Biography
American writer. Margaret Mitchell was born on November 8 (in some sources - November 9) 1900 in Atlanta (Georgia, USA), in a wealthy family. Paternal ancestors were from Ireland, maternal - French. During the years of the Civil War between North and South (1861-1865), both of Margaret's grandfathers fought on the side of the southerners; one received a bullet in the temple, only accidentally not hitting the brain, the other hid from the victorious Yankees for a long time. The father of Margaret and her brother Stevens, Eugene Mitchell, a prominent lawyer in Atlanta, a real estate expert who dreamed of becoming a writer in his youth, was chairman of the local historical society, thanks to which the children grew up in an atmosphere of stories about the amazing events of the recent era.
Margaret took up literature at school: for the school theater she wrote plays from the life of exotic countries, including from the history of Russia; she loved to dance and ride horses. After graduating from high school, she studied at the Seminary. J.Washington, then for almost a year she studied at Smith College in Northampton (Massachusetts), dreaming of going to Austria for an internship with Sigmund Freud. But in January 1919, her mother died of the flu, and Margaret stayed at home to care for her sick father. In 1918, in France, in the battle on the Meuse River, Margaret's fiancé, Lieutenant Clifford Henry, died; every year on the day of his death, she sent flowers to his mother. From 1922, Margaret took up journalism, becoming a reporter and essayist for the Atlanta Journal, specializing in historical essays. What is known about Margaret's first marriage is that she did not part with a gun until she filed for divorce in 1925. After the divorce, her ex-husband (Berry Kinnard Upshaw, nicknamed Red) was found murdered somewhere in the Midwest. In 1925, she remarried - to insurance agent John Marsh, at the request of her husband, she left her job as a reporter and settled with him not far from Peach Street, famous for her. The life of a typical provincial lady began, although Margaret's house differed from other provincial houses in that it was full of some kind of papers, which both guests and herself made fun of. These pieces of paper were the pages of the novel "Gone with the Wind" (Gone with the Wind), created from 1926 to 1936.
Gone with the Wind began in 1926 when Margaret Mitchell wrote the main line of the last chapter: "She failed to understand either of the two men she loved, and now she has lost both." In December 1935, the final (60th!) version of the first chapter was written, and the manuscript was sent to the publisher. The name of the main character of the novel was found at the last moment - right at the publishing house. It is believed that the main characters of the novel had prototypes: for example, the image of Scarlett reflects many of the character traits and appearance of Margaret Mitchell herself, the image of Rhett Butler may have been created with Red Upshaw, Margaret's first husband. According to one version, for the title of the book, words were taken from Horace's poem, arranged by Ernst Dawson: "I forgot a lot, Cinara; blown away by the wind, the aroma of these roses was lost in the crowd ..."; the estate of the O'Hara family began to be called the same as the ancient capital of the Irish kings - Tara. Margaret herself defined the theme of the novel as "survival".
The clan of "professionals from literature", which consisted of authoritative critics, did not recognize the novel by Margaret Mitchell, an unknown author at that time. The general opinion of the "professional" critics was De Voto, who said that "the number of readers of this book is significant, but not the book itself." A different assessment of the novel was given by Herbert Wells: "I'm afraid that this book is better written than other respected classics." There were rumors from the world of professional writers that Margaret copied the book from her grandmother's diary or that she paid Sinclair Lewis to write the novel. Despite all this, the novel became a bestseller from the first days of its publication, received the Pulitzer Prize (1938), went through more than 70 editions in the United States, and was translated into many languages of the world.
Margaret Mitchell flatly refused to continue the novel, saying jokingly: "Brought by the Breeze" - a novel in which there will be a highly moral plot in which all the characters, including Beauty Watling, will change their souls and characters, and they will all wallow in hypocrisy and stupidity " She also refused to shoot a "film about the author of the novel", refused to give interviews, did not agree to the use of names associated with the novel in the advertising industry (there were applications for the appearance of Scarlett soap, Rhett men's travel bag, etc.) , did not allow to make a musical out of the novel.
