Melanie Wilkes: A Paragon of Loyalty, Courage, and Kindness Margaret Mitchell?s epic novel Gone with the Wind chronicles the drastic changes imposed on Southern society and civilization by the Civil War. The heroine, Scarlett O?Hara, sees her home and position in society destroyed but struggles to adapt to the demands of war-torn Georgia. She marries Rhett Butler, a dashing blockade runner, but clings to a romantic obsession for Ashley Wilkes. Melanie Wilkes, Ashley?…showed first 75 words of 1472 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1472 total…Rhett Butler overshadow the other characters in Gone with the Wind. They change with changing times. They cope. They survive. At whatever cost they make a place in the new society for themselves and their loved ones. However, the reader cannot help but be moved by the constancy of Melanie Wilkes?s loyalty, courage, and kindness. She survives by refusing to relinquish her genuine goodness. Indeed she remains a paragon of the virtuous Southern woman.