 |
| Ovingham |
Always in the romance genre there are
problems as to why the two couldn’t possibly be thought of as lovers. He’s too
proud, she’s too prejudiced. Rhett Butler is no certainly gentleman, while
Scarlett is your true ladylike southern belle. (Put in your own names and see if
they match what I’m about to say.) What happens as the story progresses? We find
that Scarlett has it in her to cheat, lie and steal in a way that makes Rhett
look positively gentlemanly. Darcy proves he has the guts to see his faults and
change his ways, while Lizzie recognizes with dismay how hasty and ill-judged her
speedy character assessments were - not only of him, but also of Whickham.
Are they really the disparate characters
first presented to the reader, or are they much closer to each other in tastes, habits and
thought? I think Darcy and Lizzie are alike in many ways.
In fact, Darcy and Elizabeth admit as much, and the film Gone with the Wind
demonstrates how similar Rhett and Scarlett are in their courage and desperate
will to survive and keep their dependents alive.
Perhaps this is the true
secret of the romance genre - that couples should share values and traits,
however deeply they are hidden or obscured by initial impressions.
They’d have to have something to share, or
their lives would be hell. Wouldn’t they?
No comments:
Post a Comment