In 1939, Gone with the Wind was filmed by director Victor Fleming (Metro Goldwyn Mayer). In 1936, David Selznick, who wanted to bring the novel to the screen, paid a record $50,000 for that year to win the film rights from the Warner brothers. Margaret, fearing the failure of the film, refused to take any part in its creation, including the selection of actors for the main roles and help in preparing the script. As a result, the script was rewritten by many people, going in circles from one screenwriter, writer, director to another, including Salznick himself, until he returned to Sydney Howard, who offered the script that served as the basis for the film adaptation of the novel. The search for an actress for the role of Scarlett lasted about two years. The problem of the "actress" was resolved when the shooting of the film had already begun - in 1938, a beautiful Englishwoman, a pupil of Catholic monasteries, Vivien Leigh, very similar to Margaret at the age of 20, appeared on the set. Although Margaret Mitchell often reminded at the time that Melanie was the true heroine of Gone with the Wind, and Scarlett could not be, Scarlett was the film's key figure. The film premiered on December 14, 1939 in Atlanta. The film stars Vivien Leigh (Scarlett O'Hara), Clark Gable (Rhett Butler), Olivia de Haviland (Melanie Wilks), Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilks), Thomas Mitchell (Gerald O'Hara, Scarlett's father), Barbara O'Neal (Elyn O "Hara, Scarlett's mother), Hattie McDaniel (Mammy). In 1939, Gone with the Wind won eight Oscars: Best Film of the Year; Best Director (Victor Fleming); Best Actress (Vivien Leigh); Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel); the best adaptation of the novel to the screenplay; best cinematography; best artist; best installation. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Olivia de Haviland).
Scarlett's popularity grew at an incredible rate. Attempts by reporters to ask Margaret if she wrote off this woman from herself infuriated her: "Scarlett is a prostitute, I am not!" "I tried to describe a far from delightful woman, about whom little good can be said, and I tried to withstand her character. I find it ridiculous and ridiculous that Miss O" Hara has become something of a national heroine, I think it's very bad - for the moral and mental state of the nation - if the nation is able to applaud and be carried away by a woman who behaved in this way ... "Over time, Margaret gradually warmed to her creation. At the premiere of the film Gone with the Wind, she already thanked for the attention "to me and to my poor Scarlett."
Margaret Mitchell died on August 16, 1949 in Atlanta (Georgia), having died from injuries received in a car accident thanks to a drunk taxi driver.
Sources of information:
Born November 9, 1900 in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of lawyer Eugene Mitchell and Maria Isabella, often referred to as May Belle, one of the first ladies of Atlanta, a member of various charitable societies and an active suffragette - an adherent of an early form of feminism. It was the mother who became the prototype of the image of a real lady, it was she who gave an idea of the qualities that a real woman of that time should have.
Having started her studies, Margaret first attends the Washington Seminary, then in 1918 enters the prestigious Smith College for Women (Massachusetts). She returns to Atlanta to take over the household after her mother's death from the great Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.
AT In 1921, Peggy (that was the name of Margaret all the people close to her) met in Atlanta, in the Hare Hole teahouse, where aspiring writers, students, journalists gathered, with a young man named John Marsh. The man, who was 26 years old by that time, was very serious, and his character was conducive to this. Restrained, internally very disciplined, with an incredibly developed sense of responsibility, John was the best suited for the role of a husband. In addition, the "beauty from the South" quickly won his heart. The girl was not only attractive in appearance, but had a wonderful gift for storytelling, sparkling wit and dreamed of journalism.
After graduating from the University of Kentucky, John moved to Atlanta to be closer to Peggy. But such a quick victory seemed insipid to the extravagant beauty, and there was no desire to refuse the attention of other fans. “I would like to love a man,” wrote young Margaret, “and that he loves me more than all other women. I want to get married, help my husband, raise healthy children. But the trouble is that I don’t know how to love strongly enough ... ”God knows what high demands for a girl - who didn’t have the mind to give herself entirely to family and offspring, but Margaret through puritanical resignation to fate, a kind of “toothy little devil” peeps through, so familiar to the reader of “Gone with the Wind”.
