1996.
6. Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind" Letters 1926-1949 / ed. by R. Harwell. N. Y .; L .: Macmillan, 1976.
7. Edwards A. A Road to Tara. The Life of Margaret Mitchell. New Haven, N. Y.: Ticknor and Fields, 1983.
8. Brown E. F, Wiley J. Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind: A Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood. Lanham, MD: Taylor Trade, 2011. ix.
9. Farr F. Margaret Mitchell of Atlanta - the Author of "Gone with the Wind"". N.Y., 1974.
10. Jones A. G. Tomorrow is Another Day. The Woman Writer in the South. 1859-1936. Baton Rouge and London, 1982, pp. 333-350;
11. Reins S. T. The Making of a Masterpiece. The True Story of Margaret Mitchell's Classic Novel Gone with the Wind. Beverly Hills: Global Book Publishers, 2009.
13. Edwards A. Op. cit. P.9.
14. Biographical material, including the history of the creation of the novel, is taken from sources that are presented in this list of references under numbers from 8 to 13.
17. Brickell H. A Talk with Margaret Mitchell about Her Novel and the Reasons of its Popularity // New York Evening Post. 1936. Aug. 23. P. 13.
19. Commager H. S. The Civil War in Georgia Clay Hills // New York Herald Tribune. 1936. July 5. P. 11.
20. Williams M. Romance of Reality // Commonweal, 1936. No. XXIV. Aug. 28. P. 430.
22. Young S. A Life in the Arts. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1975. Vol. 2. P. 706707, 713-714.
23. Bishop J. B. War and Peace // 1936. LXXXVII. July 15, p. 301.
24. Cowley M. Gone with the Wind // New Republic. 1936. LXXXVIII. Sep. 16. P. 161.
25. Scott E. War between the States //Nation. 1936. CXLIII. July 4. P. 19.
26. Derrida J., Ronell A. The Law of Genre // Critical Inquiry. Vol. 7. No. 1. On Narrative (Autumn, 1980). P. 55-81. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1343176
27. See, for example: Mitchell M. Gone with the Wind. N.Y.: Avon Books, 1991.
28. Cawelty S. C. Adventure. Mystery and Romance. Formula Stories and Popular Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977, p. 35.
29. Bakhtin M. M. Questions of literature and aesthetics. M.: Artist. lit., 1975. C. 231.
30. Stetsenko E. A. History in mass literature. . S. 206.
E. B. Borisova, L. V. Paloiko
THE IMAGE OF THE MAIN HEROINE OF D. DU MAURIER’S NOVEL “REBECCA” AS A SUBJECT OF LINGUOPOETICAL STUDY
The article discusses the problem of philological analysis of the text, considers the modern approach to the linguopoetical method, highlights its purpose, substantiates the advantages and outlines development prospects. The authors demonstrate the application of this method on the example of the analysis of the image of an artistic character, the main parameters of which are the introduction, portrait, speech characteristics, actions and the author's attitude on the material of the novel "Rebecca" by D. Du Maurier.
The article deals with the problem of philological analysis of literary texts. The authors focus on modern approach to the linguopoetic method of analysis, its main objective, advantages and perspectives. The paper demonstrates the way it works on the main structural and compositional elements of a literary image (introduction, visual rendering, speech presentational, actions and the author's attitude) of the main character in the novel "Rebecca" by D. Du Maurier .
Key words: linguopoetics, linguopoetical function, literary image, key parameters of the image, author's intention.
Keywords: linguopoetics, linguopoetics function, literary image, the main elements of a literary image, author's intention.
The philological study of fiction necessarily presupposes a connection between
© Borisova E. B., Paloiko L. V., 2012
Margaret Mitchell - of course, this name is familiar to many. What comes to your mind when you hear it? Many will say: "The famous writer from America, the author of Gone with the Wind." And they will be right. Do you know how many novels Margaret Mitchell wrote? Do you know the unique fate of this woman? But there is so much to say about her...
The novel Gone with the Wind, which gained worldwide fame, was first published in 1936. It has been translated into many languages and has gone through over 100 editions. To this day, this novel remains a global bestseller. He radically changed the life of Margaret Mitchell. You will find her photo and biography in this article.
M. Mitchell family
Margaret was born on the threshold of the 20th century - November 8, 1900. She was born in the American city of Atlanta. Her parents were quite wealthy. In the family, the girl was the second child. Margaret's older brother (born 1896) was named Stephen (Stevens). Note that Margaret's ancestors (which is not surprising) were not Native Americans. Ancestors on the father's side moved from Ireland to the United States, and on the mother's side - from France. During the Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, both grandfathers of the future writer participated in the battles on the side of the southerners.
