Makes a fascinating comparison. Both are spoiled women brought up in great wealth who lose everything. Scarlett succeeds; Lily succumbs. Two compelling portraits of 2 different women in similar circumstances.
shareThe difference is that Lily was mature and had scruples. She couldn’t bring herself to marry for just money even though she had several opportunities. Whereas Scarlett had no problem doing so. Nor did Scarlett care about social opinions.
The Wharton character that is akin to Scarlett (probably worse) is Undine Spragg.
Depends on how you understand maturity. Scarlett was selfish in many ways, but she was mature enough to see the world clearly and do what she needed to do to take care of herself and her family. As a consequence, she ultimately thrived despite having lost everything. In contrast, Lily was naive and lacked resourcefulness, & wound up destroyed. And how mature was she to run up thousands of dollars in gambling debts she couldn't pay?
shareScarlett was selfish in many ways, but she was mature enough to see the world clearly and do what she needed to do to take care of herself and her family.
Also, once she was on her feet after the war, Scarlett paid the expenses of her aunts Pauline and Eulalie in Charleston. She did have some selfless aspects to her.
shareShe's a movie/TV sociopath that is supposed to be the protagonist. She was given some qualities to make the audience relate to her. Don Draper on mad men is the same.
Plus degrees of sociopathic behavior exist.
Scarlett is a textbook sociopath.
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