Friends were convinced that John and Peggy would get married. Indeed, the mother of the groom already liked the future bride, already Margaret reads her stories to John in the evenings, already shares her cherished dreams with him, already ... And then something happens that amazed everyone who knew their relationship. On September 2, 1922, Peggy marries Red Upshaw, a loser, an alcoholic, a worthless person, unable to support a family, narrow-minded and boring (in the same year, she starts working as a journalist, becoming a leading reporter for the Atlanta Journal newspaper). Experiments on yourself do not always end well Living together with Upshaw becomes a living hell: Peggy has to endure insults, humiliation and even beatings, which leads her to severe depression. It is not known what would have become of her if not for the loyalty and unwavering support of John. He selflessly drowned out jealousy, cast aside petty grievances to save his beloved and helped her, first of all, to take place as a person. With the help of John, Margaret begins to publish in a local magazine, takes interviews (one of the most successful - with Rudolph Valentino), learns to put thoughts into words.
The power of true love is revealed to Margaret in John's devotion. Eccentricity and eccentricity turned out to be good only for cheap “tales”, and nothing in life is valued as highly as true understanding and forgiveness. “I can only say,” Margaret wrote to John’s mother, “that I sincerely love John, a faithful and strong friend in whom I have unlimited trust, and a tender, attentive lover.”
Finally Margaret divorced Red, and in 1925 she married John Marsh. The constant tension and nervous stress that accompanied a dramatic relationship with his beloved led John to a serious illness. Her seizures - a sudden loss of consciousness - tormented him throughout his life, because of which he was forced to give up driving. The frivolity of actions was not in vain for Margaret herself. As a memory of the mistakes of her youth, she was left with severe headaches, trouble with her eyes and bouts of severe depression. However, the grievances caused did not overshadow their coexistence, on the contrary, our heroes felt infinitely happy, having finally found each other. The first years of marriage - penniless and carefree - were accompanied by cheerful friendly feasts, evenings at the cinema, close travels and the music of Duke Ellington. Everything was permeated with unclouded joy, ease of attitude to life, anti-Victorian cheerful morality. Then came something greater, inseparable, transcending passion and violent impulses. “By nature, we do not coincide in many ways,” Marsh wrote years later, “because you can be surprised how we managed to cope with each other, because, oddly enough, we have been successfully getting along for many years now. Perhaps the secret is that she forgives me for my qualities, and I forgive her for hers.
But perhaps the secret of their happy marriage was even simpler - John always thought not about his own self-affirmation, but first of all about helping his wife to realize herself, to find herself. For him, she was not his own, albeit precious, thing, but a person who had the right to spiritual joys. It was John who convinced Margaret, after another depression, to take up a case in which her wife could forget herself, which could captivate her. Peggy grew up in an atmosphere of stories about the civil war, she thoroughly knew the history of her native country, and it was a shame to continue to keep this knowledge as "dead capital". Margaret began to write not for the public, not for success, but in order to survive, to find inner balance, to understand herself.
The turning point in the creative destiny of Margaret Mitchell can be considered her conversation with John in the fall of 1926, after which he gave her a Remington typewriter, jokingly congratulating her on her career. And now the whole life of our heroine revolved around this chirring apparatus. The story of the war between the North and the South becomes the core of their joint existence, their only brainchild, their Noah's Ark. John's participation in the creation of the novel can hardly be overestimated: he wanted to love and be loved, as a result, he came up with the idea that glorified his Galatea.
Every evening, returning from work (John worked for the rest of his life in the Electric Company in the advertising department), the husband sat down to read the pages written by Peggy during the day. Long after midnight, new twists of the plot were discussed, amendments were made, and difficult parts of the novel were finalized. John turned out to be a brilliant editor and a delicate adviser - he not only helped his wife hone her writing skills, but also looked for the right literature, meticulously dealt with every detail of life, costume, and the era described.
Basically, the novel was written by the end of 1932, but was finalized until 1935. It seemed that the game started by John had successfully come to a victorious end, but the child born into the world showed obstinacy and wanted to get rid of the parental diapers. The editor of the American branch of the English "Macmillan" with professional instinct caught the originality of the idea and convinced Mitchell to publish her work.
