Uniforms

Click here for some pictures and info on Civil War uniforms. The website mentions homespun as well as Zouave.

Quoting Shakespeare in GWTW

In one of Ashley's letters to Melanie, he tells her his opinion of the war and criticizes the men who would "seek the bubble reputation, even in the cannon's mouth". It's a line from As You Like It. The entire speech is below.

It's a good example of Ashley's education. And the fact that Melanie must understand the reference, while Scarlett does not, cements the idea that "like should marry like".

The Seven Ages of Man
~ William Shakespeare

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then, the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice
In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide,
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Southern Fiction

Click here for the short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. I mentioned it at our last meeting as another good piece of literature about the South during the Civil War.

Gone with the Wind

Margaret Mitchell got the title from the poem Cynara by Ernest Dowson.

Click here for more info on Mitchell and the writing of GWTW.

Zouave

A picture of a Zouave uniform. The red of the pants is one of the colors considered by the Tarleton twins' troop.

Cravat

Click here for pictures and a description of a cravat, like the one Gerald O'Hara wears.

Trailer

Click here for the GWTW movie trailer.