Early Life
Margaret Mitchell, a renowned American novelist, was born on the 8th of November in 1900, in Georgia, the United States. She belonged to a wealthy Irish family, having strong faith in Catholicism. Eugene Muse Mitchell, her father, was a popular attorney. Her mother Maybelle from May Bell Stephens was a suffragist. She grew up in a family of storytellers who narrated their American Civil War experiences to her. These inspiring stories led her to express her ideas and thoughts on paper. At an early age, she developed various stories and loved to pen down her adventurous books, decorating them with colorful cardboards.
Education
Margaret’s educational journey started at Atlanta’s Washington Seminary, where she did well. She was an active member of the school drama club. Sometimes, she herself wrote plays about snobbish college girls. Later, she joined the literary club and became a published figure after two of her short stories, “Little Sister” and “Sergeant Terry” appeared in a local magazine. After this newly won fame, she decided to get enrolled at Smith College in Massachusetts in 1918. Unfortunately, the following year, her mother’s death put a full stop to her formal education. She returned home to perform domestic duties for her family.
Personal Life and Death
After four years of Margaret’s return, she married Berrien Upshaw, who was a highly romantic and attractive, yet, an unstable and violent man. This marriage didn’t last long and they separated after three months. Later, in 1925, she remarried John Marsh, a union that lasted until her death. After serving the world in literary and practical fields, this legendary figure met a tragic demise when she was struck by a speedy vehicle while crossing a street. She failed to recover from this deadly accident and breathed her last on the 16th of August in 1949.
Some Important Facts of Her Life
- She rendered her services as a journalist for six years for the Atlanta Journal.
- William Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, and Charles Dickens were her inspirations in writing.
- She is widely known for her novel, Gone with the Wind, for which she won two major awards; National Book Award in 1936, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937.
- His world-famous novel, Gone with the Wind, was turned into an Oscar-winning movie in 1939.
- In her later years, she volunteered for the American Red Cross during World War II.
Her Career
Margaret successfully pursued two careers in life; first, she became a journalist, and later emerged as a novelist. Since childhood, she devoted herself to reading, and writing, and produced various writing pieces. Her creative abilities dawned upon the world when her first story, “Atlanta Girl Sees the Italian Revolution” was published on 31st of December in 1992 in Atlanta Journal. Later, she loved to write about topics that were more inclined towards women, including feminism, fashion, and society. She produced several book reviews, eighty-five stories, and one hundred and twenty-nine feature articles for the journal. Besides these engaging articles, she tried her hands-on novels as well. She wrote a romantic novella, Lost Laysen, during her early years, and presented it to her boyfriend. Unfortunately, the man died, and the work was found and published later in 1996. Her next attempt, The Big Four, also perished, and her novelette, Ropa Carmagin, faced rejection from the publishers. However, her final work, Gone with the Wind, secured her a special place among the world literature.
Her Style
Margret Mitchell possessed a remarkable ability to incorporate aspects of realism and simplicity in her works. Using charms of effectivity and narration in her language, she emerged at the top with her novel, Gone with the Wind, which won many hearts across the globe. She tried presenting the real sufferings, emotions, loss, and hopes of the people facing the traumatic war experiences. The use of recurring phrases, the philosophical approach of the characters, sophisticated style, and various other literary devices differentiates her from the other writers of her time. The recurring thematic strand, in her writings, stands love, loyalty, society, history, and violence.
Some Important Works of Margret Mitchell
- Although Margret Mitchelle wrote several books during her life, yet her only published works stand, Lost Laysen and Gone with the Wind.
Margret Mitchell’s Impacts on Future Literature
Margret Mitchell, with her unique abilities, has profoundly impacted global literature. Following a long hiatus after her death, she still continues to win applause from the literary voices. Her classical wit, infusion of ideas, literary taste, and characterization won audiences, critics, and writers alike.
Famous Quotes
- “I loved something I made up, something that’s just as dead as Melly is. I made a pretty suit of clothes and fell in love with it. And when Ashley came riding along, so handsome, so different, I put that suit on him and made him wear it whether it fitted him or not. And I wouldn’t see what he really was. I kept on loving the pretty clothes—and not him at all.” (Gone with the Wind)
- “Child, it’s a very bad thing for a woman to face the worst that can happen to her, because after she’s faced the worst she can’t ever really fear anything again. …Scarlett, always save something to fear— even as you save something to love…” (Gone with the Wind)
- “Perhaps – I want the old days back again and they’ll never come back, and I am haunted by the memory of them and of the world falling about my ears “ (Gone with the Wind)
- “Until you’ve lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is.” (Gone with the Wind)