Margaret Mitchell - Interest in Erotica

Interest in Erotica

Mitchell began collecting erotica from book shops in New York City while in her twenties. She was flamboyant in 1925, as were her friends. The newlywed Marshes and their social group openly discussed "all forms of sexual expression". Mitchell developed an appreciation for the works of Southern writer, James Branch Cabell, and his 1919 classic, Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice. She also read books about sexology. She took particular interest in the case studies of Havelock Ellis, a British physician who studied human sexuality. During this period in which Mitchell was reading pornography and sexology, she was also researching and drafting Gone with the Wind.