Ashley Wilkes, one of the central characters in Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone with the Wind, is depicted as being around 26 years old at the time the story begins, which is set in the early 1860s during the American Civil War.
This age is important as it places Ashley in a position of maturity and social standing, fitting his role as a gentle and honorable Southern gentleman. His age reflects his experience and the expectations of him as a man in Southern society, especially as he is expected to uphold family traditions and values. As the story unfolds, Ashley’s character grapples with the societal changes brought about by the war, and his age also highlights the contrast between his old-world ideals and the new realities faced by the characters in the novel.