Reasons Anne of Green Gables is the Best Female Character Ever

In case you don't know, Anne of Green Gables is an 8 book series written by Canadian author L. M. Montgomery. The first book, Anne of Green Gables was published in 1908.

I first read Anne of Green Gables at the age of 12 when my grandma gave me the first three books in a box set. I don’t know why she bought them for me, and I don’t know if she ever read the books. I like to think she saw an imaginative red haired girl in the books and decided to give them to the imaginative red haired girl in her life.

In Anne I found the kindred spirit I longed for.

We have a lot in common: big imaginations, big mouths, red hair we weren’t really okay with (same with our freckles), we could both be pretty awkward and weird, and were, in the first book at least, about the same age.

In addition, I’m from the province of New Brunswick, Canada and she’s from the province of Prince Edward Island. It’s only a few hours drive away from where I grew up. I could easily picture the places she described because I lived in similar ones.

I reread the books quite often. They give me a sense of comfort and familiarity no matter where I am.

Here are my reasons Anne is the best (most quotes come from the first book):

She knows who she is.

“Well, I don’t want to be anyone but myself, even if I go uncomforted by diamonds all my life,” declared Anne. “I’m quite content to be Anne of Green Gables, with my string of pearl beads.”

She understands that standing out can be hard.

“You’d find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair,” said Anne reproachfully. “People who haven’t red hair don’t know what trouble is.”

Her Big Mouth

“I like babies in moderation, but twins three times in succession is TOO MUCH. I told Mrs. Hammond so firmly, when the last pair came.”

And Her Even Bigger Imagination

“Oh, what I know about myself isn’t really worth telling, said Anne eagerly. If you’ll only let me tell you what I imagine about myself you’ll think it ever so much more interesting.”

She is an intelligent role model.

“People laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas, you have to use big words to express them, haven’t you?”

She is a complex character, and she knows it.

“There’s such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I’m such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn’t be half so interesting.”

She Is Ambitious

“Oh, it’s delightful to have ambitions. I’m so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to them — that’s the best of it. Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.”

She is always learning.

“They keep coming up new all the time — things to perplex you, you know. You settle one question and there’s another right after. There are so many things to be thought over and decided when you’re beginning to grow up. It keeps me busy all the time thinking them over and deciding what’s right. It’s a serious thing to grow up, isn’t it, Marilla?”

Her Quick Wit

Diana: “Gilbert told Charlie Sloan that you were the smartest girl in school, right in front of Josie.”

Anne: “He did?”

Diana: “He told Charlie being smart was better than being good looking.”

Anne: “I should have known he meant to insult me.”

In spite of all her dreaming, she is a realist.

“It’s all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically, but it’s not so nice when you really come to have them, is it?”

She is ridiculously positive.

“Don’t be very frightened, Marilla. I was walking the ridge-pole and I fell off. I suspect I have sprained my ankle. But, Marilla, I might have broken my neck. Let us look on the bright side of things.”

Anne was a great role model for me when I was growing up, and frankly, she still is today. In comparison with some of the female characters in books today (I'm looking at you Twilight), Anne is far more realistic and engaging. I sincerely hope that modern literature takes a swing away from the cookie cutter characters and plots back toward the well rounded and well written literature of the past.

Works Cited: The Essential Works of L.M. Montgomery. Golgotha Press, 2010. E-book.