Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s “The Leopard” is, like Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind”, a reflection on the passing of an era. Both authors gaze back into the previous generation when the last halcyon days of their forebears were swept away by revolution and a new government which would change the old ways forever. For both di Lampedusa and Mitchell, personal experience was a significant influence which shaped their writing. Their respective novels have many similarities in subject, themes and characters; however, they differ in their portrayals of nationalism.
 The main characters of both novels are very striking personalities. Scarlett O’Hara and Prince Fabrizio share several qualities in common: they both come from the upper caste of society, both watch as sudden change is wreaked upon their lifestyle. They want to cling to the old life, but are willing to make concessions to the new regime in order to achieve that end. Scarlett was willing to become a Scalawag and associate with people she could not stand in order to ensure she would not suffer poverty; Prince Fabrizio put up no resistance against Garibaldi’s forces, and even allowed his nephew to wed the daughter of one of the newly rich merchants.
 In both stories, the rising middle class is a threat to the old system. In “Gone With the Wind”, this is manifested during Reconstruction, with the invasion of the Carpetbaggers, Scalawags, and free blacks, who accumulate wealth unscrupulously, often at the cost of the defeated Confederates. To Prince Fabrizio in “The Leopard” the threat comes in the form of people like Don Calogero Sedara, a merchant who swiftly becomes as rich as the Prince himself, but has no upbringing.
 A contempt of the lower classes plays into both books as well. In “The Leopard”, this is seen mostly through the treatment of the peasants. Don Sedara’s wife, born a peasant, is seen as “a kind of animal....a beautiful mare, voluptuous and uncouth” (1). She is accused as being unable to even feel affection for her daughter. Her father was bestowed with the insulting nickname of “Peppe ‘Mmerda” and shot for “getting uppish”(2). Prince Fabrizio is also disdainful of Sedara himself, looking down upon his lack of manners and fashion sense. Father Pirrone makes a statement regarding this outlook in his conversation with Don Pietrino: “...not only the ‘nobles’ are to be blamed for despising others, since that is quite a general vice.” (3) He goes on to say that each group or profession despises the ones beneath it, until the laborers, who despise themselves. This contempt is also evident in “Gone With the Wind”, with the treatment of “free issue” blacks and “white trash” by the elite members of society. They were seen as shiftless, lazy, corrupt and dangerous, and it was intolerable when some of them rose to positions of wealth and power.
 Nationalism is embraced by many of the characters in “Gone With the Wind”. The nation caused nationalism in this case, as Secession and the Civil War caused more sentiment for the Confederacy than ever there was beforehand; these strong nationalist feelings only grew more intense after the defeat of the Confederacy. Suddenly, women who did not have a clue about politics were spending their afternoons fundraising for the Glorious Cause, donating their family heirlooms, and nursing the wounded. During Reconstruction, they rejected involvement in the new government, preferring genteel poverty. They fought back against their conquerors by retreating even more into the social circles which existed before the war, excluding all outsiders. In this way, nationalism was used positively. The defeated Georgians of Mitchell’s novel believed in their “exceptionalism”, in the words of Gemme’s argument, and therefore clung to nationalism with increasing fervor.
 In “The Leopard”, conversely, feelings of nationalism are very weak among many of the characters. The “imagined community” was ineffectual, as “Italians” of different social classes and geographic regions could not relate with one another. The visit of the Piedmontese Chevalley to Donnafugata is evidence of this, as he believes the stories he has heard of brigands and murderers. In his mind, “a friendship between a Sicilian and a Lombard...seemed almost miraculous” (4). If Don Ciccio had any nationalist sentiment, it was shattered after the corruption of the plebiscite, when he realized his vote among unknown others were changed from “no” to “yes”. Even old Don Pietrino, the herbalist in Father Pirrone’s village, was disillusioned with the new government for forcing him to pay taxes from the revenue he created by working with his own bare hands and the “holy herbs God made” (5). The only members of society who seemed to embrace nationalism were the young men, such as Tancredi, who participated in Garibaldi’s campaign. Even he later wrote off his involvement as insignificant once he had a position in the royal army of the King of Sardinia. For Prince Fabrizio, nationalism only meant a weakening of his position and a crumbling of the world he knew.
 “Gone With the Wind” and “The Leopard” both portray pictures of changing societies, and the effects that had on the people. The main characters are similar in several aspects; for both, the threat of the rising middle class and contempt for lower classes are held in common. On the views of nationalism, however, they differ. In Mitchell’s novel, nationalism binds the people together during and after the Civil War; in “The Leopard”, nationalist feeling is weak and ineffectual between peoples who differ from one another in so many regards. Both novels were an interesting and entertaining glimpse into a world on the brink of change, through the eyes of unique characters.
 
1. Di Lampedusa, Giuseppe. “The Leopard”. New York: Time Incorporated, 1960. pp 117-118.
2. Ibid., 118.
3. Ibid., 200.
4. Ibid., 172.
5. Ibid., 195.