Anne Shirley

Episode 14

Although my sister, with whom I'm watching this series, says that if I weren't there to point out the missing things, she wouldn't notice, I'm not entirely convinced. But those viewers who are not fans of Davy can rest assured that much of what's being removed from the adaptation of the latter half of Anne of Avonlea concerns him, as well as the grumpy farmer with the parrot, whose role has been vastly pared down. I more or less understand what the motive behind this is: adapting Anne of Avonlea is necessary to get to Anne of the Island, where I suspect the adaptors' affections lie. Next week should wrap up Montgomery's second Anne novel, which means that the greater part of the second cour will be devoted to the third book. I have mixed feelings about this.

Still, the Miss Lavendar Lewis chapters are being handled nicely. Lavendar is Anne's platonic ideal of a tragic heroine, something the art goes out of its way to make clear. Lavendar (who must still be in her forties) is shown swanning around her out-of-the-way, elegantly fading manor in the dress of seventy years ago, her hair down, opera gloves on at all times, and her Empire-style gown sweeping the floor. She and her maid lay out teas for guests they know aren't coming, and she remains faithful to the memory of the boy she jilted twenty-five years ago, lamenting her foolishness while still making the best of it. She's the heroine of a sentimental novel come to life, Miss Havisham by way of Mrs. E.D.E.N. Southworth. How could Anne possibly stay away?

But Anne meeting her ideal tragedy in human form is portrayed in such a way as to show us how Anne herself is growing up. Even if we discount that she's not bereft at Diana's burgeoning romance with Fred, it's clear that Anne isn't wallowing in Lavendar's situation in the same way she would have back when she was writing stories about Geraldine. She appreciates Lavendar's loneliness in a way she wouldn't have before Matthew's death, and sees in her the reason why she stayed at Green Gables with Marilla rather than going to college. There's nothing romantic about loneliness.

That comes through a little bit when Diana is carefully sounding Anne out about Gilbert's chances with her. Anne is quick and firm in her denial of any romantic feelings for him, but you can see that she's also thinking about Lavendar's situation with Paul's father. Marilla is doing just fine as an old maid, and Rachel Lynde is mentioned to be caring for her husband during his illness (a situation Anne might once have thought romantic but now knows isn't), so there's no driving force in her life pressuring her to get married or fall in love. But she also doesn't want to end up like Lavendar, spending twenty-five years ruminating on a mistake that had outsize consequences. Anne's in the process of growing up before our eyes, and while I'm sorry that most of the day-to-day Avonlea life sections have been excised, that's the point this adaptation wanted to make.

Rating:

Post Script:

Odd as it is that Lavendar is dressed like a Jane Austen heroine (and please insert my usual grumble about Anne and Diana dressing age inappropriately), there is still an effort to make things period-appropriate. Anne brings over a copy of Godey's Lady's Book, the premier women's publication of the 19th century (you can page through one here) for her to look at the fashion plates. The plates we see show that the magazine is roughly twenty years out of date, which is a bit much for even a rural place like Avonlea, but it's still a wonderful blink-and-you 'll-miss-it moment, and when Lavendar eschews her Regency dress, she still wears something that partly mimics the styles of her youth. I appreciate that sort of detail, especially given the other issues this section of the adaptation is having.

Anne Shirley is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.