Father's influence
Peggy's father (that was the name of Margaret in childhood, and later - close friends) was a well-known lawyer in his city, specialized in real estate. The family belonged to high society. Eugene Mitchell, its head, dreamed of becoming a writer in his youth, but this dream did not come true for unknown reasons. He was an excellent storyteller, an educated man, he presided over the historical society of the city. What did he say to his children? Of course, about the past war, about which he told them many stories.
Mother's influence
Mother Margaret (her name was Maria Isabella) was an educated, purposeful woman and even outstanding for her time. She was among the founders of the movement that fought for women's suffrage, as well as the Association of Catholics. Maria Isabella tried to instill good taste in her daughter.
Passion for literature, the behavior of young Margaret
Little Margaret became interested in literature in elementary school. She began composing short plays for the school theater. Peggy was fond of love and adventure novels. And at the age of 12, she met with cinema. The girl studied mediocrely, especially mathematics was not easy for her. It is known that Margaret behaved like a boy. She loved horse riding, climbed fences and trees. However, at the same time, she danced beautifully and knew ballroom etiquette very well.
Death of mother and fiance
Margaret's mother died in 1918 from an influenza epidemic. The girl had to return to Atlanta. Then, in 1918, her fiancé, Lieutenant Henry Clifford, died in France in the Battle of the Meuse River.
Margaret - mistress of the estate
Margaret took over the duties and cares of the mistress of the estate. For several years she was engaged exclusively in his affairs. This circumstance, however, is not combined with the impudent character of Margaret Mitchell. Her biography of that time was devoid of harmony with the inner world. This situation weighed heavily on the girl. Mitchell, years later, would describe his brashness and propensity for bold deeds in the person of Scarlett, the protagonist of his only novel. She will say about her that she is "smart like a man", but as a woman she is completely devoid of this quality.
Acquaintance with John Marsh and unexpected marriage
The girl met in 1921 with a responsible and reserved young man named John Marsh. Margaret's friends and family were convinced that the couple would get married. There was also an acquaintance with the parents, the day of the wedding was appointed. However, something inexplicable happened that left everyone in amazement. In 1922, on September 2, Margaret married the loser Red Upshaw, who was engaged in illegal supplies of alcohol. The married life of this couple was unbearable. Margaret suffered beatings and insults all the time. She was brought out of a severe depression by the support and love of John Marsh. This man forgot about his jealousy. He managed to discard all grievances and help Margaret take place as a person in this world.
Divorce and new marriage
Mitchell divorced her husband in 1925 and married Marsh. The newlyweds felt happy. Finally they found each other. It was John who convinced his wife to take up the pen. The girl began to write not for success and not for the public, but out of a desire to understand herself, for the sake of her own inner balance.
The fact is that Margaret was a housewife and read a lot, while away the time. However, for such an active nature, reading alone was not enough. She got depressed. Therefore, John Marsh came up with a way to make his wife's life richer and more interesting. He gave her a typewriter in 1926, congratulating the girl on the beginning of her writing career. Margaret liked the gift, and she began to sit for hours over this chirping apparatus, from which she extracted lines with stories from the recent past of the United States - the war of the North and South, in which her ancestors participated.
Making a novel
John, returning from work, carefully read what his wife had written during the day. He worked as an editor in a newspaper, so he could tell what was wrong. After that, the couple discussed new plot twists. Together they made amendments to the text, and also finalized the chapters of the work. John Marsh turned out to be a brilliant adviser and a good editor. He found the literature needed for the novel, carefully delving into the details of the era described in the book.
By December 1932 the book was finished. However, it was being finalized even before July 1935, since the editor of Macmillan persuaded the girl to publish her novel. Its preparation for publication began, separate episodes began to be collected together. The novel was named after the poem "Gone with the Wind" by Ernest Dawson, a famous work at the time.
Huge success for Gone with the Wind
The success of Margaret Mitchell's work was enormous. The novel, published by the publishing house, has become a real event in US literature. In 1936 he received the most prestigious in this country. Margaret Mitchell, according to many critics, managed to recreate the American dream in her work. The novel became a symbol of the citizen of America, a model of his behavior. Contemporaries compared the characters of the book with the heroes of ancient legends. During the war years, men were usually brought up in the spirit of democratic individualism and enterprise, and women wore Scarlett's hair and clothes. Even the light industry in America quickly reacted to the popularity of the new novel: Scarlett-style gloves, hats and dresses appeared in boutiques and stores. Producer David Selznick, very famous in America, has been writing the script for Gone with the Wind for over four years.
