Anne of Green
Gables
By Lucy Maud Montgomery, adapted into a
screenplay by Sylvia Ashby
Lucy Maud Montgomery
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Born in Clifton on Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1874
Despite having relatives nearby, much of her childhood was spent alone. She
created imaginary friends and worlds to cope with her loneliness, and
Montgomery credited this time of her life with developing her creativity.
Montgomery considered her childhood an unhappy one, as she spent much time
being sent from relative to relative.
In 1893, Montgomery attended Prince of Wales College to earn her teaching
license. During this time, she began to fall in love with Prince Edward Island
and her freedom.
After college, she worked as a teacher and married a local preacher.
Inspired by her childhood and a story she heard about a couple who sent away
to adopt a young boy and received a girl instead, Montgomery wrote Anne of
Green Gables and published it in 1908.
Summary
Set in the late 19th century, the novel recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, an
11-year-old orphan girl, who is sent by mistake to two middle-aged siblings,
Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who had originally intended to adopt a boy to help
them on their farm in the fictional town of Avonlea in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
The novel recounts how Anne makes her way through life with the Cuthberts, in
school, and within the town.
Setting: Prince Edward Island, late 1800’s
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Became a Canadian Province in 1873
The large island is marked by red-sand beaches, lighthouses, and fertile farmland.
During the late 1800’s, the island was extremely isolated with a small population.
The story is set in Avonlea, an imaginary village modelled after one of the towns Montgomery
grew up in on Prince Edward Island.
For Anne, connecting with her new home means connecting with nature, and Prince Edward Island
has a ton of nature to commune with, with hills, woods, cliffs, and the water that's always in the
distance.
Avonlea is also tiny, with a one-room schoolhouse for all the children in town, and a hall and
church, but no store. Everyone knows everyone's business.
In Avonlea, there seem to be two social classes: "respectable" families like Marilla's and a serving
class of French children who watch Avonlea children or act as cheap farm labor. Though not
French, Anne would have been in that serving class, watching other women's children, if Matthew
and Marilla hadn't decided to keep her.