Okay, so not to beat a dead horse, but I'm having more Rhett/Scarlett feels.
So, after thinking about this whole thing with regard to Gone With the Wind and Rhett and Scarlett...I've been reflecting on the definition of rape and the idea of how it's presented in the book and what we are supposed to gather from it. I've also been pondering that Margaret Mitchell wrote this novel in the 1920s and 30s (it took her about 10 years to complete the manuscript)...I'm just very curious about her intent with that scene in the book. I'm putting aside the movie because the book is obviously the source material and the best way to get the characters thoughts, feelings, and motivations.
Truthfully, I wish I could have a Q&A with her. It would be fascinating, I'm sure.
But I was thinking about Rhett's final speech to Scarlett at the end of the novel where he says "It seems we've been at cross purposes, doesn't it?" Truly, the illustration of that is so apparent in this scene earlier when Rhett "rapes" her -- because his intent was to have power over her, to humiliate her, to make her "love" him or whatever way it was twisted in his mind at that point; years of frustration, of hoping she would finally see that he is her perfect match, of watching her pine for Ashley, etc. And he is drunk in that scene, so his inhibitions are totally obliterated and he loses control; the careful facade he's cultivated all these years to not let Scarlett know how deeply he cares for her (this is one of my issues with movie!Rhett, he's all too willing to toss the word "love" around when Scarlett would just use it against him and he knows it, so another reason I like book!Rhett better) has been shattered by his actions of the night before.
One could interpret that their encounter may have turned tender at some point and maybe that's what embarrasses him, but with all this reflection, I actually think Rhett is conceding that he raped her, even though Scarlett doesn't think of that way. He offers to let her divorce him and he goes away, as in leaves town. His shame is apparent. I suppose the point is, his shame over WHAT and that's open to interpretation, but let's say for the sake of this argument, it's actually because he feels guilty for having exerted his power over her; because even though Rhett is a Me-Firster, and likes to offend people with his outspokenness, he DOES love Scarlett. His only desire up until this point has been to take care of her, to ease her burdens, and take all her worries away. He's certainly teased her and provoked her and all of that, but it was out a sense of good fun, out of appreciation for her spunk and sass and cleverness; she survived by being smarter than everyone else, and he admires her so much on that alone, forget all the things about her that attract him to her.
Anyway, long story long, as I was thinking of this earlier, it just really hit me how much sadder it is than I ever realized before, because here, at this moment when Scarlett has felt passion, and sexual satisfaction, in a way she never had before, even though she and Rhett have been married for several years, Rhett is deeply ashamed of what happened between them. At a time when Scarlett thinks maybe this whole interesting side of him she's never really seen before could be something meaningful to her, he runs away. And even more sadly, a baby comes of that night, and then she loses it again because of more ugliness between them. And, guh. They are just so tragic and awful, and why I didn't realize sooner that these are the kinds of pairings I enjoy most, I don't know. But in truth, Rhett and Scarlett are the prototypes of Damon and Elena, Kate and Sawyer, and so many others.
They do awful things to each other, and to other people, but there is something about them that has you rooting for them, and hoping they can work it out. With Scarlett and Rhett, of course, there is the first piece of fanfiction that I ever read, the "sequel" to GWTW, Scarlett, and they do come back together, grown up and changed and ready to be real with each other. But Margaret Mitchell never intended that. When Rhett walks away at the end of the book, he is done, for sure and for certain. But I still enjoy the fanfiction considerably.