LM Montgomery Month is about to get very dramatic on the blog. We all see endless Anne of Green Gables quotes in Pinterest and Instagram, and Anne and Gilbert are #goals. (At least they are in Canada…) However, there is another LM Montgomery heroine that I believe is far more relatable and is quite frankly, the superior character. I’ve alluded to it in other posts, but today is where I make my stand. I will always choose Emily of New Moon over Anne of Green Gables, and Emily Starr is the superior heroine over Anne Shirley!
For nearly a century now, Anne of Green Gables and the titular character have been given preference over Emily of New Moon. I think that timelines are a part of it- Anne had another 10+ years to gain popularity before the Emily books were published. The other piece to the Anne popularity puzzle is that it was spread widely around the world, and people everywhere were introduced to Anne. However, Anne Shirley, the archetype of the dramatic dreamer who feels everything to the heights, doesn’t deserve to permanently triumph over Emily Starr.
If you have missed any of my other LM Montgomery Month posts, you can find them here!
If You Like Anne of Green Gables, You Should Read…
The Best L.M. Montgomery Resources
The Best LM Montgomery Adaptations
Who Is Emily Byrd Starr?
If you haven’t read the Emily trilogy (Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, and Emily’s Quest), you desperately need to. Emily Byrd Starr (often referred to as Emily Starr) is the heroine of the trilogy. Like Anne Shirley, Emily is an orphan. Her mother died of tuberculosis when Emily was four, and her father died of the same disease when Emily was eleven. Her father was a journalist, and Emily inherited his affinity for words, though she writes fiction and poetry rather than news. Upon her father’s death, she was sent to live with her mother’s family, the Murrays. The trilogy follows her as she grows up into adulthood in Blair Water and into her writing career.
Emily Starr: LM Montgomery on the Page
Montgomery based Emily Starr on herself, which is something that I think is most interesting about the whole Emily vs. Anne thing. This doesn’t seem widely known- I think largely because a lot of people assume the Anne books are the only things she wrote- but you can see so many elements and episodes from Montgomery’s life playing out in Emily. I’ve discussed the Emily books with many people, and the episodes that many people take issue with are often found in Montgomery’s reality. It made me rethink Montgomery’s life and the things that women have had to endure for millenia, as well as the expectations we have of literature. Are we always to expect an upbeat and happy ending to the scene?
Emily Starr: the Writer
Emily is definitively a writer. Throughout the series, writing is her number one priority. She steals scraps of paper from around the house to write on, and is constantly seeing the world through the lens of a potential piece. (One of my favourite elements of the first book is her letters to her late father; it is a creative way to share Emily’s thoughts and express her love of writing at the same time.) She does focus on fiction and poetry, while I write non-fiction (obviously; see: this blog), but I appreciate her continual drive. She has a purpose and as a Type A person who always needs something to work towards, I am here for it. While there is romance woven in throughout the book, I was actually far more interested in finding out what was happening in Emily’s writing career.
PS: If an author wanted to write the novel that Emily threw out after Dean said it was mediocre, I would read the heck out of it and share it here.
Anne: Manic Pixie Dream Girl
While I certainly enjoy Anne Shirley more than most literary characters, she is a manic pixie dream girl to the nth degree in many ways, and sometimes it drives me up a wall. I appreciate that her time isn’t spent pining over a boy (even if that boy is Gilbert Blythe), and that she accomplishes a lot in her own right. But she also spends a lot of time in her dream world, flitting through life without any grasp on reality. Perpetual dreaminess and dramatics can be wearing on the nerves, and if I had to spend any great length of time with her, I would pitch her into the pond.
While my life certainly isn’t terrible, I’ve never had the luck that Anne has. She dreams her way through life, and is somehow magically gifted enough to accomplish everything she hopes for. (It’s not always clear what that is, past the Lady of Shalott…) It’s not that I don’t want happiness for Anne, it’s that I can’t relate to everything always falling in line for her. I love that she has taught people that it is okay to embrace your dreams and to realise that there is far more than meets the eye, but it stretches the imagination for me. Emily certainly has her fair share of dreams, but gets on with the business of reality, too.
Why You Should Give Emily a Chance…
If you haven’t already, I would recommend reading the Emily of New Moon trilogy. It is clear that they are written later and have the benefit of an extra 12-15 years of writing experience. (I also appreciate that they were written in order; I feel like they flow slightly better rather than feeling like episodes.)
Emily also has the benefit of not being frequently adapted- you probably don’t have a pre-existing idea of her in your head. And that is a fairly special thing in the days of fandoms and shipping and Pinterest boards full of characters.
And if you are a Russian Doll fan (the Netflix series), you will see several Emily of New Moon references!
Now that I’ve shared why I choose Emily of New Moon over Anne of Green Gables– who do you gravitate towards?
Cheers,
The Historian
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As a quite large Anne of green gables fan, I am quite displeased with you calling her a “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” I agree that maybe life is a little easy but not a lot. I believe that (Of course not a copy) Emily of new moon is EXTREMELY similar to Anne of green gables. Everyone has their own opinion but try to not call Anne what you did.
Hello, thanks for stopping by! When I read Anne, I find that once she reaches Green Gables for the most part, everything does nicely slot into place for the most part- she is a sensitive character who feels things immensely, but when compared with Emily (whom LM Montgomery based on herself), I find Anne exceptionally flighty and as a girl growing up in Canada told that I should want to be like Anne, I have been perpetually bothered and confused by Anne. However, I do completely understand that far more people prefer Anne and her permanent state of wonder! I don’t find them similar at all, but I love that literature leads to so many interpretations!