Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind Summary | Chapter 1 Summary

Scarlett O'Hara, the eldest daughter to Gerald and Ellen O'Hara, sits on the front porch of her plantation, Tara, with the spirited Tarleton twins, Brent and Stuart, who were just kicked out of the fourth university they had attended. Scarlett is not the most beautiful girl of 16, but she has learned how to use her charm to win over most of the men in the county, and it is no different with the twins. As Brent and Stuart begin to turn their talk toward the impending war against the North, Scarlett's quick temper rises a bit. Scarlett flirtatiously reprimands them and turns the conversation toward the picnic at the Wilkes plantation, Twelve Oaks, that will be taking place the next day.

Brent and Stuart think her disinterest in the war is a credit to her femininity, though just a few years ago she was climbing trees and running with most of the boys (much to Mammy and Ellen's chagrin). The boys tell her that there will be an announcement of Ashley Wilkes' engagement to Melanie Hamilton, his cousin. Then they remark on how queer it is that the Wilkes marry their cousins. Yet Scarlett hears none of it, as she is lost in her astonishment about the engagement, for she loves Ashley. The twins soon leave, confused by Scarlett's sudden silence and wondering why she did not ask them to supper. The twin's debate heading over to Able Wynder's home to avoid their mother, much to the chagrin of Jeems, their butler, who thinks that poor white trash is beneath even him, a slave.