Belle Watling Character Analysis in Gone with the Wind

Belle Watlingis a sex workerwho owns a brothel in Atlanta. She has bright red hair and wears colorful clothes. She has a long-standing relationship with Rhett Butler, who pays for her new brothel after the war. Despite everyone’s dislike of her profession, Belle proves herself to be compassionate and generous throughout the novel. She donates money to the war hospital, and she saves the members of the Old Guard by saying they were in her brothel instead of at a Ku Klux Klan meeting. Although Scarlett despises Belle and looks down on her, Rhett ultimately thinks that Belle is Scarlett’s superior: while they both have intelligence and business sense, Belle is warm-hearted and Scarlett is not.

Belle Watling Character Timeline in Gone with the Wind

The timeline below shows where the character Belle Watling appears in Gone with the Wind. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Looking Forward vs. Looking Back Theme Icon

...knows it’s not natural. When she asks Peter who this is, he tells her its Belle Watling, and to mind her own business. Noticing the absence of a Miss or Mrs.... (full context)

...faint because Uncle Peter is threatening to tell Miss Pitty that Melanie was talking to Belle Watling. Scarlett is shocked, as Belle Watling is the red-haired sex worker all respectable women... (full context)

Curious, Scarlett asks what Belle is like. Melanie says she’s sad and wears all black. Belle wanted to donate to... (full context)

Scarlett isn’t listening. The letters R.K.B. are embroidered on Belle’s handkerchief. Rhett gave Scarlett an identical handkerchief a few days before. She’s horrified that Rhett... (full context)

...carriage approaches and Scarlett looks to see if it’s a friend. The red-haired head of Belle Watling appears at the window. She looks at Scarlett with dislike. Mammy asks who she... (full context)

...love for her is because Rhett only understands love like the kind he has for Belle Watling. Scarlett insists that Ashley would never do anything inappropriate with her. Rhett asks if... (full context)

The Civil War and Reconstruction Theme Icon

Belle Watling is the most famous “madam” in Atlanta. She owns a new house that is... (full context)

...out of town, likely dating some woman, and when he is in town, he’s at Belle Watling’s saloon. He no longer calls at Pitty’s, but Scarlett runs in to him in... (full context)

...has the right to know. Rhett says Ashley, Hugh, Frank and Dr. Meade were at Belle Watling’s place. Melanie pretends to faint. Rhett says the Yankees can ask Belle themselves. The... (full context)

Practicality, Tenacity, and Selfishness Theme Icon

...Rhett tells Archie where to find the bodies and instructs him to hide them behind Belle’s so it looks like they died in a gunfight. Archie nods, his eyes gleaming with... (full context)

...says she’d love him to call her that. Rhett apologizes for saying they were at Belle’s, but it was the best possible story. Rhett explains that when he found Ashley wounded... (full context)

...unusual gentleness, he says she’s had a horrible day. Scarlett asks if Frank is at Belle’s. Rhett says Archie is carrying Frank to the vacant lot. He was shot through the... (full context)

...Rhett said not to leave. They trust him only because he saved Hugh and Ashley. Belle Watling tells Tom Jaffrey that a riotous group had been to her house the night... (full context)

Frank and Tommy Wellburn’s bodies are found behind Belle’s, pistols in their hands. The Atlantans hate that they owe their lives to Rhett Butler... (full context)

...coachman comes to Melanie’s house the next day and leads her out to a carriage. Belle Watling asks Melanie to get in with her for a moment. Melanie holds Belle’s hand... (full context)

...more. They hate that they owe their lives to Rhett and they believe he involved Belle Watling only to insult them. Scarlett and Rhett both scorn what the Atlantans value: pride... (full context)

...her husband was nagging her to be polite to the man who’d put him in Belle Watling’s awful place. Mrs. Bonnell says all the men who were out that night will... (full context)

...Inside, there are red plush carpets, red velvet drapes, carved furniture, and gilt mirrors like Belle Watling’s. Thinking of the cold emptiness of Tara, Scarlett loves her house. Rhett says a... (full context)

...not for love. She supposes he married her because he wants her like he wanted Belle Watling. This insults her, but she doesn’t care because she’s happy anyway. (full context)

...jeers that the speculator is turning respectable and says his first step is to sell Belle Watling’s house. Rhett laughs and thanks her for the suggestion. (full context)

...Rhett had sent her home alone, and she’s relieved. She doesn’t care if he’s at Belle Watling’s as long as he isn’t here scaring her with his anger. Tomorrow, she’ll think... (full context)

...their romantic night. She asks where he’d been and finds out that he was at Belle Watling’s. She is aghast that he went to another woman after being with her. Rhett... (full context)

...is taking Bonnie with him. When Scarlett insinuates that he’ll take Bonnie to places like Belle’s, he shouts that he’d never do that to his daughter. He says Scarlett is a... (full context)

...He mutters things Melanie had never heard even a woman say. He says something about Belle Watling and about killing Scarlett, and that she hadn’t wanted this baby or any of... (full context)

...is afraid of the dark—and graves are dark. Scarlett accused Rhett of drinking and visiting Belle Watling, but Rhett said he went to Belle because she didn’t call him the murderer... (full context)

Melanie is shocked. She remembers that Rhett said he had a key to Belle’s, but she also knows Rhett loves Scarlett from the way he’d cried when she was... (full context)

...is, he’s drunk. He starts to look unwell. Scarlett assumes he spends his time with Belle. Once, she runs into Belle in town. Belle gives Scarlett a pitying stare that makes... (full context)

...the front hall. Rhett isn’t in the hall, and she thinks anxiously that he’s at Belle’s. She starts up the stairs but then sees a light on under the dining room... (full context)

...that she’d lie in his arms and wish they were Ashley’s. That drove him to Belle, who comforted him. Then, the night he carried Scarlett up the stairs, he hoped but... (full context)