对《飘》中斯佳丽的人物性格分析(11)

《飘》是美国现代女作家玛格丽特.米歇尔于1936年发表的一部长篇通俗小说,也是其一生唯一的一部长篇小说,《飘》问世70多年来,被广泛流传并受到广泛的好评,不失为一部旷世经典之作。然而《飘》所走过的路程却并不是一帆风顺的,在许多批评家看来,《飘》不能被称为一部优雅的艺术之作,甚至不能进入美国文学的神圣殿堂。小说的女主人公斯佳丽被他们描绘成一个极度自私、爱慕虚荣、冷酷无情、为达目的不择手段的女性。但是,经过

upon. The plantation owners of the South insisted that the slavery system should be kept because they considered slaves to constitute cheap labor, while the industrial capitalists of the North found free labor was more economical and therefore more profitable for their industry. This was the main cause of the conflict and also the main cause of the Civil War between the North and the South.

On April 19th, 1861, President Lincoln ordered the Federal Navy to blockade the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to Florida. When the war stared, the North enjoyed a decided advantage. Here has the contrast between the North and the South.

The North:

A mighty economy due to its ability of industrial production.

Twenty-three states remaining in the Union.

Having three-fourths of the entire territory of the country.

A large population of about 22 million people.

Two-thirds of the national wealth.

A convenient transportation system.

The South:

An agricultural economy, with backward industry.

Only eleven states.

9 million people including 3.8 million slaves.

Poor in finance.

An incomplete transportation system.

Therefore, the North was much stronger than the South. So at last, the North win. The Civil War was an epoch-making event in American history. It was a bourgeois revolution in nature, a continuation and expansion of the War of Independence. It was the broad masses who secured the victory with life and blood. The abolition of slavery and the emancipation of the Negroes enabled the country to develop more rapidly in every field and most Americans were glad to see that their country was no longer associated with slavery and the Union was held together. The Civil War also extended its far-reaching influence to the European revolutions.

It is true that the novel describes much about the war, but it s aiming at letting us know that the disasters the war brings. Critics and historians regard the book as having a strong ideological commitment to the cause of the Confederacy and a romanticized view of the culture of the antebellum South. This is apparent from the book s opening pages, which describe how Scarlett s beaux, the Tarleton twins, have been expelled from