Anne of Green Gables

Chapter-by-chapter summary

Spoiler warning: this section covers the whole plot, including the ending.

Part 1: Chapters 1–4, A Boy Was Expected

Mrs. Rachel Lynde hears that the Cuthberts plan to adopt a boy, and she is not happy about it. At Bright River, Matthew Cuthbert finds an eleven-year-old girl who will not stop talking, and he drives her home anyway. Marilla is dismayed and plans to send her back. Anne, sure she is about to be sent away, cries herself to sleep. The next morning, the spring view from Green Gables lifts her spirits, though her fear is not gone. Matthew, who has said little, quietly hopes she can stay. It matters because the book's central question, whether Anne can belong without being the boy they wanted, starts here.

Part 2: Chapters 5–9, Anne's Story and Marilla's Decision

On the drive to White Sands, Anne tells Marilla about the hard years she spent in other homes and at the asylum, and Marilla begins to soften. Mrs. Blewett then offers to take Anne straight home, but Marilla decides to keep her after talking with Matthew. Anne's bedtime prayer, improvised and full of wishes, asks to be good-looking when she grows up, and it shows how vivid her imagination is. Marilla starts teaching her manners and lessons. Then Mrs. Rachel criticizes Anne's looks, and Anne flies into a rage and insults her. Marilla's change of heart is what makes Green Gables a home for Anne, yet her temper shows how much she still has to learn.

Part 3: Chapters 10–14, Apologies, a Pledge and a Brooch

Anne's apology to Mrs. Rachel is so elaborate that Marilla is dismayed, though the older woman forgives her. At her first Sunday school, Anne feels out of place among girls in fashionable dresses. Marilla scolds her about the flower-wreathed hat, and Anne then visits the Barrys' house at Orchard Slope, where she meets Diana in the garden and they vow to be friends for life. Then Marilla's amethyst brooch goes missing, and Anne is blamed. Anxious to go on the Sunday-school picnic, she makes a false confession. The brooch later turns up caught in Marilla's shawl, which shows the confession was false. It matters because the false confession, made out of longing for the picnic, shows how badly Anne wants to belong.

Part 4: Chapters 15–19, Slates, Currant Wine and a Rescue

Anne's rivalry with Gilbert Blythe starts in the schoolroom, when he teases her about her red hair, and Anne breaks her slate over his head. Later, a tea party with Diana goes badly when Anne serves currant wine by mistake, and Diana becomes ill and is sent home. Mrs. Barry forbids the girls from playing together. Then, while the adults are away, Anne nurses Diana's little sister, Minnie May, through a severe attack of croup and saves her life, which wins back Mrs. Barry's trust. After a concert, a night-time mishap in the spare-room bed is followed by Anne's honest confession, which wins over Josephine Barry, Diana's great-aunt, known as Miss Barry. It matters because this is where Anne begins to earn trust through her actions, not just her imagination.

Part 5: Chapters 20–24, Imagination Gets Out of Hand

Anne's imagination leads her into trouble again. She and Diana have decided the Haunted Wood is haunted, yet Marilla sends Anne through it after dark on an errand to the Barrys, and Anne runs through the spruce grove in terror. In the kitchen she flavors Mrs. Allan's layer cake with anodyne liniment instead of vanilla, and Mrs. Allan comforts her kindly. Then the new teacher, Miss Muriel Stacy, arrives. Josie Pye dares Anne to walk the ridgepole of Mr. Barry's kitchen roof, and she falls and breaks her ankle. Miss Stacy then plans a Christmas concert, and Anne eagerly prepares recitations for it. It matters because Miss Stacy begins to channel Anne's restless energy into something constructive, which points toward her later ambitions.

Part 6: Chapters 25–29, Puffed Sleeves and a Lily Maid

Matthew secretly buys Anne a brown dress with puffed sleeves for Christmas, and she shines at the concert. Later, the girls stage a scene in which Anne plays Elaine, the Lily Maid, on Mr. Barry's leaking flat boat. The boat sinks under a bridge, and Anne clings to a bridge pile until Gilbert Blythe rows over in a dory and rescues her. She refuses to forgive him. It matters because Anne owes him her life, yet her pride keeps the rivalry alive. Anne and Diana then visit Miss Barry in Charlottetown, and Anne comes home glad to be back at Green Gables.

Part 7: Chapters 30–34, The Entrance Exams

Marilla agrees to let Anne join Miss Stacy's Queen's class, so that Anne can study for the Entrance exams. Anne sits the exams in town, and when the pass list comes out, she has placed at the top, tied with Gilbert Blythe. The tie keeps their friendly rivalry alive. At a charity concert at the White Sands Hotel, Anne overcomes severe stage fright and is encored, a moment that shows how much she has grown since her first days at Green Gables. Afterwards she moves to the Queen's Academy in town, where she struggles with homesickness.

Part 8: Chapters 35–38, Scholarship, Loss and a Choice

At Queen's, Anne works hard through the winter and keeps a friendly rivalry with Gilbert. She wins the Avery scholarship, which could pay for college. Then Matthew reads a newspaper report that the Abbey Bank has failed, and he dies suddenly. Marilla faces the possibility of losing her sight, and she plans to sell Green Gables. Anne gives up the scholarship to stay at home and help Marilla, and she takes the teaching post at Avonlea school. Gilbert withdraws his own application for the post, and the two talk at the gate for half an hour. The novel closes with Anne at her window, looking ahead to the bend in the road. It matters because Anne's choice shows that she has learned what home is worth, and her ambition now serves the people who gave her one.

Characters

• Anne Shirley: An eleven-year-old orphan with red hair, a sharp tongue and an enormous imagination. She turns ordinary days into adventures, and she has to learn that being wanted is different from being useful.
• Marilla Cuthbert: She is strict and practical, and she plans to send Anne back at first. Over time she becomes the mother Anne needs, and her change of heart drives much of the book.
• Matthew Cuthbert: Marilla's gentle, shy brother. He hopes Anne can stay from the start, and he quietly takes her side. His death late in the story is the book's great sorrow, and readers often remember him most.
• Rachel Lynde: A neighbor who says exactly what she thinks, including about Anne's appearance. She is quick to judge, yet she forgives Anne's apology and proves to be a kind friend in the end.
• Diana Barry: Anne's neighbor and first true friend. Diana is cheerful and loyal, and the two of them share some of the book's warmest scenes, along with its most awkward ones. Their vow, sworn in the Barry garden at Orchard Slope, starts it all.
• Gilbert Blythe: A classmate who teases Anne about her red hair and becomes her closest rival at school. Their rivalry turns into respect, and later into a quieter friendship that shapes the end of the book.
• Miss Muriel Stacy: The new teacher at the Avonlea school. She takes her work seriously, runs a Christmas concert, and inspires Anne to aim higher through the Queen's class. Anne admires her from the first day.
• Josie Pye: A sharp-tongued classmate who dares Anne into a risky stunt. Josie is unkind, and she often tests Anne's patience. Her dare leads to Anne's broken ankle.

Writing about this book

If you are writing a book report, start with a question rather than a summary. Here are a few angles to try. First, look at how Anne's imagination shapes her world. Pick one example, such as the names she gives to places or the Haunted Wood, and ask what it reveals about her.

Second, track Marilla. Her first plan is to send Anne back, and her view changes over the early chapters. Find the scene where you think the change begins, and explain why it matters.

Third, think about Anne's friendships. How does she handle Diana, Gilbert and Mrs. Lynde differently? Which relationship teaches her the most?

Finally, consider what the book says about home. Is it a place, a family, or a choice? Write your answer in your own words and support it with one or two scenes from the book.