The natural progression of an orphan: L.M. Montgomery's 'Anne of Green Gables'

As an examination of the correlation between Montgomery's utilization of nature within Anne of Green Gables as a symbolic authority figure to the restrictive and failing patriarchal system of the Victorian era, this thesis demonstrates how naturalist authors and conservationists influenced Montgomery as an author to replace the broken father figure with an ideal, infallible image of Nature. This study also contributes a unique perspective on how she utilized Nature as a guiding force in Anne's life to repair the faults of traditional patriarchal hegemony and the unique social pressures felt by socially marginalized orphan children and young adults of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.;In addition to historical and literary scholarship of orphan narratives and nature in literature, New Historicism literary theory was applied to examine the connection between Victorian/Edwardian society and the constructs of Nature as a guiding force in the life of an orphan character. Historical studies of the Victorian era as concerning society, family, nature, literature, and literary scholarship on the life and works of Montgomery also contributed to the examination of Anne of Green Gables.;The examination of Montgomery's Bildungsroman novel revealed strong influences from the works of William Wordsworth and popular conservationist ideas of the early twentieth century in the formation of a Natural safe place for Anne to grow and develop from socially marginalized orphan to a productive, contributing citizen of Avonlea.;As an author, Montgomery vicariously repaired the disappointments of her youth and the struggles of her adulthood through the idealized childhood of young orphaned Anne as she was guided into maturity, social inclusion and citizenship by a deistic Nature which replaced faulty traditional constructions of patriarchal authority. Combining feminism with the power and authority of Nature, Montgomery created a solely female-focused Bildungsroman novel and a uniquely faulty and energetic character who promoted Nature as a safe environment for young girls to find their own balance between self and community.