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November 11, 2019The Search For Scarlett O’Hara

"You need kissing badly and by a man who knows how!"
Vivian Leigh brought the character of Scarlett O’Hara to life like no other actress could. “Gone With the Wind” is having its Uranus return in 2020 so it’s a great time to look back on this article.
The astrology of “Gone With the Wind” can be found in this article: “Gone With the Wind” The Zodiacal Parade“. Please note that as of July 2020, this article was temporarily withdrawn from this site because its updated version (including commentary on Olivia de Havilland) now appears in ISAR’s Journal. It will be re-posted later in the year.
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Astrology and Literature
I’ve always loved the versatility of astrology. I also like to push my luck. So one day, I thought I’d break every rule of synastry (according to the feedback I got from the FAS). Using the composite chart of author Margaret Mitchell and actress Vivien Leigh, I tried to explain the character of Scarlett O’Hara. I had a lot of fun exploring “Gone With the Wind”. I’m not a particular fan of the film or book. But I did go all the way to Atlanta to do some research on the subject).
This is quite an old article. I like because it catches me learning. And having fun with astrology (as opposed to crunching numbers and swearing at Excel).
I also love to read. I’m delighted that two of the best selling authors of the 20th century have used astrology. J. K. Rowling and Margaret Mitchell the secret to your success is out. I also have articles on Truman Capote and Mary Shelley if you’d like to read more about astrology and literature.
The Search for Scarlett
By early December 1938, the Hollywood producer of Gone With the Wind, David O. Selznick, had a very big problem. Having already shelled out $50,000 for the movie rights for Margaret Mitchell’s novel, interviewing 1400 women, listening to some 400 readings of the blockbuster script plus screen-testing 90 actresses at a cost of over $100,000, Selznick still had not found the right actress to play Scarlett O’Hara, Mitchell’s unforgettable heroine.
Selznick did the exact opposite of what any sane, reasonable producer would do. He made plans to begin filming the epic movie immediately. And he wanted to start with the most difficult and dangerous scene, the burning of Atlanta. Using stunt doubles for the main characters and the old set for his previous movie, King Kong, on 10 December 1938, with the lead female still not found and against all advice, Selznick began production of Gone With the Wind with the simple strike of a match.
Selznick’s search for Scarlett had sparked the biggest casting call in the history of cinema. He had bagged his leading men, Clark Gable (“Rhett Butler”) and Leslie Howard (“Ashley Wilkes”) without too much trouble. Olivia DeHavilland (“Melanie Wilkes“) accepted her role shortly after her sister, Joan Fontaine rejected . Fontaine sarcastically said, “Give it to my sister, it’s perfect for her.”. The two had one of the bitterest sibling feuds in Hollywood.
Selznick watched the inferno that would eventually become the backdrop of the movie’s most memorable image. He must have been consumed with raging self doubt coupled with deep disappointment. Would he have to use an actress he knew would be less than perfect?
Meet Scarlett O’Hara
Suddenly, there was a tap on his shoulder. Annoyed, Selznick turned. It was his brother Myron, a casting agent. Next to Myron stood Laurence Olivier. Next to Olivier was Olivier’s girlfriend, the British actress Vivien Leigh. Selznick had rejected Leigh as Scarlett the year before because he felt an unknown American actress should play Scarlett. But this time, the fire of Atlanta glowed on Leigh’s flawless skin and reflected in her eyes. To Selznick, she looked as if lit from within and she seemed to ooze with sparkling passion. “David,” said Myron, “Meet Scarlett O‘Hara.”

Within a month, Vivien Leigh had perfected a deep Southern accent. And had proven she could act the part of such a feisty, spoiled, passionate woman. “Vivien Leigh is Scarlett O’Hara,” sighed a satisfied Margaret Mitchell after the film’s premiere in Atlanta the following year. It is a sentiment echoed by millions of viewers who simply cannot imagine anyone other than Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara. Katherine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Susan Hayward, Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard, Bette Davis and Lana Turner all auditioned for the part. And all, at different times, were leading contenders in the search for Scarlett.
