Hi everybody, welcome back to my podcast. I must
admit I am not a very good podcaster. I keep
procrastinating on making these things. But a
little shout out to Victoria in the comments
for her really nice comment on Spotify. I really
appreciated it. I hope everybody likes this one.
Today we're just kind of going to be talking
about gone with the wind conspiracy theories.
In other words... headcanons that people have
about the story that have never been implied
or have been implied but never confirmed. A lot
of these theories, I'm only going to talk about
six theories, but some of them have never been
confirmed and actually some of them have been
confirmed as wrong. So we're just going to go
through each one of these starting with the most
popular ones, and then go down into more obscure
theories, which I think you guys might like.
So, the first one we're going to talk about is
definitely the most popular theory about the
story, because it's a little plot thread that
gets brought up a lot, or a few times in the
book, and then we never get any sort of conclusion
to it. And it's about does Rhett Butler have
a son with Belle Watling? So there's actually
quite a bit of evidence for this theory. The
first time we hear about a kid, a little boy
being associated with Rhett, is when he is on
the porch at Scarlett's house and she has the
new baby with her, Ella. And they get to talking
and she asks him why he always goes to New Orleans.
And this is his response. I will satisfy your
vulgar curiosity since you ask such pointed questions.
It isn't a sweetheart that takes me to New Orleans.
It's a child, a little boy. He is my legal ward
and I am responsible for him. He's in school
in New Orleans. I go there frequently to see
him. And then he goes on and says, he's too handsome
for his own good. He's a perfect hellion. I wish
he had never been born. Boys are troublesome
creatures. Is there anything else you'd like
to know? And then he didn't want to talk about
it anymore. So this is on page 700 something
of the book in my copy. So it's pretty far into
the story and at no point in the book before
this have we been given any implication that
Rhett has any strings to hold him down. He's
always advertised himself as being carefree,
being able to do whatever he wants because he
has no family or anything that he's responsible
for. And this chapter, he goes into depth in
his family. We learn about his parents a little
more and his siblings, his brother and sister.
And for them to bring up this little boy that
he's a guardian of, it implies that this boy
might be his family too, because it's never explained
at any point how Rhett came to be in possession
of this little boy. So the association with...
bell comes a little later so later in the book
bell watling is talking to melanie this is after
the trial where they got all of the men off um
in the raid and bell goes to thank her and she
mentions to melanie she has a boy herself because
they're talking about beau and she says He ain't
here in Atlanta. He ain't never been here. He's
off at school. I ain't seen him since he was
little. So that's a pretty big piece of information
right there. I mean, this is the only time Belle
ever brings up her son. I mean, we don't see
her very much, but I think it is a little bit
too much of a coincidence that... she says she
has a son who's off at school somewhere not in
Atlanta, and that Rhett has a legal ward who's
in school in New Orleans, and that Rhett goes
to New Orleans all the time to see him. I think
that we can say without a shadow of doubt that
this is the same boy. Whether or not Rhett is
the father is not confirmed at all, but I think
it is way too much of a coincidence not to say
Rhett takes care of Belle's son for her for whatever
reason. Then this kid is mentioned one last time.
Sort of. It's in the scene right after Bonnie
is born and Rhett is talking to Wade. Rhett is
really thrilled that he has a daughter instead
of a son. When Wade asks him if he would have
preferred a little boy, Rhett immediately says
no. Wade is happy about this, but then he asks
him if he has any other little boys and Rhett
does not answer him. So I think that this scene
is kind of odd because if the child is just Rhett's
ward and not his son, why wouldn't he just tell
Wade about him? I mean, he already told Scarlett
and he was very reticent about it. That's a little
more evidence right there. But why is it such
a big secret that he has a legal ward? Why is
it this thing that he's trying to keep from everybody?
And maybe it's just because it's Belle's son.
Maybe it's because he doesn't want to betray
her in some way. I don't know why it would be
a betrayal. Maybe it's just something he doesn't
want to share with a little kid like Wade. But
I think that the choice of words used here is
very interesting when Rhett says, He understands
little boys and Wade says you haven't got any
other little boys of your own is the implication.
So in my opinion, I think that this is definitely
Rhett's son. I think that all the signs point
to yes. The only thing is maybe. There was no
way of knowing back then if the kid really was
Rhett's. Maybe Rhett just took him on as his
responsibility. But the thing that really has
me convinced is the way Rhett describes him as
being a perfect hellion. Because we know Rhett
himself is pretty much a hellion. And I think
that, in my mind, this is his kid and he sees
a lot of himself in the kid. And that's why he's
so happy to have a daughter because he realizes
that he doesn't have to be as much of a role
model for this kid. He can just spoil her. That's
his thought process anyway. So that's the first
theory, which I totally agree with. The second
one is also another one that I tend to agree
with. And this is one you've probably also heard.
