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 was asked to help in the creation of 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."

“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 20th 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 the summer of 1918, at a dance, Mitchell met Henry Clifford, a prominent twenty-two-year-old New Yorker. Their relationship was interrupted by Henry's death on the battlefield in October 1918 in France.

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.

After that, she 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 began work on her world-famous novel in 1926, when she broke her ankle and stopped writing for the magazine. Work on the novel was carried out in disarray: the last chapter appeared first, according to legend. She was writing a novel about the civil war and the rebuilding of the South, evaluating everything from the point of view of a southerner.

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.

The writer saw special importance in historical accuracy. In 1937, Margaret, in reply to a reader, wrote that she "read thousands of books, documents, letters, diaries and old newspapers." Mitchell herself conducted formal and informal interviews with people who fought in the Civil War.

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 day, 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.

All of Mitchell's books, except for Gone with the Wind, were destroyed, per her will. A complete list of her works is now hardly possible to find out, but it is known that among the forever lost creations of Mitchell was a novel in the Gothic style, written even before Gone.

No other novels were published under Mitchell's name. The writer devoted 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

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 an excellent 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 life of Margaret Mitchell can be considered her conversation with John in the fall of 1926, after which he presented her with 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 rightly 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 ... "

Terentyeva Tatyana Vitalievna

Faculty of Philology of Moscow State Pedagogical Institute M. E. Evsevyeva Saransk, Russia

Resume: The article examines the novel Gone with the Wind by M. Mitchell from the position of demonstrating the loss of the Golden Age of the American South after the end of the Civil War of 1861‒65. The author touches upon the significant role of M. Mitchell's novel in changing the mass consciousness in relation to traditional American mythology.

Keywords: M. Mitchell, American myth, popular culture, Civil War

«Gone with the wind» by M. Mitchell as the heritage of mass culture

Terentyeva Tatyana Vitalyevna

philology faculty MSPI named after M. E. Evsevyev Saransk, Russia

Abstract: The article examines the novel of M. Mitchell, "Gone with the Wind" from the perspective of demonstrating of the loss of the Golden Age of the American South after the Civil War of 1861‒65. The author concerns the significant role of the novel in changing of mass consciousness in the relation to the traditional American mythology.

Keywords: M. Mitchell, American myth, mass culture, the Civil War

As you know, reading foreign-language fiction contributes to the emergence of socio-cultural knowledge and ideas. There are cases when a work, in terms of its artistic level, is unworthy of comparison with the classics, nevertheless, gains unheard of popularity. In American literature, an example of such a novel is Gone with the Wind by M. Mitchell. Published in 1936 and filmed three years later, this novel, which gives a rather banal picture of the Civil War, made in the spirit of pseudo-historical fiction, which has always been one of the mainstreams of US popular literature, has been one of the most widely read books for more than half a century, successfully rivaling the classics. Is it a love story that has no likeness, love-war, love-extermination, where it grows through cynicism, despite etching from both sides; either a ladies' novel that has risen to real literature, because only a lady, probably, could spy on her heroine, how she kisses herself in the mirror, a lot of other more subtle internal details: whether this is a country estate novel, as we once did, only this estate cracks, burns and disappears in the first half of the novel, as if it were not there.

At the center of the novel was the legend of the heroism and valor of the Southerners in the Civil War. The writer tried to rethink the heroic past of her people. M. Mitchell's two grandfathers fought on the side of the southerners. The writer herself grew up in an atmosphere of stories about the events of this legendary era. Describing the events of the war years, she shows scenes of life away from the trenches. But what is happening in the military, put into the background, invades the lives of the heroes and greatly shakes it.

The events of the Civil War of 1861–65, according to culturologists, are significant in today's perception of the US past. The myth of the Civil War, preserved in the literature of the American South for almost half a century, gained particular relevance by the end of the Great Depression of 1929-39. According to a pre-American Civil War myth, Americans were the happiest people. After the war, the "magnolia" paradise shattered into pieces, leaving a confused people who could not adapt to the loss of the Golden Age. The American South needed traditional values ​​that would become a moral support, allowing to oppose the heroic past to the vague present, and, relying on it, to build a new system of moral values. Among the constituent parts of the “southern myth”, the following elements stand out: 1) war is a purely male occupation; 2) the cult of the "beautiful southern lady"; 3) self-confidence of southerners; 4) the endurance of the southerners and the super-bravery of the soldiers of the Confederation; 5) the kindness of a negro can only be spoiled; 6) code of honor "gentleman"; 7) the disappointment that befell the southern aristocrats after the end of the war.

