2. Literature Review

Gone with the Wind is the only work with one million words of American female writer —Margaret·Mitchell, which was first published in the year of 1936. Its publication has caused great impacts not only in America but also in the world. This novel has won its innumerable readers all around the world because of its pathetic and exquisite style. It is only second to Bible on sales volume. However, the status of Gone with the Wind in American literature is not that high. In foreign nations, this bestselling novel, the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1937, do not get specific related comments. Some literary history and handbooks only make comments on this novel with very few words, even none. Although American literary field belittles the literary values of Gone with the Winds on purpose, thinking it only one popular novel, the fact that Gone with the Wind has been a best-seller for decades has win its position as a classic work. The foreign studies on the main female character—Scarlett O’Hara mainly focus on her aesthetic values. American poet, a typical representative called John P. Bishop said: “In any case, Scarlett is never justified cents.”(Wikipedia) Many scholars think that Scarlett is so mean and selfish that no one can be comparable. However, some scholars represented by Helen Foster Snow, an American progressive writer, hold positive attitudes towards Scarlett. They think her a heroine in American females’ heart. Also, they believe that Scarlett’ spirit of struggle is the reflection of the American personality. 

Parallel study is the main method in Comparative Literature on condition that different nations and eras have common literary rules. The publications of A Dream of Red Mansions and Gone with the Wind were not at the same period, but the distance of time and space did not become the obstacle of these two authors’ recognition to their own society where an old system was falling into decay. A Dream of Red Mansions and Gone with the Wind are both classical realistic literary works that are the real reflection of social conflicts as well as the beauty and ugliness of human nature. As main female characters, Wang Xifeng and Scarlett are of comparability. At present, there are only a few papers on the comparative study on Wang Xifeng and Scarlett, most of which are still focus on the flaws of their personality. The author of this article attempts to illustrate that Wang Xifeng and Scarlett are not only the represents of selfishness and self-interest, but also the women with feminism consciousness who dare to challenge the traditional concept.

This paper introduces the images of Scarlett and Wang Xifeng first and then has a comparison study between them to find their similarities and differences. Further more, by comparison, causes that resulted in these differences can be explored, which is the most important part of this thesis.