Talk:Melanie Hamilton

Untitled
I don't want this question to appear as nitpicking, but shouldn't this whole text be in the present tense? --KF 22:17, 17 Sep 2003 (UTC)
 * Let me try again: Would it be better to have this text in the present tense? (Cf. Rhett Butler.) --KF 00:43, 12 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * I would say so. I also wish some real historical people had this much info to write about them! Adam Bishop 00:54, 12 Nov 2003 (UTC)

This text -- now in the present tense -- is much more than a character sketch of Melanie Wilkes. Although I've never read the book and haven't seen the film for 25 years, it seems to give a complete outline of the plot of Gone with the Wind, but I guess that's fine. Could someone more knowledgeable please have a look at the last paragraph though? Is that really how the book/film ends? --KF 09:59, 12 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * That isn't how the film ends. If anything, that sounds like how the first part of the movie ends, and not the second. Mike H 16:06, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)

This covers only the first half of the book/movie. Melanie appears in the second half and even conspires with Scarlett to hide Scarlett's murder of a Yankee soldier. I would love to write a character sketch like this of Scarlett! She's just as interesting. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 159.221.32.10 (talk) 21:16, 27 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Just a note: I wouldn't say Melanie is naive...just trusting...--Aelita the Angel 06:36 pm, 8 February 2006

Melanie and Scarlett did not first meet at the engagement party/barbecue. When Scarlett is dressing she decides against a dress because she wore it the last time she saw Melanie. Scarlett also had not previously turned down a proposal from Charles, she just did not return the sentiment when he told her he loved her. Melanie also never sends the telegram to Ashley about the baby. She is unsure what to do but before she decides she receives the telgram from his superior officer. That is also not how the book ends at all.Esiobhan1128 12:33, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Hello, this text is about a fictional character. It makes no sense to demand that it should contain more realworld concern. --212.17.81.153 (talk) 03:58, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

Length of Ashley's Visit
"Ashley's short visit has apparently been enough for Melanie to be three months pregnant by March 1864." Apparently. For that, though, he only needed about 20 minutes.

On the subject of Ashley's wartime visit, there is a discrepancy between the book and the movie, and Margarett Mitchell later acknowledged that the book was in error. In the book, Ashley is portrayed as having come home before the Battle of Gettsburg, whereas in the movie, it was after. The movie is correct, because Beau was born during the Battle of Atlanta in 1864. If he was conceived the Christmas before Gettysburg, the pregnancy would have been about 21 months in length. The time period between the Christmas after Gettysburg and the Battle of Atlanta was approximately 9 months. John Paul Parks (talk) 13:31, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

I've checked in the book and Ashley comes home for the Christmas following Gettysburg, i. e. 1863. Melanie finds out she's pregnant in March 1864. The baby is born just before the fall of Atlanta, after a little more than 8 months of pregnancy. I think the movie was in error in this case. 2A02:AB88:36B7:4900:A0E9:10BA:71BD:1AF9 (talk) 22:22, 13 December 2020 (UTC)

Cousin marriages
"Unfortunately, this practice of apparent inbreeding has eventually resulted in the birth of progressively sicklier children." Exactly where is this implied in the novel? None of the characters in the Wilkes-Hamilton family – John Wilkes, Pittypat, Uncle Henry (1st generation), Ashley, India, Honey, Melanie, Charles (2nd generation), Wade and Beau (3rd generation) – seem to be sickly. True, Melanie is desrcibed as weak and dies in childbirth, but this wasn't unusual in that age; Pittypat is described as "childlike" but it's more likely to be general stupidity and hysteria than mental disability. 2A02:AB88:36B7:4900:A0E9:10BA:71BD:1AF9 (talk) 21:56, 13 December 2020 (UTC)