Am on Ch 6 where Rhett Butler is introduced. Once again, I was struck by a possible allusion to the oft repeated Jewish Question.
All throughout the book repeated stereotypical matters are raised. For example, Gerald O'Hara is presented as a stereotype Irishman which predilection for the spirits, his love of horses, his fascination with anything green colored, his repeated longings for the old country, his patriarchal tyranny over his daughters, his quick temper and fisticuffs, etc. Then there is Mammy with endless repetition of the dreaded N word, there are "d@rkies" who rated just above them, and then there are "cr@ckers" and at the bottom of the barrel there are "white tr@sh".
Butler is a big man described as having a large forehead, hook nose, thick lips, and dark skinned ~ terms used to denote stereotypical Jews in the past. He is described as "not received" (unwelcome) and is said to be a seducer of women, a wealthy scion exiled from his family (Wandering Jew?), from Charleston, SC. He is manipulative, a trouble maker, wealthy, enterprising, a blockade runner & smuggler. Could all this mean that the writer was saying that he was a stereotypical Jew?
In 1862 virulent Jew hater General Benjamin Butler* (hmmm ~ Butler), a personal acquaintance of President Lincoln prosecuted several Jewish blockade runners and smugglers who led a corrupt operation from NYC to of all places Charleston, SC (Rhett's home town). While some have said that Rhett was based on a corrupt Confederate named Trenholm** (a wine importer, banker, and maritime operator), the linkage to stereotype Jews seem more than coincidental.
I tried to find some source online to see if this has been discussed previously but perhaps someone else may know if Mitchell intended to draw such parallels.
sources:
* https://www.shapell.org/manuscript/a...trayed-savior/
** https://shipwrecks.com/discovery_of_..._rhett_butler/