What you say about *feeling* Anne's happiness versus simply reading about is a point of view and rather belongs in a discussion about the style of writing, not content. There is no question that Anne was happy. Somehow all of the rest of us successfully got that impression. I felt Fred's love and Gilbert's love certainly just as strongly.
And I disagree that Anne was an empty shell, but I see Wendy covered that.
LabRat covered my next point. No, I don't think it was Gilbert's place to decide that because Dick Moorehad been a bad man, he should be denied treatment, and
that is precisely the moral lesson they learn. Whether he was a paedophile or whatever, the point is the same. The point is that I don't
have the right to deny him treatment.
We're not applauding obedient women. We're applauding people who do the morally right thing even at the possible cost of their own happiness and well-being.
I stand corrected on the Bible, but I guess Montgomery chose to convey the truly useful lessons... so it's still irrelevant. And yes, I do think that their marriage therapist was wrong. Not because he is a Christian but because he is a chauvinist.
If Montgomery wanted to teach girls to be submissive and obedient, she chose the wrong heroine to write a book about. Anne was hardly that. And she was the focus of the story, after all, and found happiness.
Finally - doctors do not have the right to decide who gets treatment and who doesn't. This is up to God to decide. This is Montgomery's message. It's stated clearly enough.
Julie
