I would have loved to see her paint, take various courses in various subjects, laugh and smile, be a part of the world... and be a source of strength and wisdom for her kids when they had grown up, not just be a woman who couldn't say another word when she had discovered her first grey hair.
Ann, I'm going to make a point that several people have already made to you, but which you seem not to be appreciating - to the point that I'm almost getting the impression that you're sticking your fingers in your ears and going "Lalala, not listening, not listening."
Anne lived in a tiny rural village on the coast of a Maritimes province in the early 1900s. No internet. No adult education. No 'various courses in various subjects' available to her. School was for children, and only up until the age of around 14 or so anyway.
How could she have been 'a part of the world' in this time and place? She was certainly a vital part
of her community - if you're not aware of that, then are you sure you've actually read the books? She was a vital, necessary and valued part of her children's lives, and also Gilbert's life - again, if you've somehow missed that point, I wonder whether your knowledge of the books is similar to your knowledge of
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
It does seem to me that several of us who've been posting on this thread have read the Anne books, and you're the only one with such a different perspective on them and even memory of them. Might I suggest that you re-read them, particularly the ones after Anne's marriage, so that you can see for yourself how Anne most certainly did not fade into the distance? Yes, her children got more attention than she did, but that's the nature of family sagas. What's very evident is that she loved her family and found complete fulfilment in
having a family. This is a little girl who had no family; who was taken in by Matthew and Marilla but who always wanted a real family of her own, no matter how much she came to love them. Here, she finally has one and it's obvious that she's happy.
Yes, staying at home as a wife and mother is not every woman's vision of a fulfilling life, but (a) for some women it's everything they want and - as people here have attested - it makes them very happy, and (b) in the 1900s, and even for decades after that, it was what women
did. Yes, some chafed against the restrictions, but we're never given the impression from the books that Anne is one of those. My view of her, from the books, is of not only a satisfied and fulfilled wife and mother, but also a pillar of the community, with many friends and with lots to do. If you have a different perception, maybe you're thinking of a different book?
Wendy