After the conclusion of the contract, the married couple realized what a serious business they had taken. It's one thing to entertain each other in the evenings with an invented story, it's another thing to prepare a novel for publication. The work was not written in a strict sequence, with a huge number of options (Mitchell had sixty first chapters alone). And how intense was the search for the name! What was not offered! Finally, Margaret settled on "Gone with the Wind," a line from a poem by Ernst Dawson.
It is not enough to say that the novel became an event in American literature: in 1936 he received the most prestigious Pulitzer Prize in the United States. Most importantly, Mitchell managed to recreate the "American dream", she gave the domestic reader a certain model of behavior, a certain symbol of a "true citizen". Its heroes can be compared with the mythological characters of ancient legends - this is exactly what the images of "Gone with the Wind" had for the Americans. The men nurtured Ratt's enterprise and democratic individualism. Women imitated Scarlett's clothes and hairstyle. The flexible American industry promptly responded to the popularity of the book: dresses, hats, Scarlett-style gloves appeared on sale. Renowned film producer David Selznick worked hard for four years on the script for Gone with the Wind.
The premiere, held in Atlanta - the city in which Mitchell spent most of her life - on December 15, 1939, was an unprecedented triumph for the film, and the novel, and its author. To the question: “Well, are you proud of your wife, John?” Marsh replied, “I was proud of her long before she wrote the book.”
The test of fame fell on Mitchell unexpectedly, and she would not have survived it if she had not had a faithful friend next to her. Overnight, Margaret became incredibly popular: she was invited to lectures, interviewed, tormented by photographers. “For many years, John and I lived a quiet, solitary life that we loved so much. And now we are in sight ... ”The husband took on part of the heavy burden: he tried his best to protect Margaret from annoying visitors, helped with correspondence, negotiated with publishers, and made financial business.
To one of the frequently asked questions about whether she wrote off the main character from herself, Margaret sharply answered: “Scarlett is a prostitute, I am not!” And she explained: “I tried to describe a far from delightful woman about whom little good can be said ... I find it ridiculous and ridiculous that Miss O'Hara has become something of a national heroine, I think it is very bad for the moral and mental state nation - if the nation is able to applaud and be carried away by a woman who behaved in a similar way. Over time, seeing the growing enthusiasm, the writer gradually warmed to her creation ...
Looking back at the history of the creation of this unique book, we can rightfully say that we have the rarest example when a man gave priority to a woman's personal affirmation in the family, when he created ideal conditions for the success of his wife at the cost of his own career and ... did not miscalculate.
August 16 1949died after being hit by a car. John outlived her by three years. One of the journalists, a family friend, said: “Gone with the Wind might not have been written if not for the constant support from the one to whom the novel is dedicated:“ J. R. M. ”. This is the shortest and simplest initiation that can be ... "
The book "Gone with the Wind" by M. Mitchell is undoubtedly a masterpiece of world classics. However, as regards this particular publication... L. Summ's article "The House on Peach Street" was somewhat distressing. After reading it, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, there are many different facts from the life of the writer, but on the other hand, the desire to read the book itself has already diminished after studying this article, because the subjective opinion of the author and the disclosure of the content of the plot discourage the desire to read the novel. In my opinion, it should not have been placed at the beginning of the book. It is important for the reader to feel the content himself, draw his own conclusions, and not rely on the opinion of another person, even if he is a well-known writer who has carried out some specific analysis, capturing different sides of the writer's biography, with elements of his own opinion. Do not force a particular point of view on the reader. He will figure everything out himself, because for this he bought this book. As for the novel by M. Mitchell. This piece grabs you from the first page. The accessible, easy language of the book describes the difficult time of the events of the American Civil War (1861-1865) and the life of a particular person, a southerner Scarlett O "Hara, who will have to survive the war itself and the Reconstruction period, as well as deal with life and understand what is in It has value.A great book for all time!
Read completely 
An era gone with the wind
There are people who believe that mankind has not yet written anything more brilliant than "War and Peace" and "Quiet Don". Allegedly, only in them is the whole palette of feelings and topics that are generally possible to cover in a literary work embraced. So argue those who do not want to look wider than exclusively classical Russian literature. There are works of the world that deal with all possible universal themes. One such piece is Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.
