Character Analysis
Gone With the Wind is a sweeping historical novel, and to be sweeping you need to throw in lots of characters to be, er, swept up. We've tried to find most of them, but in the hustle and bustle of war and grand events, it's possible somebody slipped through. That said, here goes nothing.
Scarlett's Siblings and Relations
- Ellen (Robillard) O'Hara: Scarlett's mother is great and pure and true and good. Very like Melanie, not least in being rather annoying.
- Susan Elinor ("Suellen") O'Hara: Scarlett's middle sister, she is engaged to marry Frank Kennedy, but Scarlett uses deception to convince him to marry her instead. She never forgives her sister, but eventually marries Will Benteen, with whom she has a daughter, Susie.
- Will Benteen: A Confederate soldier who convalesces at Tara after the war and then stays on to help. He loves Carreen, but eventually marries Suellen, becoming Scarlett's brother-in-law.
- Caroline Irene ("Carreen") O'Hara: Scarlett's youngest sister. She is engaged to Brent Tarleton, who is killed in the war. Though Will Benteen loves her, she never recovers from Brent's death, and eventually joins a convent.
- O'Hara brothers: Scarlett's three bothers, each named Gerald O'Hara Jr. and all of whom died in infancy.
- James and Andrew O'Hara: Gerald's brothers who preceded him to America.
Scarlett's Husbands and Children
- Charles Hamilton: Scarlett's first husband, and Melanie Wilkes's brother. He is a shy boy. Scarlett never really loved him, but married him just to spite Ashley. He dies of disease while in the army before ever firing a shot; he is the father of Wade Hampton Hamilton.
- Wade Hampton Hamilton: Scarlett's first child, the son of Charles Hamilton. Wade is shy, especially around his mother, whom he fears.
- Frank Kennedy: Scarlett's second husband is a mildly successful businessman after the war. He is engaged to Suellen until Scarlett steals him for herself. He is shot by Yankees while terrorizing black people in the KKK.
- Ella Lorena Kennedy: Scarlett's second child is the daughter of Frank Kennedy. Ella is not very bright, and Scarlett does not seem to feel much affection for her.
- Eugenie Victoria "Bonnie Blue" Butler: Scarlett's third child is the daughter of Rhett Butler. Bonnie is headstrong, emotional, and beloved, but she dies when she is six after a fall from a horse.
Tara
- Pork: Husband of Dilcey, father of Prissy, Gerald O'Hara's servant, and his first slave. Gerald won him in a poker game, then bought Dilcey and Prissy from the Wilkes so that Pork's family could be together.
- Dilcey: Pork's wife and Prissy's mother, she is grateful to the O'Hara's for purchasing her and reuniting her with Pork. She is a very hard worker.
- Prissy: Dilcey and Pork's daughter is also a slave to the O'Hara's. She goes with Scarlett to Atlanta as her personal servant, but is not very helpful.
- Big Sam: A slave foreman on the O'Hara's plantation, he meets Scarlett in Atlanta after the war and protects her from being attacked by other freed blacks.
- Jonas Wilkerson: The Yankee overseer of Tara before the war, he is fired after Emmie Slattery becomes pregnant and he is suspected to be the father. After the war, he marries Emmie and attempts to purchase Tara, without success. He is murdered by Tommy Fontaine for supporting rights for black people.
- Emmie Slattery: Tom's daughter, she becomes pregnant by Jonas Wilkerson, causing him to be fired. After the war she marries Jonas, and the two attempt to buy Tara.
- Tom Slattery: Emmie's father is a poor white man.
The Robillards
- Pierre Robillard: Ellen O'Hara's father, he reluctantly allows her to marry Gerald because he fears that otherwise she'll become a nun.
- Solange Robillard: Ellen O'Hara's mother.
- Eulalie and Pauline Robillard: Ellen O'Hara's sisters, both married, who live in Charleston.
- Philippe Robillard: Ellen O'Hara's cousin, and also her first—and the book suggests only—love. He died in a bar fight in New Orleans before they could marry, but though she eventually married Gerald, she dies speaking Philippe's name.
The Wilkes Family
- John Wilkes: Father of Ashley, India, and Honey, known for his interests in the arts. He is the O'Hara's neighbor at the plantation of Twelve Oaks. He dies during the siege of Atlanta.
- India Wilkes: Ashley's sister and John's daughter. Stuart Tarleton was in love with her before Scarlett turned his head, and India never forgives Scarlett for this. India's hatred of Scarlett eventually drives a wedge between her and Ashley and Melanie.
- Honey Wilkes: India and Ashley's sister, she is called Honey because that's what she calls everyone else.
- Aunt Pittypat (Sarah Jane Hamilton): Melanie and Charles's aunt, Scarlett stays with her in Atlanta after Charles' death.
- Uncle Henry Hamilton: A lawyer and Aunt Pittypat's brother, he handles Pittypat's finances, but she is afraid of him.
- Uncle Peter: Aunt Pittypat's slave, who is devoted to her and takes care of her household.
- Beau Wilkes: Ashley and Melanie's son. Scarlett helps with his birth during the fall of Atlanta.
- Mose: Ashley's black servant before and during the war.