Referring to the work, we note that the attraction of many American writers to modern mythology in literature is explained by their passionate desire to find stable values ​​and guidelines in the modern world.

According to the norms and ideas of that time, war was considered a male occupation, especially when it comes to southerners. It is believed that a true gentleman is always ready for exploits. In contrast to such a mythical statement, M. Mitchell cites the arguments of the aristocrat Ashley Wilkes, trying to tell readers about his view of the Civil War. “War is a dirty business, and dirt disgusts me. I am not a warrior by nature and I am not looking for a heroic death under bullets. M. Mitchell debunks the myth that the head of any house in the southern states is a man. The main character M. Mitchell Scarlett was the model of a woman with two children, leading a household and a sawmill at the same time. But what happened in the family of Scarlett's parents: Gerald “it seemed that, having heard the thunderous voice of the owner, everyone rushed to do his will. He was far from thinking that only one voice - the quiet voice of his wife - obeyed everything in the estate. All were participants in a delicate conspiracy: the owner must consider that here his word is the law.

M. Mitchell does not support the myth of a "beautiful southern woman" with snow-white skin, secular manners, a calm temperament, who observes religious precepts. Scarlett easily discards all moral precepts. Her appeal to God is blasphemous. As a result, she lies to her loved ones, violates the commandments “Thou shalt not kill,” closes her eyes to the theft of servants, and is ready for adultery. M. Mitchell confirms with his novel that “the moral code of the southern community justifies any lie, murder, if they are aimed at protecting the myths of the “traditional society”.

The novel Gone with the Wind by M. Mitchell is the final stage of the romantic tradition. The hero of this novel, Tommy, once said: “If our mother-in-laws went to war with us, we would have dealt with the Yankees in a week. We held out for so long because our women stood behind us. Having lost the only value they had before the war, their men, they do not give up and make plans for the future: “All of us who have sons must raise them worthy to take the place of the departed, grow them as brave as those » .

M. Mitchell highlights the ideal southerner - an aristocrat. This image is represented by Elline Robillard, Scarlett's mother. She is a symbol of real southern aristocracy, to which her daughter is trying to join. More often than not, Scarlett did things that Ellyn Robillard would not approve of. With the death of the mother, the perfection of the dream was destroyed. The myth does not withstand a collision with reality. The heroine nostalgically resurrects in her mind the state of a childhood gone forever. Reality does not correspond to the dream and Scarlett wants, at least mentally, at least for a moment, to return to the past, where the dream was a reality.

M. Mitchell in the novel "Gone with the Wind" combines the facts of American history with fictional situations. She was based on the stories of contemporaries of the Civil War and on the many scientific studies she read, the correspondence of prominent military figures of the North and South. Critics saw M. Mitchell's novel as a defense of the position of the South. In our opinion, M. Mitchell convincingly presented both the "southern" and "northern" points of view in the novel. Despite the fact that Margaret grew up and lived all her life in the South, she sees the failure of the positions of the southerners. With a deep understanding of the historical subtext of events, M. Mitchell draws a series of scenes in which the bragging of the southern society collide with Rhett Butler's confidence in the futility of the "Southern Cause".

There is an opinion that with the beginning of the Civil War, the southerners made a feasible contribution to the equipment of military squadrons. Slave owners donated horses and money to the Right Cause. M. Mitchell departs from this mythical statement, citing the words of Mrs. Tarleton, who does not want to part with her horses. And here are the experiences of the main character of the novel Scarlett O'Hara on the same occasion: “If the detachment takes all the living creatures from her, no one in the house will last until spring. The question of what the army would eat did not bother her. Let the army feed itself as best it can.”

Speaking about the courage of the southerners, it is impossible not to note the attitude of M. Mitchell to the legendary steadfastness of the Confederates. She managed to show the resilience and inflexibility of several characters in her novel. Uncle Henry Hamilton, for example, after returning from the front, was so emaciated that “his rosy cheeks sagged and dangled, and his long gray hair was indescribably dirty. Lice crawled on him, he was almost completely barefoot, hungry, but still unbending in spirit.

Even the behavior of the wounded soldiers is distinguished by restraint and patience: “The orderlies with a stretcher scurried back and forth, often stepping on the wounded, and they were stoically silent, looking up, waiting for the orderlies to reach their hands.”

M. Mitchell pays no less attention to the issue of the devotion of the servants. To the “positive” servants, she refers Mammy, who guesses the desires of her masters from a half-word, Pork, who is ready to go to crime in the name of her masters, and Dilsey, who is ready to work anywhere, just to thank her master. Using the example of Dilsey, the myth that the kindness of a Negro can only be spoiled is rejected.

