"War & Peace" and "Gone with the Wind"

[Kaleva]

Just finished watching the 1956 movie "War and Peace" starring Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn and was struck by the similarities between that story and "Gone with the Wind". Both concentrate on the lives of the privileged class; the elites of society and how war changed their lives. The war in "War and Peace" is Napoleon invading Russia and Moscow was burned while in "Gone with the Wind", Sherman invades the South and burns Atlanta.

The characters Ashley Wilkes and Prince Andrei Bolkonsky are spitting images of each other as both are bound by a code of honor. That code of honor kills both of them. Figuratively for Ashley Wilkes as he cannot do the things necessary, it would have been "ungentlemanly", that would have allowed him to regain his former life style and literally for Prince Andrei as he dies from wounds suffered in battle. Scarlett O'Hara and Natasha Rostova begin as fun loving girls and because of tragedy and death, become strong willed, take charge women. Pierre Bezukhov is Rhett Butler but with a Dr. Zhivagoian personality and temperament.

[raccoon]

1. Interesting thought. I have seen similarities of GWTW with other Victorian novels, but

never considered W&P.

I remember looking at reviews of GWTW in BOOK REVIEW DIGEST and one review said Mitchell seemed to get her knowledge of people from fiction rather than RL. I could see the point.