Melanie Hamilton Wilkes is a fictional character first appearing in the 1936 novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. In the 1939 film she was portrayed by Olivia de Havilland. Melanie is Scarlett O'Hara's sister-in-law and eventually her best friend. Mitchell likely based the character on her cousin Sister Mary Melanie Holliday. Biography Melanie was born in 1843 or 1844. She and her brother Charles are among the last members left of the wealthy Hamilton family. The family has always valued education and sought to provide its members with the finest available. As a result, they have gained a reputation for producing a fair number of intellectuals and several noted lawyers. For several generations they have intermarried with the like-minded Wilkes family. Unfortunately, this practice of apparent inbreeding has eventually resulted in the birth of progressively sicklier children. Melanie and Charles' parents die when their children are still young. Their father, Col. William R. Hamilton, was described as a hot-tempered, fiery soldier "with a ramrod for a backbone". The two siblings are placed under the joint guardianship of Henry Hamilton and Sarah Jane "Pittypat" Hamilton, their father's brother and sister. Neither Henry nor Pittypat are married and so they consider their nephew and niece as their children. Henry is a lawyer and resident of Atlanta and the family fortune has been placed under his management. Pittypat is described as having the maturity of a child herself. The one actually responsible for raising the two children is Uncle Peter, an African American slave. Peter is fiercely loyal to the Hamiltons and has served the orphans' father during his military service in the Mexican–American War. Though the Hamiltons are nominally his masters, Peter views them more as his charges and acts as the protector of Pittypat, her niece and nephew throughout their lives. He is described as a brave and intelligent man who, in serving the interests of the Hamiltons, often advises his charges and on several occasions makes decisions for them. Thanks to their devoted uncles and aunt, the siblings grow to be well-educated and well-read young people, but due to their somewhat sheltered environment, they tend to be naive in worldly ways. 1861 In keeping with the family tradition, in April 1861, Melanie becomes engaged to her first cousin, Ashley Wilkes. Melanie is unaware that Scarlett O'Hara intended to marry Ashley. For Scarlett, the news is shocking. Nevertheless, she