Screen adaptation of the novel
Started in 1939. Margaret categorically refused to act in this film. However, she was literally inundated with verbal requests and letters, in which she asked to help in creating the picture and to attach one of her relatives or at least acquaintances to the shooting. Mitchell did not even want to go to the premiere of the film. The burden of fame turned out to be too heavy for this woman. She understood that her work had become a world heritage. However, Margaret did not want strangers to interfere in the life of her family and her personal life.
Unexpected popularity
This is not surprising, because recognition and fame fell unexpectedly on Margaret Mitchell. Her biography became the property of the whole country. Her popularity in society was enormous. Mitchell began to be invited to American educational institutions to lecture. She was photographed, she was interviewed ... For many years, the story of Margaret Mitchell was of no interest to anyone. She lived a measured, quiet life with her husband, and now she suddenly found herself in front of the whole country. March tried in every possible way to protect his wife from pesky journalists. He took over all correspondence with publishers, and also managed the finances.
Tribute to John Marsh
Having become acquainted with the history of the creation of this wonderful novel, we can say with full confidence that John Marsh is a vivid example of how a real man, without a moment's hesitation, transferred his priority of approval in the family to his beloved woman. At the cost of his career, John created an almost ideal environment for Margaret to realize her talent. Mitchell herself, who dedicated her novel to D.R.M.
How did Margaret Mitchell die?
The writer died in Atlanta, her hometown, on August 16, 1949. She died from injuries received a few days earlier in a traffic accident. But how did this tragic event happen? Let's talk about him.
On September 11, 1949, Mitchell went to the cinema with her husband. The couple walked slowly along Peach Street, which Margaret loved so much. Suddenly, at high speed, a taxi flew around the corner and hit Mitchell. The driver is said to have been drunk. Without regaining consciousness, on August 16, Margaret died. She was buried at the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. John Marsh lived for another three years after her death.
The relevance of the work
There is nothing dearer and closer to a person than a story that tells about himself. Perhaps that is why the work "Gone with the Wind" will never lose its relevance. It will count for years to come.
Very bright and lived by Margaret Mitchell. A short biography introduces readers only to its main events. Her story is an example of what women can do in literature (as, indeed, in life) no less than men. And even much more than many of them.
Margaret Mitchell: quotes
And in conclusion, let us cite a few statements by M. Mitchell. All of them are from her wonderful work:
- "I won't think about it today, I'll think about it tomorrow."
- "When a woman can't cry, it's scary."
- "Loads either hew people or break them."
Margaret Mitchell is a writer best known for her novel Gone with the Wind. The book was first published in 1936. It has been translated into various languages and reprinted over 100 times. The work was often called the “book of the century”, since the popularity of the novel, even in 2014, surpassed other best-selling works.
Childhood and youth
Margaret Mitchell was born November 8, 1900 in Atlanta, Georgia, in a wealthy and prosperous family. She was a Scorpio by zodiac sign and Irish by nationality. Mitchell's paternal ancestors moved to the United States from Ireland, and relatives on the mother's side moved to a new place of residence from France. Both those and others played for the southerners during the Civil War of 1861-1865.
The girl had an older brother named Stephen (Stephen). My father worked as a lawyer and dealt with real estate litigation. Eugene Mitchell brought the family into high society. He had an excellent education, was chairman of the city historical society, and in his youth dreamed of becoming a writer. He raised children in respect for their ancestors and the past, often talking about the events of the Civil War.
The efforts of the mother cannot be underestimated. Educated and purposeful, she was known as an outstanding lady, ahead of her time. Maria Isabella was one of the founders of the campaign for women's suffrage and was a member of the Catholic Association. The woman instilled good taste in her daughter and guided her on the right path. Margaret also liked cinema, adventure novels, horseback riding and climbing trees. Although the girl behaved excellently in society and danced well.
Margaret Mitchell in her youth During her school years, Mitchell wrote plays for the student theater club. Then, as a student at the Washington Seminary, she attended the Philharmonic in Atlanta. There she became the founder and leader of the drama club. In addition to theatrical business, Margaret was interested in journalism. She was the editor of the school yearbook Facts and Fantasy and served as president of the Washington Literary Society.
At 18, Margaret Mitchell met Henry Clifford, a 22-year-old New York native. The acquaintance took place at a dance and gave hope for the development of relations, but Henry was forced to go to the front to participate in the battles of the First World War in France. Margaret went to Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. In this educational institution, she studied psychology and philosophy.
In 1918, Margaret learned about the death of her fiancé. Her sadness was redoubled when the news came that her mother had died from a flu epidemic. The girl returned to Atlanta to help her father, became the mistress of the estate and plunged into managing it. History is seen in Mitchell's biography. Margaret was a daring, courageous and intelligent woman. In 1922, she became a reporter for the Atlanta Journal, for which she wrote essays.