Like Selznick (who had purchased the movie rights for Gone With the Wind before the book was available to the public), Leigh herself knew that the movie would embed itself in American culture and cinema history. Already a fan of the novel, it seems Leigh also knew she was destined to play Scarlett:
As exciting as the casting call seems, it is little more than a publicity stunt. Leigh had bagged the part well before filming began. One evening a few years before she would be cast, she was standing next to her well known lover Olivier. She listened as friends insisted that “Larry” would make a great Rhett Butler. “Oh Larry won’t be Rhett Butler,” she told their friends, “But I will be Scarlett O’Hara, just wait and see.”
The Birth Chart
Vivien Leigh was born in Darjeeling India on 5 November 1913 at 17:16 (Rodden Rating: B; Collector: Holliday). Appropriate for a beauty, she has Taurus on the ascendant. The chart ruler is in the sign of its dignity, Libra, and occupying her sixth house. With the Sun conjunct her descendant in Scorpio, it is easy to understand how she would want to attract such a powerful man as Laurence Olivier. Yet Leigh was adamant that though she loved Olivier, she did not want to marry him. She wanted to establish herself in her own right as an actress. As she filmed the movie, Uranus passed over her ascendant.

After winning an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1940, Leigh married Olivier. The ink on the divorce papers from her first marriage were barely dry. The role of Scarlett had completely altered Leigh’s life. Like Margaret Mitchell, she was never really able to find peace ever again in her life once fans worked out how to contact her.
Mitchell and Leigh had much in common and it was even said that Leigh looked like a younger Mitchell. Although born 13 years apart, their suns are only a few degrees apart with Mitchell’s Sun only a few minutes from Leigh’s descendant. They had similar placements for Mercury and Venus so astrologically it isn’t too difficult to appreciate these two women understood each other and had similar values. In fact, Mitchell declined to give Leigh advice on how to portray Scarlett, preferring to trust the actress’ interpretation. As Scarlett O’Hara was recently voted the most memorable female character in cinema, it seems Mitchell was right to trust her instincts.
Captain Butler
It’s quite possible that Scarlett would not have been nearly as interesting without her perfect foil, the dashing Captain Rhett Butler. Clark Gable didn’t win an Academy Award for his portrayal. However, his line “Frankly my dear, I just don’t give a damn,” is one of the most instantly recognisable ever uttered in a movie. Costing MGM Studios a hefty fine for breeching obscenity laws, Selznick knew it would be worth it.
Gable–like many men–was not impressed with “Gone With the Wind.” Neither was Leslie Howard who simply didn’t want the role of Ashley Wilkes because he feared being typecast. And both of these men portrayed characters who were, to different degrees, the objects of Scarlett’s affection.
Since both Leigh and Gable were involved in relationships with other people and the romance of their characters was imperative to the storyline of the movie, they must have felt the pressure to walk a very fine line between fantasy and reality.
There can be little doubt that their on-screen relationship was anything but convincing. In reality, Leigh hated kissing Gable because of his excessively bad breath. (Leigh may have been a little tetchy because although she worked twice as many days as he did, she was only paid one-fifth of his salary).
In one scene, Gable had to carry Leigh up a long flight of stairs. It was a scene that had to be filmed several times. “One more time, Clark,” called director Victor Fleming. Wincing, Gable picked up Leigh and carried her up the stairs. “Thanks Clark,” said Fleming. “We didn’t really need that shot. We just had a little bet that you couldn’t do it again.”
Long hours of work plus long bouts away from their respective partners meant that filming was far from easy And yet, they pulled off the greatest romance of cinema,. It was a feat aided by Gable’s Sun on Leigh’s Moon and Leigh’s Mars opposite to Gable’s Venus. True teamwork is also shown with Gable’s Jupiter on Leigh’s Saturn. She held his confidence in check, he helped her to open up.
The Composite Chart
As noted in Gone With the Wind: The Zodiacal Parade, Mitchell used the zodiac as a basis for her characters. The feisty, independent heroine Scarlett O’Hara personified the sign of Aries. Unfortunately, Mitchell did not leave a trail of dates and times of birth to use as clues for constructing natal charts. In fact, the only clue was that Scarlett was sixteen years old at the start of the Civil War. This meant she would have been born in 1845). And, no matter how real she might seem, Scarlett is a fictional character. Therefore she does not have a birth chart. However, Scarlett’s phenomenal success was due to a blend of author’s invention and actress’ interpretation. Could Scarlett’s birth chart be the Mitchell/Leigh composite chart? And could this composite chart reflect the personality of Scarlett O’Hara herself?
