Gone With the Wind Wiki
Advertisement

"You know what I heard about Maybelle Merriwether? You remember that funny-looking beau of hers, with the red flannel uniform, like a lady's underdrawers?" -Scarlett O'Hara about René-

Lieutenant René "Renny" Picard is the wealthy French officer from Louisiana who marries Maybelle Merriwether.

Biography[]

René Picard is a Zouave soldier of French origin, who was originally from Louisiana. Before the war, René played the fiddle. He played it so well, that he planned to one day play the fiddle before the crowned heads of Europe. Because the Civil War broke out, he had to give up on playing the fiddle and become a soldier.

At the Confederate Bazaar, René meets and falls in love with Maybelle Merriwether. He bids 20 dollars in an auction bid to dance with Maybelle, leaving her flustered.

He quickly enlists in the army, but finds time to marry Maybelle in 1862. They have a son named Napoleon a year later, but several months later he barely escapes with his life at The Battle of Gettysburg (1863).

After the war ends, René starts working as a baker in his mother-in-law's bakery, with his wife. They also sell to Yankee officers and gain an investment from Rhett Butler. Their family is joined by a second son, Raoul in 1866.

Trivia[]

  • He and Maybelle seem to be the happiest and luckiest couple in the book. They both survive the Civil War unscathed, not even losing a family member. They truly love each other and welcome two sons, both of whom survive as well. They all prosper and work together in a bakery and accept their new fate with pleasantness and content.
  • René is one of the few adult men in the book, other than Rhett Butler, who isn't part of the Ku Klux Klan.
Advertisement