It is clear things have drastically changed: Gerald has lost his mind, Scarlett's mother is dead, her sisters are sick with typhoid fever, the field slaves left after Emancipation, the Yankees have burned all the cotton and there is no food in the house.

Thereafter Frank succumbs to Scarlett's feminine charms and he marries her two weeks later knowing he has done " something romantic and exciting for the first time in his life.

Suddenly Scarlett's eyes fill with tears and Ashley holds her head against his chest.

She wonders if Rhett will kiss her, but to Scarlett's irritation, he does not.

* Katie Scarlett ( O ' Hara ) Hamilton Kennedy Butler: The protagonist of the novel, Scarlett's forthright Irish blood is always at variance with the French teachings of style from her mother, Ellen O ' Hara.

Frank is unable to comprehend Scarlett's fears and her desperate struggle for survival after the war.

* Mammy: Scarlett's nurse from birth, Mammy is a slave who originally belonged to Scarlett's grandmother, and raised her mother, Ellen O ' Hara.

* Ellen ( Robillard ) O ' Hara: Scarlett's gracious mother of French ancestry, Ellen married Gerald O ' Hara, who was 28 years her senior, after her true love, Phillipe Robillard, was killed in a bar fight.

Scarlett's motivation in the early part of the novel center around her desire to win the affection of Ashley, despite the fact that both of them marry others.

After the War, Scarlett's character hardens, when she is burdened by her family, servants, the Wilkes family, and the fear of homelessness and starvation.

When he finally receives Scarlett's love, it is too late to salvage the love he once had for her, so he leaves her with his famous parting shot: " My dear, I don't give a damn.

Rhett's understanding of human nature extends to children as well, and he is a much better parent to Scarlett's children from her previous marriages than she is herself ; he has a particular affinity with her son Wade, even before Wade is his stepson.

After her son is born, Melanie and Scarlett make a difficult, dangerous journey to Scarlett's home Tara.

The Wilkes move to Atlanta again, with their little boy, at Scarlett's insistence that Ashley come work in her saw mill.

Melanie refuses to believe that there is anything wrong between her husband and ' sister ', and saves Scarlett's reputation by graciously asking her to co-hostess Ashley's birthday party that night.

For the first and only time in many years, Snake Eyes spoke Scarlett's name, and she woke from her coma, ultimately returning to active duty.

Scarlett's grandfather offers Scarlett his entire inheritance if she will remain with him in Savannah until his death and avoid all contact with her father's side of the family.

When one of the soldiers is prevented, by his commanding officer, from taking a gilded sword that once belonged to Scarlett's long-dead father-in-law and intended for her little boy Wade Hamilton ( the officer is himself a veteran of the same campaigns as the sword's former owner ), the thwarted Yankee soldier expresses his indignation by secretly setting a wing of the house on fire as the Yankees are leaving.

Melanie's death serves as a catalyst for the final phase of Scarlett's character growth in the book.

Melanie and Rhett continue to have a good relationship, even as his and Scarlett's marriage falls apart.

As she is leaving the jailhouse, Scarlett runs into Frank Kennedy, who is betrothed to Scarlett's sister, Suellen, and running a store in Atlanta.

Rhett seemingly ruins Scarlett's reputation after this very public display of frivolity and Scarlett's father, Gerald O ' Hara, comes to speak to Rhett and to take Scarlett back to Tara.

While Scarlett is in Atlanta, Suellen, the sister whom Scarlett's husband truly loved, conspires with the hated carpetbaggers and scalawags to defraud the victorious United States government of $ 150, 000 by having her senile father swear an oath that his family was pro-Union during the war ; therefore, the cotton burned and the damages done to the place were not justified.

Her abortion is not a secret for long as, discovering an abortion leaflet, Scarlett's mother, Carrie, demands answers from Scarlett.

Scarlett's sisters Suellen and Carreen also contract the disease, but survive.

In the course of the novel, Rhett becomes increasingly enamored with Scarlett's sheer will to survive in the chaos surrounding the war.

* Big Sam: A strong, husky, hardworking field slave who in post-war lawlessness comes to Scarlett's rescue from would-be merciless thieves.

Rhett and Scarlett's bedroom scene ( Chapter 54 ) is often read as a rape that was meant to suggest Reconstruction fear of black on white rape in the South.

Meanwhile, the main part of Ryzhov's cavalry remained static on the southern slopes of the Causeway Heights, some 800 yards (~ 730 m ) from Scarlett's Heavy Brigade still moving south-east in the South Valley.

* Scarlett's Shearwater, Puffinus spelaeus of South Island, New Zealand ;

With Rhett's " swarthy face " juxtaposed against Scarlett's " magnolia-white skin ", the two white protagonists are a metaphor for an interracial couple, and their romance represents racial conflict.

In Atlanta, Scarlett's spirits revive and she is busy with hospital work and sewing circles for the Confederate army.

* Captain Rhett K. Butler: Scarlett's admirer and third husband, Rhett is often publicly shunned for his scandalous behavior and sometimes accepted for his charm.

* Archie: An ex-convict and former Confederate soldier who is imprisoned for the murder of his adulterous wife, he is taken in by Melanie and then later became Scarlett's coach driver.

Cathleen Calvert was young Scarlett's friend.

* Charles Hamilton: Melanie Wilkes ' brother and Scarlett's first husband, Charles is a shy and loving boy.

* Frank Kennedy: Suellen O ' Hara's former fiancé and Scarlett's second husband, Frank is an unattractive older man.

He is " shot through the head ", according to Rhett Butler, while attempting to defend Scarlett's honor after she is attacked.

* Caroline Irene (" Carreen ") O ' Hara: Scarlett's youngest sister, who also became sickened by typhoid during the Battle of Atlanta.

* Gerald O ' Hara: Scarlett's Irish father and an excellent horseman, Gerald is sometimes seen leaping fences on his horse while intoxicated, which eventually leads to his death.

* Susan Elinor (" Suellen ") O ' Hara: Scarlett's middle sister, who became sickened by typhoid during the Battle of Atlanta.