And it's about Ella. So Ella is... the most mysterious
of Scarlett's children, I think. She is one of
the main character's children, and yet she doesn't
have a single line of dialogue. Even Bonnie,
who comes into the story later, has some dialogue.
But Ella's always just kind of there in the background.
We don't learn much about her. And oddly enough,
we do see a lot of her pregnancy, Scarlett's
pregnancy with Ella. But then once the kid is
born, it's like she's just a background character.
She's always there with Wade, but she doesn't
really get described that much. So the first
time that we hear about Ella being described,
Scarlett calls her a silly child. She says that
she can't keep her mind on one thought any longer
than a bird can stay on a branch or something
like that. That implies that she might have some
sort of inattention disorder or it might just
be her personality. But the reason a lot of people
think fetal alcohol syndrome, that's the theory
that Ella has fetal alcohol syndrome. I should
have started with that. But the reason people
think this is because earlier in the book, Scarlett
really starts drinking a lot at the time that
she's pregnant with Ella. And there is a little
passage about how she starts drinking brandy
every night. And it says that Dr. Mead never
thought to tell her that a woman who is pregnant
should not drink. And I just don't know why that
line would be included if not to hint at something.
I think that Scarlett's dismissal of Ella is
supposed to be pretty symbolic because She affected
this child's well -being by drinking during being
pregnant, even though she didn't know that she
wasn't supposed to. You got to give her that.
But then she just blames the child for this issue
that she inadvertently gave her. And I think
that is very symbolic of Scarlett's attitude
towards her children in general. She harms them
unintentionally and then doesn't take responsibility
for it. She just judges them. And that is really
all we know about Ella. She's kind of an afterthought.
But I like the fetal alcohol syndrome theory
because I think that it just gives a little more
lore to Ella's character. It helps to describe
her a little more because otherwise we really
know next to nothing about her. She's only really
mentioned and described a few times. But let's
move on from that because the book doesn't really
say much more about it. So this next theory is
kind of a favorite of mine. And I don't think
this one is supposed to be true. It's just more
of a headcanon. This one is about Prissy. And
the theory is that she is completely faking being
lazy and stupid and sullen and all that. She's
just... intentionally trolling everyone, trying
to get on their nerves because she doesn't like
them. The reason I like this theory is because
I think it is totally unrealistic that none of
the slaves in the book are opposed to being slaves.
And that is a whole other issue that I'm not
going to go into in this episode. I love the
idea of Prissy being a representation of a slave
who is just kind of pretending to be stupid because
that was a tactic slaves sometimes used to survive.
And I think it makes a lot more sense in some
scenes for Prissy to just not be helping because
she doesn't. like being legally owned by other
people rather than just being so stupid that
she can't carry out basic tasks that are going
to save somebody else's life because think about
it scarlet legally owns her she has forced her
to be a maid for her child since she was 12 years
old and Here, Prissy is having to once again
take care of Scarlett and Melanie in their time
of need, even though it's during a war where
she's going to be freed if the other side wins.
So I think that this adds some depth to Prissy's
character. Now, in terms of what Margaret Mitchell
had to say about her. Margaret Mitchell actually
said that Prissy was the one character who was
based on a real person. I have not looked into
it that much more, but that is what she said
in her letters. I don't know what real person
she's based on. And then in another letter, Margaret
Mitchell says that Prissy is one of her favorite
characters. So she doesn't say much more than
that. I don't know if prissy is just supposed
to be taken at face value or if we can look further
into her character i don't think that she is
supposed to be smart in any capacity to be quite
honest with you but i personally just like to
headcanon that she is i just love the idea of
prissy being secretly very smart and just trying
to screw everybody over because she can so That
is all I have to say about that one. There's
not a ton of evidence for it other than just
interpretation. The next one is kind of a weird
one, but I have seen it crop up multiple times,
and I hope I can kind of entertain you guys with
a real anecdote about it. This one is that Rhett
and Melanie actually have a little bit of an
affair and that they sleep together at the point
where Scarlett has the miscarriage and she's
calming him down. So I know that this sounds
absolutely ridiculous and I agree that it is,
but I actually have seen multiple people bring
it up as a sort of a crack ship thing. Maybe
not taking it super seriously, but it is something
that has come up before. And it might interest
you to know that certain people in the 1930s
came to the same conclusion. There is one old
letter to Margaret Mitchell that this guy wrote
to her. He was saying that he was at a meeting
with his bridge club and... Everybody started
arguing about this scene and now certain people
are no longer speaking to each other. And Margaret
Mitchell responded and she just thought it was
hilarious. And she said, next time I will make
sure that a character is very clear about what
she's doing when she closes the door, even if
she's fictional. So she totally poked fun at
it and she said no and she defended Melanie's
virtue. So this is one that can definitely be
disproved. But it's definitely something that
I've seen people like to entertain because they
ship Rhett and Melanie. And then a less dramatic
headcanon would be that Rhett falls in love with
Melanie. I've seen people say that before. I
personally don't think he's in love with her.