- Archie: An ex-convict who murdered his wife but was released to fight for the Confederacy at the siege of Atlanta. He is taken in by Melanie, and guards Scarlett when she rides her coach to her mills. Eventually his hatred of Scarlett causes Melanie to toss him out.
The Tarletons
- Jim Tarleton: Father of the Tarleton clan.
- Beatrice Tarleton: The mother of the Tarleton clan, her boys fear her because she beats them even when they are adults. She breeds and adores horses before the war and is cheerful and forthright, but the spirit goes out of her after the death of her sons and the loss of her horses in the war.
- Boyd: The oldest and smallest Tarleton boy, he would intercede for the other boys with their mother. He was killed in the war.
- Tom: The second Tarleton boy, he was also killed in the war.
- Brent: Beatrice's son and Stuart's twin, he dies at the battle of Gettysburg. He was engaged to Carreen O'Hara.
- Stuart: Beatrice's son and Brent's twin, he dies at the battle of Gettysburg, too. He courts India Wilkes before the war, but then his head is turned by Scarlett.
- Hetty, Camilla, 'Randa, Betsy: The four red-haired Tarleton girls, daughters of Beatrice.
- Jeems: The Tarleton twins' slave.
The Calverts
- Hugh Calvert: The O'Hara's neighbor, owner of "Pine Bloom" plantation.
- The second Mrs. Calvert: A Yankee governess, Hugh Calvert married her after his first wife died.
- Cathleen Calvert: Scarlett's friend before the war, she marries the Calvert plantation's Yankee overseer Mr. Hilton for financial reasons.
- Mr. Hilton: A Yankee overseer who marries Cathleen Calvert.
- Raiford and Cade: Cathleen's brothers. Raiford is killed in war; Cade survives.
The Fontaines
- Grandma Fontaine: Mother of Dr. Fontaine, and a wise, acerbic woman. Scarlett is a bit afraid of her.
- Doc Fontaine: Husband of Grandma Fontaine.
- "Young Miss" Fontaine: Mother of Joe, Alex, and Tony Fontaine.
- Dr. Fontaine: Father of Joe, Alex, and Tony Fontaine.
- Joe Fontaine: Brother of Tony and Alex, first husband of Sally. He is killed in the war.
- Tony Fontaine: Brother of Joe and Alex, Tony murders Jonas Wilkerson and flees to Texas with help from Frank Kennedy.
- Alex Fontaine: The last Fontaine boy remaining at home following the war to run the plantation. He eventually marries Sally Fontaine, his brother Joe's widow.
- Sally (Munroe) Fontaine: The widow of Joe Fontaine, killed in the war. Eustis, the former slave foreman, approaches her, causing Tony to kill him and then leave the state. Sally eventually remarries Alex Fontaine, her dead husband's brother.
- Eustis: A former slave of the Fontaines, Tony Fontaine kills him for speaking suggestively to his sister-in-law Sally Fontaine.
Others In the Neighborhood of Tara
- MacIntoshes: Gerald's early neighbors whom he doesn't like.
- Mr. McRae: An old man who fought in several earlier wars, and tells everyone at the Wilkes's barbecue that war is bad.
- Dimity Munroe: A woman who was supposed to marry Alex Fontaine, but lost him when he married Sally, his brother's widow.
- Able Wynder: A small farmer, much liked, who is elected second lieutenant of the Georgia Troop preparing for the Civil War.
The Elsings
- Mrs. Elsing: One of the dowager leaders of Atlanta society.
- Fanny Elsing: Mrs. Elsing's daughter, she marries Tommy Welburn.
- Hugh Elsing: The son of Mrs. Elsing and Fanny's brother, he eventually becomes manager at Scarlett's mill.
- Tommy Welburn: A soldier wounded in the hip who marries Fanny Elsing.
The Meades
- Dr. Meade: The head of Atlanta society, he ministers to soldiers during the siege.
- Mrs. Meade: Wife of Dr. Meade, she does a good deal of work in the hospital during the war.
- Darcy Meade: The son of Dr. and Mrs. Meade, he is killed at Gettysburg.
- Phil Meade: The second son of Dr. and Mrs. Meade, he is very young, but enters the army to defend Atlanta during the siege and is killed.
The Merriwethers
- Mrs. Dolly Merriwether: A widow and a leader of Atlanta society before the war. After the war she opens a bakery.
- Grandpa Merriwether: Dolly Meriwether's father, he fights in the Home Guard at the siege of Atlanta and survives.
- Maybelle Merriwether: Dolly Meriwether's daughter who marries Rene Picard.
- Rene Picard: The husband of Maybelle Merriwether, he is originally from Louisiana.
Others in Atlanta
- Carey Ashburn: A wounded soldier who tries to court Scarlett in Atlanta.
- Mamie Bart: One of Scarlett's acquaintances in Atlanta, who tells her about how to induce an abortion.
- Johnny Gallagher: Scarlett's most successful mill foreman, he is unscrupulous and treats the convict laborers horribly. But he makes money.
- Willie Guinan: A man in the militia; Rhett insults him, sealing Rhett's ostracism from Atlanta's social circle.
- Captain Jaffrey: The Yankee who investigates the KKK in Atlanta.
- Mr. Johnson: One of Scarlett's mill managers, who cheats her.