Scarlett O' Hara Diagnosed

By Ragini Chatterjee

  (Overall Grade Remedial)
A case study on Scarlett O' Hara from ‘Gone with The Wind’  

Scarlett O' Hara has to be one of the most vivacious character, on print. With her southern Belle ‘Fiddle de dees’, bright green eyes and sharp tongue, she is hard to forget. After having seen the movie multiple times from age 13, I was fascinated by her personality. Her antics, at times cruel, bought the story to life. Her obsession with Ashley, her multiple marriages, her cunning mind and relentless spirt were always entertaining from the perspective of the viewer. However, years later as I look back, I can’t help but recognize patterns of behavior that may resonate with some personality disorder.

From the beginning of the movie, Scarlett has to be the centre of attention. At the Wilkes Party, in her attempts to drive Ashley jealous, she flirts with every man in sight- Starting with Charles Hamilton, Frank Kennedy, the Tarleton twins, she promises to eat barbeque with each of them. She ends up with a swarm of men around her at the barbeque. Her need to be the centre of attention is clearly expressed when she states -"Now isn't this better than sitting at a table? A girl hasn't got but two sides to her at the table,”. Scarlet isn’t anything if not dramatic- throwing vases at walls, when Ashley rejects her advances, using animated gestures along with phrases like ‘Varmint’ to degrade Rhett. She often exaggerates, using hyperboles and in her anger saying things she doesn’t completely mean or comprehend. Shouting at Rhett from the top of the stairs is a memory that lingers on with the audience. Even when she calls on Ashley or Melanie she does it with- “Oh, Ashley”, and “Oh, Melanie”. She is also highly suggestible, others can influence her quite easily- When she refuses to eat food, Mammy mentions that if she doesn’t eat now she would end up ‘eating like a field hand, and gobble like a hob’ in front of Ashley. She then immediately stuffs her face with food.

On first glance, I wouldn’t call Scarlett vain, but as I ponder on her obsession with an 18- inch waist - she is seen trying to force Mammy to tighten her corset even after she has just given birth to a child, I am forced to revise my opinion. She can be seen seducing people to get what she wants. Initially flirting with all the men in the county to incite Ashley. Then seducing her sister’s beau into marring her, dressing up in an outfit made from curtains to impress Rhett, in order to get money. She is also quite manipulative, and indifferent to feelings of others- she marries her sister’s beau for monetary reasons. When her first husband dies, she feels more pity for herself and goes into what Rhett calls ‘Fake mourning’. Even in her attitude towards Mammy, who has played such an integral part in raising her -she refuses to get her anything from New Orleans after her marriage to Rhett. She agrees to marry most of her husbands, not because she likes them but because they all serve some ulterior motive for her. She doesn’t seem to be too attached to any of her children, with the possible exception of Bonnie, and Rhett says that a cat would be a better mother than her.

There is also a constant flux of emotions. It can be seen in the barbeque scene- where initially, she is seen laughing basking in attention but as soon as she sees Ashley Wilkes walk by with Mealanie, her expression simmers into a pout. She perceives her relationship with Ashley Wilkes to be closer than Ashley actually thinks it is. She believes that he leads her on and for a good portion of the first half of the movie, she  convinces herself that he was going to marry her. There is also dichotomous thinking in her assessment of people- initially she sees Ashley as her Knight in Golden armor. She seems to completely despise Melanie- ‘the goody goody’ and Rhett- ‘the ill-mannered varmint’. By the end of the movie, Ashley completely looses his charm and she now seems to be obsessed with Rhett. Melanie too gets elevated to an angel, on her death bed.

The traits displayed by Scarlett seem to fit the diagnostic Criteria for Histrionic Personality Disorder, with a few symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. Scarlett O Hara, is obviously a fictional character whose diagnosis is a figment of Margret Mitchell’s imagination. The book and the movie ‘Gone with the Wind’, would not have been half as interesting without Scarlett in it. This makes me wonder, could it be the eccentric personalities of characters, that colour the pages of great novels, that attract the attention of millions? Nonetheless, revaluating Scarlett’s Personality in my head and looking it at it now gave me new perspective on a childhood muse.