+ Marilla Cuthbert +

Birth Name: Marilla Cuthbert

Date of Birth: Between 1821 to 1825

Date of Death: Between 1908 to 1911

Birth Location: Most likely Avonlea, Prince Edward Island

Parents: /

Spouse: / (once in love with John Blythe)

Children: Adopted Anne Shirley in 1876, Davy Keith, and Dora Keith

Siblings: Matthew Cuthbert

Location: Avonlea (Green Gables), Prince Edward Island

Hair colour: Dark brown (with grey streaks when Anne Shirley arrives)

Eye colour: /

In Books: Anne of Green Gables (1908), Anne of Avonlea (1909), Anne of the Island (1915), Anne of Windy Poplars (1936), Anne's House of Dreams (1917), Anne of Ingleside (1939) - mentioned, Rainbow Valley (1919) - mentioned, Rilla of Ingleside (1920) - mentioned

Quote: "Marilla was a tall, thin woman, with angles and without curves; her dark hair showed some gray streaks and was always twisted up in a hard little knot behind with two wire hairpins stuck aggressively through it. She looked like a woman of narrow experience and rigid conscience, which she was; but there was a saving something about her mouth which, if it had been ever so slightly developed, might have been considered indicative of a sense of humor. " (Chapter 1, Anne of Green Gables (1908))

"The twins had their mother's old porch-gable room, and Aunt Marilla used to come in at night, when she thought they were asleep, to gloat over them. But they all knew she loved Jem the best." (Chapter 3, Rilla of Ingleside (1920))

Background: In the beginning of the Anne series, Marilla lives with her brother, Matthew Cuthbert, in Green Gables (name of the house). She is a strict, no-nonsense kind of woman who hopes to adopt a boy to help Matthew on the farm. When Anne Shirley arrives, Marilla is not pleased. She expected a boy and cannot understand Anne's exaggerated emotions and fantastical imagination. Marilla tends to suppress her emotions, and whenever Anne expresses her innermost thoughts, often in contrast to Marilla's, Marilla scolds her. However, over the course of the first novel, Marilla cannot help but become amused by Anne's often humourous incidents and her fanciful imagination, and of course, proud of Anne's incredible scholastic achievements. She eventually opens up her emotions and outwardly cares for Anne's wellbeing. After Matthew's death, Marilla is alone at Green Gables apart from Anne, who decides to reject an offer from Redmond College and stay in Avonlea to teach, in order to remain with Marilla whose eyesight begins to fail. In addition, Marilla adopts twins, Dora and Davy Keith, because their mother dies and Marilla is the third cousin of their father. When Anne finally goes to college, Rachel Lynde, whose husband had passed away, goes to live with Marilla at Green Gables. When Anne gives birth to her first child, Joyce, Marilla and Rachel are present at the House of Dreams. Jem "can do no wrong in her eyes", and Marilla cares for Anne and Gilbert's children when they are away on a trip. In Rilla of Ingleside, Anne mentions that Marilla had passed away, "Aunt Marilla had died before Rilla was old enough to know her very well..." (Chapter 2, Rilla of Ingleside (1920))

Last updated: June 16, 2008
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