Books
Gone with the Wind is the novel that brought fame to Margaret Mitchell. In 1926, the writer broke her ankle and stopped working with the magazine she worked for. She was inspired by the independent work, although she wrote it non-linearly. Being a southerner, Margaret created a novel about the events of the Civil War, evaluating them from her own, subjective point of view.
But Mitchell was attentive to historical facts and based her descriptions on a variety of sources. She even interviewed former combatants. Subsequently, the author said that the characters of the novel do not have real prototypes. But, knowing the peculiarities of the views of suffragettes, understanding the mores and characteristics of the era of the Great Depression, the popularization of psychoanalysis, Mitchell gave the main character unusual qualities and characteristics. A woman of not the best morals has become a symbol of America.
Margaret carefully worked through each chapter. According to legend, the first had 60 variations and drafts. An interesting fact: the author originally named the main character Pansy, and only before giving the manuscript to the publisher, she changed her mind, correcting the name to Scarlett.
The book was published by Macmillan in 1936. A year later, Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize. From the first days, the sales statistics of the novel went through the roof. In the first 6 months, over 1 million copies were sold. Today, the book is sold at 250,000 copies a year. The work has been translated into 27 languages and has been reprinted more than 70 times in the USA alone.
The film rights were sold for $50,000, and this amount was a record. In 1939, Victor Fleming's film based on Mitchell's novel was released. He received 8 Oscar statuettes. The role was played, and Scarlett played.
The actress for the main role was searched for for 2 years and only the performer who reminded the director of the young Margaret was approved. Scarlett's popularity increased after the premiere of the tape. Women's outfits in the style of the heroine appeared on the shelves of stores.
Margaret Mitchell flatly refused to create a continuation of the novel. Moreover, she bequeathed to destroy her other works after her death, so it is impossible today to compile a complete bibliography of the writer. If there was a sequel to Scarlett's story, the reader won't know about it. Other works under the name of the author were not published.
Personal life
Margaret Mitchell has been married twice. Her first husband was an illegal alcohol supplier, a violent man Berrien Kinnard Upshaw. The beatings and bullying of her husband made the girl understand that she had made the wrong choice.
In 1925, Mitchell divorced him and married John Marsh, an insurance salesman. It is curious that the young people had known each other since 1921 and were planning an engagement. Their relatives already knew each other, and the wedding day was determined. But Margaret's rash act almost broke her personal life.
The wedding of Margaret Mitchell and her first husband Berrien Upshaw. Left - future husband John Marsh John insisted that Margaret leave her job as a reporter, and the family settled on Peach Street. There, the former journalist began to write a book. The husband showed miracles of loyalty and patience. He forgot about his jealousy and completely shared the interests of his wife. Marsh persuaded Margaret to take up the pen not for the public, but for her own satisfaction, because after becoming a housewife, Mitchell often experienced depression due to the lack of an important occupation.
Simple reading was not enough for her inquisitive mind. In 1926, Mitchell received a typewriter as a gift from her husband. John supported his wife in everything. Returning from work, he read the material written by her, helped think through plot twists and turns and conflicts, made corrections and looked for primary sources to describe the era.
The publication of the novel brought the author worldwide fame, but the fame that fell on Mitchell became a heavy burden. She did not want increased attention and did not even go to the premiere of the film based on her book. Margaret was invited to lectures at universities, her photos appeared everywhere, and journalists pestered her with requests for interviews.
Responsibility during this period was assumed by John Marsh. The writer's husband maintained correspondence with publishers and controlled financial matters. He devoted himself to the self-realization of his wife. The wife appreciated the feat, so the novel "Gone with the Wind" was dedicated to the beloved man Margaret Mitchell.
Death
Margaret died on August 16, 1949. The cause of death was a traffic accident. She was hit by a car driven by a drunk driver. As a result of the accident, the writer never regained consciousness. The woman was buried in Atlanta, at the Oakland Cemetery. Husband Margaret Mitchell lived after her death for 3 years.
In memory of the writer, there are several quotes, the film "Burning Passion: The Story of Margaret Mitchell", describing the woman's biography, photos, interviews and an immortal novel.
In 1991, Alexandra Ripley published a book called Scarlett, which became a kind of continuation of Gone with the Wind. The presentation of the novel stirred up a new wave of interest in the work of Margaret Mitchell.
Quotes
"I won't think about it today, I'll think about it tomorrow"
"When a woman can't cry, it's scary"
"Loads either hew people or break them"