War changes people. People around evaluate a person by the degree of his participation in the Civil War. So Rhett Butler has changed. Now he is attracted to what he discarded in his youth: family and honor. At the beginning of the war, he declared: “The fate of the Confederacy does not bother me at all. You can’t lure me into any troops with a roll.” A little later, the code of honor of a “true gentleman” leads him to the front in the ranks of the retreating southerners, although at that moment it was clear to everyone that the South was defeated. In response to a question from Scarlett, he succinctly explains: “Perhaps because of the damned sentimentality that lurks in every southerner. Our South needs every man now. I'm going to war." Unlike Scarlett, Ashley Wilks was a dreamer. Ashley himself admitted: "I am not fit to live in this world, and the world to which I belonged has disappeared." On the one hand, drawing the images of Ashley Wilks and the Scarlett sisters and Aunt Pitty, M. Mitchell emphasizes their ornamentality. These people are used to being cherished and cherished, and the slightest change in living conditions is an insurmountable barrier for them. They feel powerless to change anything. Looking at Scarlett, it is clear that the author was trying to show that not all southerners are hothouse plants. With the onset of the war, Scarlett is disillusioned with the system of education in which she grew up. But in the most difficult moments, in a ghostly haze, her ancestors stood before Scarlett. She recalled stories about how each of them got into such troubles, from which, it seemed, it was impossible to get out. But they all managed and later achieved prosperity and well-being. And Scarlett herself eventually becomes a model of a woman who managed to go through all the obstacles and not break. This new myth about a southern woman who can endure everything and not give up, the author of the novel wanted to emphasize, in our opinion.

The American critic, Malcolm Cowley, wrote that Gone with the Wind is an encyclopedia of "southern legend". M. Mitchell told it in such a way that the legend is strengthened, although it is told by mixing realism with romanticism. The defeat of the South gives the past a special significance. There is a need to justify defeat at all costs. This contributes to the transformation of historical information into a legend. The legend begins to subjugate the facts of this historical event and changes them.

Despite all the external contradictions between north and south, their positions were not so far apart. The result of the Civil War was not the overthrow of the South, but rather an alliance of victors and vanquished.

According to many researchers, M. Mitchell's novel embodies the well-established myths of the American South about the "special path of the South", about social harmony that was destroyed by the war, about the unity of slave owners and slaves and about the perniciousness of its destruction, about the aristocratic code of life, for the preservation of which are ordinary southerners. Despite the fact that in the novel by M. Mitchell in the description of the South and in the characters of the characters there are significant deviations from the canons of the "southern myth", it should be emphasized that the novel by M. Mitchell actively contributed to the further preservation and spread of the "southern myth", including far outside the southern states".

The American Historical Southern Romance is emphatically pacific. M. Mitchell in his novel to a certain extent follows the traditions of the literature of the “lost generation” in depicting the war. The American historical novel Gone with the Wind corrects and changes the idea of ​​American history that has developed in the mass consciousness. In addition, he began to destroy traditional American mythology, both the "Southern Myth" and the "American Dream".

Bibliography:

1. Dergunova, N. A. The myth of reality in the apocalyptic novel by A. A. Trepeznikov "The Adventures of the Damned" / N. A. Dergunova // Humanitarian sciences and education. ‒ 2012. ‒ No. 2. ‒ P. 92–95.

2. Kadomtseva, S. Yu. The myth of the South and the Civil War in the novels of M. Mitchell and A. Tate / S. Yu. Kadomtseva // Vestnik PSLU. ‒ 2010. ‒ No. 4. ‒ P. 207‒211.

3. Mitchell, M. Gone with the Wind. Novel: in 2 vols. Vol. 1 / M. Mitchell. ‒ Saransk: Mordov. book. publishing house, 1990. ‒ 576 p.

4. Mitchell, M. Gone with the Wind. Novel: in 2 vols. Vol. 2 / M. Mitchell. ‒ Saransk: Mordov. book. publishing house, 1990. ‒ 576 p.

5. Prokhorets, E. K. Foreign literary text as a means of developing socio-cultural competence among students of non-linguistic universities / E. K. Prokhorets // Humanitarian sciences and education. ‒ 2012. ‒ No. 3. ‒ P. 37–41.

6. Faulkner, W. Works: in 6 vols. T. 3 / W. Faulkner. ‒ M.: Art. lit., 1986. ‒ 475 p.

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 choice 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:

• Margaret Mitchell. "Gone With the Wind". "Margaret Mitchell and her book", introductory article, P. Palievsky. Ed. "Pravda", 1991.
• Reviews of the film "Gone with the Wind" and the TV series "Scarlett".
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