Carol, there's no question that life for women in our modern Western society is better now than it was a century ago. And yes, I can definitely see Anne running the town, even informally.
Ann - I think the reason we're so divided in our views of the books is that you're looking at it in the context of the bigger picture, while I'm looking at it as a case unto itself.
There is no possible way for me to deny the fact that chauvinism existed, or that Leslie was dependent on Dick. Perhaps even tied to him in the way you describe, as he was gone a year before he was found by Captain Jim, and everyone believe him to be dead, except Leslie.
Even Anne, I would say, was lucky to have found a man who loved her and didn't change and turn abusive throughout their marriage, because she would have become trapped then.
And yeah, divorce was not socially acceptable back then, I suppose. Divorce rates in Canada were extremely low until WWII and Leslie was trapped by her disabled husband perhaps more than she would have been by a healthy one.
I suppose maybe Montgomery
was idealising the world, but not in the way you've been saying. She wrote about good things happening to good people.
The message is that if you accept your lot in life and make the best of it, then God will reward you and give you happiness.
I don't think I see anything wrong with that message in the idealised world - it's not saying that you should sit on your butt and wait for the miracle, or that you shouldn't
work for it, because it won't fall on your head from the sky one day without warning... but the idea is, again, that good things happen to good people (i.e. you don't try to murder the king and take his place). Of course this is a romanticised idea that doesn't always hold true in real life, but I like when it holds true in fiction!
Re: the education of Anne - well, don't we all go through similar lessons as we grow up? She learned not to be vain (her hair didn't miraculously become chestnut brown... the dye was supposed to turn it raven black, and went wrong. Her ginger hair darkened as she grew older and became auburn, but after she cut her hair, I think I only remember Diana remarking that it had darkened a bit, probably calling it "auburn" only to encourage Anne). She learned to respect her elders (for the record, I think if I had yelled at an adult like that when I was 11, I would have been punished too). As for her duties - she learned to have responsibilities, just like everyone as they grow older.
As for housework, I personally would have been bored with descriptions of that. We can assume she did housework without being told. Gilbert may have been busy on his job, but she had her neighbours and friends (a husband does not constitute a whole social life).
She wasn't taught not to ask for anything for herself. She learned responsiblity and yes, once she had children, she probably lived more for them than for herself - like Karen said, that's what happens when you have children. You don't give your life up, but your children are now part of every decision you make.
I realize that you can simply assume that Anne's life went on much as before, and that her days were full of good work and that she herself was satisfied. But that is not something that I myself can accept just like that.
Well, I guess this is where we can truly agree to disagree, then. There's just nothing more I can say, since you accept all my arguments and still say those explicit descriptions are missing, for you. I like to think of Anne as a lively personality for the rest of her life, and I'm sorry you're having trouble picturing her that way.
Julie
