Scarlett O'Hara is the name of the main character in the book Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell , and Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley . Scarlett O'Hara ( full name Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler ) is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell 's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name . She also is the main character in the 1970 musical Scarlett and the 1991 book Scarlett , a sequel to Gone with the Wind that was written by Alexandra Ripley and adapted for a television mini-series in 1994 .