On Scarlett's Attitude towards Life---开题报告

It’s generally accepted that Gone with the Wind is a popular novel except a few people thought it is not worth reading. Due to some controversial problems had been discussed in the book so the novel was neglected for a long time by critics, such as its descriptions of the black, of the reconstruction after the war and of ku klux klan and so on. However, Donald W. Miller praised the book as a great epic which influences a number of people of different generations and nations. Recently people come to realize there is something significant behind the big work so that more and more people are addressing themselves to study it from many perspectives.

 Firstly, there are some essays about the relationship between Margaret Mitchell and Scarlett. Carolyn Gage, described a true-life Mitchell who suffered great grief after her fiancé’s death and then got flash marriage to a bootlegger which took her little happiness, later, even though she enjoyed a fast pace of life she could not escape the stigma of her gender, so when Mitchell reinvested herself in the novel she rewrote life the way she thought it should have been, therefore, she created a right man instead of the dashing and sexually charismatic alcoholic. In this way, Gage concluded that Mitchell’s writing purpose was to reveal the delusion of female life and escape from her shadowy preceding life, so Gage appealed that females should not live in dream under the patriarchal society, but take Scarlett for example, to live in present and pursue what they need. 

Secondly, female consciousness of tomorrow catches people’s attention. Luo Minyu considered Scarlett’s consciousness of tomorrow as a kind of expectation: expecting the equality between men and women, a peaceful world and happy homeland and a true love. 

Thirdly, another popular topic is the comparison between Scarlett and some females in other works, such as Jane Eyre or Wang Xifeng. Zhai Xu compared Scarlett and Wang Xifeng and thought that they were a typical paragon of feminism who possessed the awareness of Women’s Awakening; both were brave, strong-minded, independent and rebellious against the restrictions which set against the females by the society of their own time. Fourth, the Tara Theme is also noticeable, and Vicki L. Eaklor pointed out that “Tara Theme” was the story’s musical leitmotif as Tara was repeated frequently in the novel and it was Scarlette’s spiritual pillar. The war destroys Scarlett’s family as well as her happy life, but it did not defeat Scarlett as she had Tara beside her which gave her strength, every time she got into trouble she turned to Tara for comfort and encouragement, while Tara had trouble, Scarlett safeguarded it by all means. 

Critical reviews on Gone with the Wind may represent the major achievements of the studies of this novel in the recent decades. These studies have effectively advanced the exploration of the novel, broadened readers’ vision as well as deepened readers’ comprehension of it. The eco-feminism theory sums up early scholars’ two separate topic of feminism and Tara Theme, and then analyzes the novel from a new way which links nature and female together. However, the essays of eco-feminism only use the theory to analyze Scarlett’s eco-feminism thoughts and her relative manifestations, in the novel it appears as Scarlett’s deep attachment to Tara and her every endeavor to protect it from being destroyed, in turn, Tara is her spiritual pillar which will help her come through every difficulty. But the purpose and significance of the eco-feminism have not been further exposited. On the one hand, the reason why Scarlett tried her best to strive for more rights and final say was not only to satisfy her vanity but to be as free as men and to be treated equally as men. On the other hand, the purpose of eco-feminism is not to establish a society where female are at last over or conquer male, but pursue the balance between female and male, human and nonhuman nature, especially nowadays, due to many reasons, women haven’t fully displayed their talents to better the world which suffers the crises of ecological environment and threat of wars, which shows the relationship between nature and human beings is not so harmonious. 

二、Outline

1.Introduction

2. Summary of Scarlett’s Attitude towards Life

2.1 Scarlett’s Rebellion against Social Restrictions

2.2 An idea“Torrow Is Another Day.

3.Different time Period Changing Attitude for the New Life

3.1 Before the Civil War

3.2 During the Civil War

3.3 After the Civil War

4.Conclusion

三、References：

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