at least in terms of the motivations of the other characters and in how well the South could expect to do in a war.

The scene where he is laying on the couch and she doesn't know he is there while she pleads with Ashely.. ...

How many conniving Scarlett O'Hara's are there?

In high school it was a not an uncommon personality type.
Pretty, flirty, and coquettish.
Usually, but not always, from a wealthy family.
Prom queens and drama queens.
About as deep as a salad plate.
Calculating.

meh

I can't stand that movie. Can't understand why anyone would. Scarlett O'Hara was a wretched excuse of a human being who deserved to be miserable for the rest of her life.

I think I was in my 40s when I finally watched the DVD. Scarlett is not a very sympathetic character, certainly not in the beginning. But she grows and changes over the course of the movie. The Scarlett we first meet would never tend to the wounded and dying, take Tara back, and help deliver a baby. She's a flighty bit of nothing who earns some wisdom and toughness through some pretty terrible occurrences. Like any human being, though, she often falls back on what worked before when she doesn't know how to proceed.

Rhett Butler doesn't change much over the course of the movie. He knows early on that the bravado of the would-be confederate soldiers is fool's gold, and he tells them as much. That's kind of his high point. Rhett is very good at looking out for himself, and when things get too real, he tends to vamoose. Scarlett's final lapse - again - to her earlier, flighty days provides Rhett the pretext he needs to walk out on her for the last (?) time. Life with Scarlett is just too tough for Rhett, and in a way who can blame him?

I liked the movie when I first saw it, and still enjoy it for its many technical achievements. I can see how the story could capture many people's imaginations, and had Margaret Mitchell opted to continue the story, it's tantalizing to think what else might have happened to Scarlett and whether she and Rhett would ever get back together. Mitchell herself, asked what happened to the couple, confessed ignorance, and observed that perhaps Rhett settled down with someone who was less difficult, an acknowledgment that Scarlett wasn't meant to be some pure, virtuous stereotype of a heroine.

pretty creative after Tara was ransacked by The Yankees...

Just about everyone in that sketch gets cracked up at one point or another. Apparently, there is a GWTW museum, and that very outfit has its own display. It's good they have a sense of humor and don't take themselves too seriously.

the last time was the final straw. I find that totally understandable that anyone would finally have enough of that.

It's not like he didn't know from day one.

Scarlett was a survivor. I give her points for that. Anyway, Ashley was much more attractive than Rhett.

they might have will go unexplored after the marriage. I think that's pretty much par for the course and an expectation 99% of folks have when they get married.

I don't understand this blaming the person for leaving who has had to deal with their partner throwing themselves at someone else for years.

I think he was looking for an out after the death of their daughter and Scarlett's ongoing crush on the saintly Ashley. As I mentioned, my impression of Rhett is that he's very good at looking out for himself, and just about any precipitating event would suffice for him to walk out the door. I don't think that's necessarily "blaming" Rhett for being fed up with Scarlett.

As I also said, Scarlett isn't a very sympathetic character. She has lots of flaws, yet busts her ass to carve out the life she wants. Part of that drive means she neglects the people and relationships around her (cf. Scarlett's disdain for her best friend Melanie until she realizes - too late - what animated Melanie and why Ashley found that so attractive, to the exclusion of any attention he might pay to Scarlett). I don't know that there's any blame to be apportioned for Rhett walking out; Rhett and Scarlett aren't very well matched, despite Rhett's infatuation with Scarlett, she is not the woman he needs her to be. The riverboat gambler cuts his losses, folds his hand, and leaves the table.

I read GWTW countless times. I liked Scarlett because she was a strong female (I didn't think of it that way at the time). She used the strengths she had and changed when she had to. She was a survivor and I always hoped that if I were in a bad situation like she was I would be able to survive like she did. Melanie and Ashley were nicey-nice folks that I never much liked. Rhett never impressed me much.