There is love between a man and a woman. Love for the motherland - oh yes. Maternal love, please. The problem of war - the entire first volume. The problem of post-war life is the whole second. Social inequality is also highlighted. Life path - all characters draw their own. The problem of fathers and children is also present. The list is endless.
Margaret Mitchell's first and only novel has earned a truly worldwide fame. Envious people started a rumor that the writer simply stole a story from her grandmother's personal diary, although I do not see anything criminal in this. Margaret's most frequently asked question was the expected one: "Do you identify yourself with Scarlett O'Hara?" To which Mitchell invariably replied: "Scarlett is a whore, but I am not. How did you even allow yourself to ask me this?" The writer herself planned to make Melanie Wilkes the main character of the novel ... but something went wrong. Now it is Scarlett who is a symbol of the era, a role model, and for me also a role model. The first business woman - no more, no less!A strong girl, you can't argue with that.
The novel is skillfully written, it took a very long time to create it. But this time is not wasted. Mitchell rewrote individual episodes twenty times, and she wrote the entire novel out of chronological order! Titanic work - to put all this into one holistic text. Great text. Brilliant.
My boundless respect to the author and everyone who read this novel.
"... a whole world blown away by the wind ...".
Opening this book, we plunge into the wonderful world of the Old South. To a world where real gentlemen and true ladies live. In a world where no one is in a hurry. In a world where you want to stay forever. But along with the Civil War comes the end of this world, and we see the collapse of an entire civilization. Broken dreams and hopes for a brighter future, burned houses and entire cities, and most importantly - killed people. No, not killed by a bullet or a shell - although there are infinitely many of them - but people with a lost soul and a broken heart. Those whose ideas about life turned out to be wrong. Those who were prepared for a completely different life. Those who have nothing else. And at the center of this story is a woman who lost all her loved ones one by one; a woman who had to shoulder an unbearable burden; a woman who suddenly found herself at the bottom, but who fought her way up and clung to everything that came across with her hands and feet, just to stay afloat; a woman who discarded good manners and entered into "friendship" with her enemies; a woman who survived in critical times and looks straight ahead, leaving everyone and everything behind her; a woman worthy of praise for her courage and fortitude; the woman who never lived but never dies; a woman whose name is Scarlett O'Hara.
This woman has done everything possible. She has changed, discarded good manners and everything that can be perfectly dispensed with, spit on the opinion of society, overcame her pride, killed a person, endured fear and humiliation, the inability to do anything and uncertainty about the future. She did everything, but she turned out to be blind to those who really love her and whom she really loves.
Melanie Hamilton. Oh, how Scarlett disliked that woman! And not for any personal qualities, but only because Melanie married Ashley. Melanie, whose heart was so kind, could not have imagined that Scarlett hated her. She lived in her own little world, where neither fear, nor hatred, nor pain, nor cruelty, and anything that the war brought with it, could pass. Mellie was always close to Scarlett and was ready to sacrifice her life for her. She protected her from evil looks and words and could not understand why everyone hated the eldest of the O'Hara sisters so fiercely. Scarlett was able to understand that she loved this weak outside, but strong inside woman only when she was dying. She realized that Mellie has always stood behind her, and now, dying, she involuntarily takes away all the strength and support that she gave her in all these critical times.Scarlett does not lose her inner core, but loses what she considered natural all this time.
But Ashley Wilkes Scarlett loved from the very beginning. And what's more, Ashley thought that he himself was in love with this charming green-eyed girl. Scarlett spent too many years "love" for this dreamy young man who turned out to be a stranger in the new world, she lost too much because of this. Melanie's death acted like a ray of common sense on both. Ashley realized that all this time he loved Melanie and only her, and Scarlett realized that love for this fair-haired young man was just a habit, reinforced by confidence and an inability to see what was already so obvious. Melanie was Ashley's inner core - and for many, many more people - and when she was gone, Ashley lost the last thing worth living for, and Scarlett, who would gladly throw it away now, was bound by a promise to the woman she loved almost as much as strong as your own mother. Scarlett got another child to look after and take care of him for the rest of her life.