I think he has a great deal of respect for her.
And I think that it's a really common trope in
stories like this for the bad boy to be reformed.
by the gentle girl, but this isn't one of those
stories. This is a story where the bad boy falls
for somebody who is just as bad as he is. So
I think that Melanie is just the one woman that
he really respects, but he doesn't feel anything
romantic for her like he does for Scarlett. Now,
that might be another episode, too, is written
Melanie's relationship, but... That's another
theory that I wanted to touch on that he feels
something for her. As for whether Melanie has
feelings for Rhett, absolutely not. I think she
is totally in love with Ashley. Just a couple
more. One of them is pretty short. It's about
Scarlett after she has Wade there. I don't even
know if this is really a theory, but it's something
that is not really confirmed in the books, even
though it's kind of obvious. It's that she has
postpartum depression after having Wade. I think
that this makes a lot of sense, but I also think
it doesn't necessarily have to be true. So after
Scarlett has Wade in the book, Scarlett is basically...
is overcoming a trauma. She's been through a
lot. She married this guy she didn't really want
to marry. And then he almost immediately dies.
And she's kind of like, what is my life now?
I'm a widow. I'm excluded from all social life.
All of the men have left for the army. My entire
life has suddenly changed. And now I have a baby
and I don't know how to feel about it. So I think
that what I'm trying to say here is she has plenty
of reason to be depressed the book goes into
great detail about why she's depressed and it's
because she's bored she's completely stunned
by everything that's happened and she cannot
adjust to being a mother she feels confused bewildered
and just really frustrated by everything so The
theory here that she has postpartum depression,
I think that it can make sense because it's clear
that she's going through something and maybe
she just didn't really know what postpartum depression
was. But at the same time, I think that even
if her hormones were all over the place, I think
she would have just been depressed anyway. That
is something that would have happened no matter
what. I think that postpartum depression could
be a factor, though, because it says that Scarlett
completely refuses food, that she's bored, she's
listless, nobody can bring up her spirits again.
And maybe it went further than just her circumstances.
Maybe it was something clinical. But I don't
know. I think it could go either way. So the
last one is one that I really like, but not necessarily
one that I think is true. This theory probably
makes more sense for the movie because in the
book we kind of have confirmation it didn't happen.
But the theory is, sorry, the theory is that
Rhett killed Frank Kennedy, that during the night
of the Klan raid. Rhett saw an opportunity and
he went out and he took care of Frank himself
because he wanted him out of the way to get it
scarlet. So the reason we have this theory, sorry,
again, is because at the end of the book, Rhett
says, I cared so much that I think I would have
killed Frank Kennedy if he hadn't died when he
did. So the desire is there. The intention could
have been there too. Rhett, again, he was playing
poker with the Yankee captains. He knew what
was about to happen that night. He knew about
the Klan raid. And he knew that Frank was going
to be out doing his Ku Kluxing stuff and he was
going to have an opportunity. And he wanted to
kill him. He wanted to get rid of him. The reason
why this theory doesn't make sense is, first
of all, why would Rhett admit to it? um at the
end that he thinks he would have killed frank
kennedy because that just doesn't make any sense
like wouldn't he have just said i killed him
if he's confessing or just kept it to himself
and then it also doesn't make sense because ret
goes out of his way to save all of the men he
Puts himself in danger by going out and rescuing
everybody, including Ashley, who he really doesn't
like and whom he would have been glad to see
dead, probably, if not for Melanie's sake. So
the idea of him killing Frank is really, really
interesting. It's not something that I think
makes any sense. The reason I think it makes
more sense. in the movie is because Rhett does
not have that line about wanting to kill Frank.
But I do think in an alternate universe that
Rhett easily could have done it. And also, sometimes
I think about alternate universes where Frank
didn't die in the Klan raid if Rhett actually
would have killed him. Because he says that he
thinks he would have, but I have to wonder if
he's really that morally bankrupt that he would
do that. I mean, forget... scarlet in how she
feels how could he ever become Ella's stepfather
and then look her in the eye knowing that he
killed her father that would just be messed up
so I mean I guess all in all I really hope that
Rhett did not kill Frank and I don't think he
did but I think it would have made an interesting
storyline and it's kind of fun to think about
in an alternate universe kind of way So let me
know what you think about any of these theories,
if you think that any of them are plausible,
if you think that any of them are completely
implausible, and give me some of your own theories,
if you have any. I hope that you all have a great
weekend, a great day, and I will see you next
time. Bye!