Besides beautiful appearance, unique character is also important for us to learn from Scarlet. Scarlet could express bravely her passion to her beloved man, regardless of others’ criticism. She made a beautiful dress out of the old curtain during the war time. She could go down to work in the cotton filed; she could kill the enemy herself
with a tinny gun left by her father. She could dance in the hall when she was still a widow. So many rebellious things she had done. But it was her personalities which were considered to be rebellious at that time that attracted men’s eyes. She was always the spotlight.
Being unique makes others discover your personalities, which make you attractive to them. The reason why there are differences among people is the unique features. And of course women themselves should cherish and enjoy their features. Some women may hold that the reason why it is hard to get along with others is that they do not receive enough education. Should women follow strictly the tradition to do everything? The answer is “no”. It is not a problem for the people to build interpersonal relationship with others. Young women are just in the time during which they are likely to show their own personality. So if you want to be loved by others you should love yourselves and your personalities. And at the same time you should also accept other’s character. Being unique is necessary for women.
B. to Learn from Melanie and Use One’s Internal Beauty to Win Others’ Respect and Trust
Scarlet is beautiful but Melanie is not. Melanie is just a common girl who does not have the charming appearance. But she is also as attractive as Scarlet.
The description of Melanie’s appearance is as follows.
Melanie was a tiny, frailly built girl, who gave the appearance of a child masquerading in her mother’s enormous hoop skirts-an illusion that was height-ended by the sky, almost frightened look in her two large brown eyes. She had a cloud of curly dark hair which was so stemly represented beneath its net that no ragant tendrils escaped, and this dark mass, with its long widow’s speck, accentuated the heart shape her face, too wide across the check-bones, too pointed at the chin. It was a sweet, timid face but a plain face, and she had no feminine tricks of allure to make observers forget its plainness. She looked-and was –as simple as earth, as good as bread, as transparent as spring water. But for all her plainness of feature and smallness of stature, there was a sedate dignity about her movement that was oddly touching and
far older than her seventeen years. (Margaret, 121)
Melanie was like her aunt in many ways. She had her shyness, her sudden blushes, her modesty, but she did have common sense. Melanie had the face of a sheltered child who had never know anything but simplicity and kindness, truth and love, a child who had never looked upon harshness or evil and would not recognize them if she saw them. Because she had always been happy, she wanted every one around her to be happy, or at least, pleased with themselves. To this end, she always saw the best in everyone and remarkable kindly upon it. There was no servant so stupid that she did not find some redeeming trait of loyalty and kind heartedness, no girl so ugly and disagreeable that she could not discover grace of form or nobility of character in her, and no man so worthless or so boring that she did not view him in the light of his possibilities rather than his actualities.
Because of these qualities that came sincerely and spontaneously from a generous heart, everyone flocked about her. She had more girl friends than anyone in town and more men friends too, though she had few beaux, for she lacked the willfulness and selfishness that go far towards trapping men’s hearts.
From the above we can know that Melanie was really not a beautiful person with charming appearance. What made her appreciated by others was her internal beauty: smile, sincerity, and kindness.
1. Smile
Smile has an unconscious charm to people in interpersonal relationship. People will not refuse a person who smiles. Smile plays an important role in interpersonal relationship, which can create miracle in life. Shakespeare, a famous English play writer, said that he would prefer to be made happy by a fool rather than to be made sad by a clever person. Every person wants to have a happy life. If women want to build a good interpersonal relationship, firstly, she should make other happy instead of sad or grieve. Smile can change person’s appearance; can make people feel at ease and comfortable and make people easy to get along with. People enjoy making friends with these who smile frequently. So in some degree smile is powerful. How can women keep smiling frequently? To smile you should have an optimistic psychology.