Being stubborn and unable to see the obvious, Scarlett until the last believed that she loved Ashley. And only when everything became clear, she realized a simple thing that she should have understood a long time ago: she loves Rhett, really loves.
Rhett Butler is a man whose name is associated with everything bad in the South. A man abandoned by his own father to the mercy of fate without a penny in his pocket, but nevertheless earned a lot of money and got on his own feet. Rhett is a man who, having fallen in love with the cruel Scarlett O "Hara, was ready to love her so tenderly and reverently, but by her will he could not do it. He, who never lost in anything, lost this fight. Both of them lost.
They were made for each other, they both loved freedom, money, independence, they both did not belong to the society in which they were born and lived. They loved each other so beautifully hating each other that it seemed they should be together.
But, faced with each other, so similar, they acted in the same way: they did not show each other their true feelings, but only were rude. They loved each other, Rhett loved consciously, but Scarlett did not, and they were so afraid that this feeling was not mutual that they could not show what really lies in their hearts.
We can't say for sure if Rhett really believed that his love had worn out and that he no longer loved this woman. But we know for sure that Scarlett's stubbornness and perseverance will not allow her to let him go. She has always achieved her goals and now she will do everything possible and impossible to return him. And will return, if only it's not too late ...
novel about life
This novel is not only about love, it is a novel about life. About the struggle for life. Gone with the wind ... The wind of war, which not only carried away, but scattered people around the country, the former way of life, family values. Life goes on, but at what cost? This book makes people admire the courage of people, their stamina, loyalty to their ideals.
This is a story about fragile southern women who keep their home in any conditions, remaining a "lady". This is a tribute to the memory of southern men who defended their country and freedom. This is the South of the United States of America, which is no more, but which will be admired and, at the same time, horrified for many, many more years.
But it is also a love story. Rather, several stories that are closely intertwined into one. Rhett and Scarlett, Melanie and Ashley, Gerald O'Hara and Allyn Robillard O'Hara, the Scarlett sisters and their lovers. Tragic and happy fates. Different people. One era.
Margaret Mannerlyn Mitchell is an American writer, journalist, and Pulitzer Prize winner. She was born on the eighth (according to some sources, it happened on the ninth) of November 1900 in Atlanta. During her life she managed to write a few works, but one of them became a world bestseller, and does not lose popularity even in the modern world. Of course, we are talking about the book "Gone with the Wind".
Family, youth and education of the writer
A girl was born in a wealthy family. She is of Irish descent on her father's side. The mother of the future writer, Frenchwoman Maria Isabella, was a well-known activist. She was engaged in various types of charity and participated in the actions of suffragettes, thereby the woman gave her daughter an excellent example of education.
In the press, Maria was often called May Belle. She married lawyer Eugene Mitchell, who was Margaret's father. Also in the family was born a son, who was named Stevens.
Even at school, the girl loved literature. She participated in writing scripts for the school theater, preferring the theme of exotic countries. She wrote her first stories at the age of nine. Margaret was also fond of dancing and horseback riding. Her favorite clothes were trousers, because they allowed her to move comfortably, climb over fences and ride a horse.
Studying at school did not cause delight in Mitchell, she hated math. But the mother was able to find an approach and convince the girl of the need for education. However, the rebellious spirit of the schoolgirl manifested itself in everything. She disliked the classics, preferring to devote her time to reading romance novels.
In 1918, the writer became a student at Smith's Women's College. But shortly after the start of her studies, her mother dies, so Peggy has to return and take over the management of the household. Once in her diary, she lamented that she was born a girl. Otherwise, she would like to study at a military school. Since the path to such professions was closed to women, Mitchell decides to become a journalist.
Despite the fact that journalism was also considered an exclusively male occupation for a long time, the talented writer managed to overcome this stereotype. She spent several years as a reporter for a local newspaper. Moreover, in one edition she published the "Feminist Manifesto", providing the article with a photograph of herself in cowboy boots, men's clothing and a hat. The family did not understand the free nature of the girl, so the picture caused a lot of controversy with elderly relatives.
Family and personal life
The first choice of the writer was the young officer Clifford Henry. They met back in 1914, it went to marriage, but then he was called. Unfortunately, the groom died in the war in France in 1918. For many years after the tragedy, the girl sent flowers to his mother.
