MBTI Type: ESTP

Scarlett is an opportunist who delights in being the center of attention and in living out new experiences, both in her desire to amass a great deal of wealth and show up all the people in town who hate her. She is rash and impulsive in her romantic decisions (marrying Charles, then Frank, then Rhett… then trying to run away with Ashley), but also smart in business tactics. If she sees a chance to make money (through lumber or cotton), she takes it. If she sees a chance to save Tara and pay the taxes, she leaps on it. She wants to dance, and flirt, and be the most desired belle in the South. Until Melanie’s death rips the wool from Scarlett’s eyes, she sees Ashley as a romantic symbol of novelty and desire rather than as a real human being. She idealizes him to such an extent that when confronted with the real Ashley, she is upset that he doesn’t match the vision of the man that lives inside her head. Scarlett often lives and reacts in the moment, but toward the end of the story starts formulating longer-term ideas (“I’ll find some way to get him back!”) (inferior Ni). Though putting on a veil of superficiality for the boys, Scarlett is also a realist… except when it comes to the man she loves. She puts aside all sentiment and emotion to make brutal decisions to keep her family alive. She assesses people and situations and makes the most of them. She figures out how things and people work, including Rhett, and manipulates them to her advantage. Scarlett chooses her words sparingly and rarely shares her schemes with other people; instead, she formulates them in silence. She is torn between her duty to others and her need to be liked by them and her own selfish ambitions. Scarlett remains with Melanie in Atlanta because the doctor makes her feel guilty about wanting to leave town; she is willing to tread on her sisters’ emotions to ensure their survival, but also greatly fears what her mother would think of her. Scarlett can turn on the charm and be sweet, affirming, and romantic when she pleases, but can also turn into an angry spitfire, venting her feelings to anyone who will listen in random outbursts of bad temper. She often delays confessing her true feelings until it is too late.

Enneagram: 3w4 sx/sp

Scarlett focuses entirely on how attractive she is to men, and in using that to her advantage; when she sees something she wants and needs, she goes after it, using manipulation and forced sweetness to get her way. She is utterly devastated by Ashley’s refusal to fall for her, and makes him the center of her focus – obsessing over an unrealistic, romanticized, tragic version of Ashley rather than see his true self and his devotion to his wife. She becomes so focused on this fantasy, she fails to see Rhett, living for what she cannot have, rather than what she has in abundance. Scarlett does not introspect, until late in the story, when she starts seeing things more clearly – growing into a more realistic 6 influence, as she examines the characters of those around her, and questions her own motives. She falls into 9-ish behaviors under stress (“Oh, I can’t think about that now, I’ll think about that tomorrow!”). Her 4 wing sabotages her in that she forever thinks about what she does not have (Ashley) rather than what she has (Rhett) — wasting away her romantic life and attentions on a man who does not love her. The instant he becomes available, she discovers she no longer wants him — and instead chases after a man she cannot have, who does not want her anymore. Scarlett falls into a 4ish self-destructive path of always focusing on what is lacking in her life.