tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2675393718702467550.post868699223731565817..comments2019-08-11T10:01:26.564-07:00Comments on Hill Place: Passion and Indifference: Rhett Butler vs. Ashley WilkesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2675393718702467550.post-71136451991348276262017-03-09T12:05:10.915-08:002017-03-09T12:05:10.915-08:00Wow, this post is way too harsh on Ashley! He was ...Wow, this post is way too harsh on Ashley! He was always my favorite character. Now before everyone condemns me, yes he is flawed. All of the characters in GWTW are flawed. I'm not going to launch into a long monologue about Ashley because I realized that I'm at odds here with the majority on this post, but I think we can all agree that everyone views actions and morals and beliefs differently and that everyone values certain characteristics and condemns others differently as well. Obviously the people of this post value some different characteristics than I do, but I see Ashley as a character who is flawed because of his personality and the way he was brought up. He is an intelligent man who understands himself, perhaps better than the rest of the characters, and realizes that he is a figure of the past in the wrong generation. He obviously has a self-destructive tendency, perhaps even a type of masochism because he realizes this, and in the end is willing to sacrifice himself for his wife and for Scarlett. He knows all too well what he is doing. He does lack a spine and lack decisiveness but he is forced into that position by his upbringing, his personality which he feels he cannot change, the social restrictions in his society, and his love for his wife and for Scarlett. It's true he should have been proactive but ultimately it's something that he personally was unable to do because of his own depression. <br /><br />Anyway, that's my viewpoint. I thought Leslie Howard, though he didn't want to do it, was good casting for the character because he was an actor that always portrayed that sort of dreamer-out-of-his-time character who could be quietly strong, yet at odds with his environment. <br /><br />Cheers!Ravenwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16252229019569702799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2675393718702467550.post-1300912464767099302016-10-15T15:55:06.154-07:002016-10-15T15:55:06.154-07:00Howard's inability to find any depth to the As...Howard's inability to find any depth to the Ashley character is cowardly? Isn't that a bit excessive? I would put it down to indifference and contempt and nothing else.The Rush Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667282586023023623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2675393718702467550.post-14451125096692755762012-12-07T11:08:53.730-08:002012-12-07T11:08:53.730-08:00I agree - I grew up watching Gone with the Wind an...I agree - I grew up watching Gone with the Wind and we loved being allowed to use that one curse word when quoting Rhett - but as a young girl I never understood the appeal to Ashley Wilkes and always thought that Melanie deserved better.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2675393718702467550.post-23331514552519384002012-12-03T10:10:08.617-08:002012-12-03T10:10:08.617-08:00I was about 10 when I first saw GONE WITH THE WIND...I was about 10 when I first saw GONE WITH THE WIND--about 45 years ago. I never bought into the Ashley character even then. As a boy it was easy to become enthralled with the aggressive, straight-shooting Rhett Butler. He was heroic. As a boy, it was next to impossible to be impressed with the sallow, downcast Ashley Wilkes. Looking at the film more recently, I wonder if the only reason Ashley is even believable is if we cast him in the light of the only one who fully appreciates what is happening in those scenes--he foresees the end of a way of life, the destruction of a nation and a people, and the rise of coarse, monied tyranny. If we believe that he possesses those insights from the start of the film to its end, then we can believe that these women, who would have known him in his dynamic, positive, and bright youth, fell in love with him forever. of course, that begs the question of why his character is so flawed that he wallows in this dispiriting future rather than rising above it to shape that new world more like he desires it to be?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2675393718702467550.post-29879182802545664272012-12-03T07:17:27.038-08:002012-12-03T07:17:27.038-08:00I think both women, particularly Scarlett, have at...I think both women, particularly Scarlett, have attributed qualities to Ashley that aren't really there. They think of him as honorable and noble, qualities which perhaps give them a higher sense of purpose just by being around him, but it's all an illusion. I recall the line where Ashley says that he and Melanie are alike and that they see the world the same way. I think Melanie *is* honorable and noble and just assumes he is as good as she is. So that explains why Melanie is deluded by him, but it sure doesn't explain his snow job on someone as shrewd as Scarlett. Hill Placehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13557647078598242244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2675393718702467550.post-42014706856536314822012-12-03T07:09:31.951-08:002012-12-03T07:09:31.951-08:00Which all begs the question: Why do Melanie and Sc...Which all begs the question: Why do Melanie and Scarlett both love Ashley so deeply? Why such devotion to him given all of this?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com