It would have been wonderful if the Sun of the composite chart was in Aries and in the first house. That would have made things a lot easier for a lazy astrologer. As a composite chart uses the midpoints of planets, it cannot be expected that the sun in a composite chart of two Scorpios could be anything but Scorpio. Initially it would seem a composite chart of Mitchell and Leigh could not possibly describe Scarlett. Further disappointment lies in the composite chart’s ascendant in the watery sign of Cancer and even worse, conjunct Neptune. It sounds far too wimpy to suit the Scarlett with whom we are familiar. An astrologer’s mood may lift when told that Mitchell’s first choice of name for her fiery heroine was not Scarlett . It was “Pansy.” Mitchell only changed the name in the final draft.
Mars
Further encouragement comes with the thought of the traditional ruler of Scorpio. Scorpio shares its Mars rulership with the sign of Aries. It might be the wrong sign but it’s the right planet. It’s enough to persuade an astrologer to take a better look at the ruling planet.

The composite chart’s ruler, the Moon, is conjunct the MC and in the sign of Aries (phew). That makes for a pretty sparky personality. Scarlett was certainly protective of her home and aggressively guarded her family and loved ones. Even better though, the Moon is part of a grand cross in the cardinal signs involving Uranus, Venus and Neptune. If one takes the view that the MC represents the mother and the IC the father, the moon’s conjunction to MC could explain Scarlett’s desire to have the grace and decorum of her mother, a social do-gooder. Venus on the IC then would represent Scarlett’s father–who happened to be a land-loving Taurean in Mitchell‘s zodiacal parade.
Scarlett O’Hara: Bad or Just Drawn That Way?
With a Moon-Venus opposition, Scarlett was spoiled rotten by both her parents. This was one of the main reasons she found it so difficult to deal with the hardships of war. She was expected to do nothing but rely on her feminine wiles to attract a rich husband. And, ironically if you know the story, live on the fat of the land. But when the going got tough, Scarlett’s favourite distraction was fantasising about life as the spouse of Ashley Wilkes. This is demonstrated by a T-Square formed with the Moon/Venus opposition square to Neptune in Cancer.
Ashley’s preoccupation with honour and prestige could only belong to the archetype of a Capricorn. That Ashley spurned Scarlett for “mealy mouthed” Melanie, a shy, sensitive, small-busted woman who died following the complications of a miscarriage, was an puzzle to Scarlett. But it was not to astrologers who can easily understand the attraction of a Capricorn to a Cancer. Its surprise for Scarlett is perhaps reflected in Neptune’s opposition to Uranus in Capricorn: Scarlett simply couldn’t figure Ashley out.

The Grand Cross practically guaranteed Scarlett would be misunderstood by those she loved. This was especially true with her relationship with her children. In the novel, she had three children–a child with each of her three husbands. However, in the film she had only one child, Bonnie Blue Butler, the daughter she shared with Rhett). Mitchell was said to be puzzled by Scarlett being regarded as a heroine when she was such a reluctant and negligent wife and mother. (“A cat’s a better mother than you,” Rhett told Scarlett). Instead Mitchell preferred the caring, sensitive Melanie–whose demise near the end of the film had audiences reaching for their hankies.
The Grand Cross
If an emphasis of cardinal signs weren’t enough, the composite chart also contains a grand trine in fire. Mars is in Leo (in the first house, making Mars very difficult to ignore). Mercury is in Sagittarius and again, remarkably, the Moon is in Aries. Scarlett eventually fell in love with, married and had a child with Rhett Butler. As a Leo, he was far more concerned about the status of his family than his wife. Women tend to look to the men in their lives to act out their Mars energy. So a Leo man for Scarlett might seem a good match. Not that Scarlett needed any help expressing her Mars energy. Although Rhett did try! “You need kissing and kissing often–and by someone who knows how!” If you can pardon his bad breath that is)
The other angle of the grand trine in fire was Mercury in Sagittarius in the fifth house. As the fifth house represents children, this may explain the rather reckless behaviour of the young Sagittarius, Bonnie Blue. She died whilst attempting to jump a fence on her steed. Thus, the Butler family completed the element of fire.
