Part 1
Before & during the War

Plot As Gone With The Wind begins, Scarlett O’Hara is shown with two men flirting with her. This is nothing unusual -- Scarlett makes men act like this all the time. There is talk of a Barbecue the next day at neighboring Twelve Oaks, the Wilkes’ plantation down the road from Tara. Gerald O’Hara is coming back from Twelve Oaks, and Scarlett meets him on the road to ask if the rumor Mammy, her slave, had told her is true. That Ashley Wilkes is going to ask his cousin Melanie to marry him. Gerald tells Scarlett the same, and she is heartbroken. As Scarlett is getting ready for the party, she and Mammy fight over Ashley Wilkes.
When they arrive at Twelve Oaks, Scarlett is the center of attention, all of the men, even those who have girlfriends, talk to Scarlett. She is the most popular girl there. All of the other girls resent her except for Melanie. Melanie and Ashley talk of their marriage as they overlook the garden. Scarlett is sitting beneath a tree with all the men surrounding her, at her beck and call. She is enjoying this until she spies Ashley and Melanie together. The girls all have to go take a nap, but once they are all asleep Scarlett sneaks out and listens in on the conversation the men are having about the upcoming war.
Everyone is sure the war will be short and glorious. After all, "southern gentlemen are worth any ten Yankees. Everyone knows that." Everyone, that is, except Rhett Butler -- he thinks the war will be hard fought. After Rhett and all the men get into a confrontation, he leaves. Shortly after, Ashley follows him. Scarlett intercepts Ashley, and she gets him alone in the library to confess her love for him. Ashley says he loves her too, but they are too different and cannot be together. After Ashley leaves, Rhett Butler shows himself, he was in the room the whole time. Scarlett comes out of the room and she hears all of the other girls talking about her, but Melanie sticks up for her.
The war started!