With the next candidate for husbands, Peggy met in 1921 in a well-known tea house. Journalists, writers and students gathered there. John Marsh was five years older than the girl, he made a completely favorable impression. A restrained and well-mannered guy quickly fell in love with a smart girl with a great sense of humor. Immediately after graduating from Kentucky, Marsh moved closer to Margaret, but she realized that she was not yet ready to tie the knot. She wanted to feel stronger feelings, the journalist was not satisfied with her life at that time.
For some time, they continued their relationship with John, introduced their parents and friends to each other, everyone around was confident in the future wedding. But suddenly the girl changes her mind, and enters into a marriage with a supplier of illegal alcohol Barrien Upshaw. Margaret appears at the altar with a bouquet of red roses, once again shocking the stiff society.
Alas, the husband did not live up to expectations. He beat the girl, made constant scandals and tantrums, and then began to change. Mitchell took matters into her own hands and demanded a divorce. At the time, this was also considered an incredibly brash statement, so Upshaw fought back to the last. He threatened the writer, as a result of which, until his death, she slept with a gun under her pillow. The husband died in 1925.
In 1924, Margaret finally managed to get a divorce, and even return her maiden name. A year after that, she marries the aforementioned John. He showed himself perfectly, helping the girl cope with depression. Thanks to him, Peggy started working again, she realized that she loved Marsh in her own way. Shortly after the marriage, John received a promotion, and Mitchell quit due to a leg injury.
The secret of their relationship was partly that the husband did everything for the well-being of his woman. He could put his own needs aside, sacrificing whims for the well-being of his beloved. The husband was a patient editor, helped in finding additional information for the novel, and strongly supported Peggy morally.
One friend reported that Margaret's only novel, which later became a bestseller, might not have happened without John. It was to him that Mitchell dedicated her book, signing her husband as "J.R.M." During the presentation of the novel, the man was asked if he was proud of his wife, to which John replied that he began to be proud of her long before writing the bestseller. The couple had no children.
World bestseller
The indefatigable girl was bored of being at home as a housewife, so she began to mope again. One day her husband brought her a typewriter, joking that she would soon read all the books and there would be nothing left. Gradually, Peggy became interested in writing a novel, later called Gone with the Wind. The creative process lasted almost ten years, from 1926 to 1936. It all started with writing the key phrase of the final chapter. The name of the main character was invented impromptu, at that moment Margaret was already at the publishing house that was printing the book.
The process of writing the novel did not always go smoothly. Sometimes the girl typed chapters one after another, and then did not work on the text for weeks. She was cool about her own work, not considering it to be something special. For a long time, Margaret did not even show the book to her husband, because it seemed to her that it was all nonsense.
The book was published in June 1936, a year after that Mitchell received the Pulitzer Prize. She herself handled the advertising campaign around the novel, set the rights and royalties, and had full control over sales and translations. The writer agreed to shoot a film based on her novel, but refused to make a film about her own creative path. The woman ignored the invitation to the premiere of the film adaptation of the book, and she did not come to the ball in honor of this event.
Critics received Mitchell's novel far less admiringly than numerous readers. She was accused of plagiarism, the text was considered unprofessional, frivolous and of poor quality. Most of all, Peggy was hurt by accusations of theft, so she bequeathed to keep all evidence of her own authorship. The woman did not understand the general enthusiasm for the character of Scarlett, because she considered her a “far from delightful” woman, sometimes even called her heroine a prostitute. But over time, Margaret became more loyal to her own creation.
Fans begged her to write at least one more book, but the writer did not do this until the end of her days. She did charity work, donated money to the needs of the army, and was a Red Cross volunteer.
Death of Margaret
Peggy died on August 11, 1949. This happened on the way to the cinema, where they were heading with their husband. A drunk driver, who previously worked in a taxi, hit a woman, after which she was taken to the hospital. Margaret spent five days there, and then died without regaining consciousness. The woman was buried at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. Her husband died three years after her death.
“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 annual sales of the novel are a quarter of a million copies, 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 that caught fire right on her (as a result - severe burns), a 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