The Moon in Aries, as the chart ruler cj the MC, as part of a grand cross in fire signs seems appropriate. Add a grand trine in fire sharing that Moon and it doesn’t seem a bad second place to an Aries Sun.
Goodnight, Olivia
Olivia de Havilland was the real-life Cancerian who played Melanie Wilkes. de Havilland was the last remaining Gone With the Wind actor. Her death just a few weeks after her 104th birthday in July 2020, with transiting Mercury exactly conjunct her natal Venus in Cancer, means the actress truly gets the final word.

It is difficult to appreciate the character of Melanie in Gone With the Wind. The character is timid, sugary sweet and seemingly weak. But like all good Cancerians, Melanie sensed when her moment to be a hero came. When she had the chance to humiliate the scheming Scarlett at a party, Melanie had the grace to welcome her as a sister.
Even Scarlett, who so regularly disregarded Melanis with open contempt, recognised the goodness in her when she died. Scarlett finally realised that there would be no one else who could act out her Neptune as well as Melanie. Neptune in the twelfth house square to her Venus-Moon opposition helps us to better comprehended the character’s fear of losing her sense of individuality. The love of the chase of romance and her reluctance to make long term commitments also becomes clearer. The grand cross can make even the worst thing Scarlett does–stealing her sister’s long term fiancé and marrying him for his money–a little more understandable.
Aside from her obvious grace and beauty, De Havilland took on Warner Brothers film studio in 1943 and essentially, kicked their ass all over the place. It is because of her very brave stance–which could have resulted with her never working in films again–that actors have better control over their artistic contributions and were better paid for it.
“I suppose you’d like to know how actresses of my day differ from actresses of today,” she said to the American Academy of Achievement interviewer in 2006. “Well,” she went on, cocking an eyebrow as the hint of a smile crept into her twinkling eyes, “the actresses of today are richer.”
Never let anyone tell you that Cancerians are timid, sugary sweet or weak.
Everlasting Love?
The year 1938 was a big one for the United States. It was a bumper year for movie production. Besides “Gone With the Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz,“ “Good-bye Mr Chips” and “Mr Smith Goes to Washington” were also made. It was also the first Neptune return for the US. These film classics would meet in a head-to-head competition at the 1939 Academy Awards. However, it was “Gone With the Wind“ that walked away with Best Picture, Best Actress (for Vivien Leigh‘s portrayal of Scarlett O’Hara), Best Supporting Actress (for Hattie McDaniel, the first Black actor to win an Academy Award), Best Director (for Victor Fleming, the only credited director) and Best Screenplay (posthumously awarded to Sydney Howard). Eight Academy Awards in total.
Although all these movies would eventually be seen by audiences all over the world, originally they were for Americans. If the Mitchell/Leigh composite chart can reflect the personality of Scarlett, can it also explain its enduring appeal? Using the Sibley chart for the US and the chart for Scarlett in a bi-wheel can help answer this question.
The Sun of the US shone on the Neptune of the composite chart. This seemed to highlight the romance of the character of Scarlett O’Hara. The popularity of the character was boosted by the US Pluto on the composite’s N. Node. In return, the Mars of the composite chart is conjunct the N. Node of the US chart. It made it seem as if the fighting spirit (not to mention sex appeal) of the character would seem attractive to American audiences. The composite chart’s Mercury is so close to the US ascendant would give Americans much to talk about. However, it is Scarlett’s Venus near to the Saturn of the US that looks like everlasting love.
Rule-Bending
The Mitchell-Leigh composite chart seems to echo the personality of Scarlett O`Hara perfectly. There are, of course, many astrologers who do not use or even approve of composite charts since they are not based on real time. It is possible, for example, to be able to draw up a composite chart with the Sun opposite to Mercury. There will be astrologers who would have stopped at the Scorpio Sun of Scarlett and have shaken their heads. Astrologically, as in real life, the search for the perfect Scarlett O’Hara involved rule-bending, experimentation, a lot of faith and a bit of blind luck. It’s a formula that Margaret Mitchell, author of “Gone With the Wind” and who had a natal Uranus/Jupiter conjunction, would have understood.
Originally published by “Astrology Quarterly”, spring 2006
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