Summary—Chapter 29: An Epoch in Anne’s Life
On a beautiful September evening, Anne is bringing the
cows back from the pasture when she runs into Diana, who has exciting
news: Aunt Josephine has invited the two girls to her mansion in
Charlottetown to see an exhibition, an event similar to a fair.
The girls go to Aunt Josephine’s estate, called Beechwood, and they
relish their drive. The house is richly decorated, with silk curtains,
velvet carpets, and a spare bedroom specially made up for them.
Anne finds that these luxuries, which she has dreamed about and
yearned for, are actually disappointing and alienating in real life.
She reflects later to Marilla that part of growing up is realizing
that “[t]he things you wanted so much when you were a child don’t
seem half so wonderful to you when you get them.”
The exhibition is exciting, with its displays of knitted
lace, flowers, vegetables, and horseracing. Afterward, when Anne
laments that she will have difficulty returning to normal life,
Aunt Josephine offers to take the girls to a fancy restaurant for
ice cream at eleven P.M. This restaurant
visit comes to represent the excitement of city life to Anne. Upon
returning home, Anne decides she would rather be sleeping in bed
at Green Gables than gallivanting around a city.
Summary—Chapter 30: The Queen’s Class Is Organized
One night Marilla rests after another one of her eye aches,
which occur with increasing frequency and severity. She looks at
Anne with an expression of fondness that she would never permit
herself to show in the daylight when she could be seen. Because
of Marilla’s tendency to veil her affection, Anne does not know,
we are told, that Marilla loves her so much. Marilla tells Anne
that Miss Stacy visited that afternoon, and Anne, assuming Miss
Stacy told Marilla about her recent misbehavior, quickly admits
to sneaking a novel into class when she should have been studying.
Anne also tells Marilla that she and Diana have been talking about
serious subjects like the future and that they are thinking of becoming
old maids and living together. Anne explains that Miss Stacy told
the girls they must cultivate sound characters now, because once
they reach their twenties the foundations of their characters will
be set for life.
Marilla tells Anne that Miss Stacy has invited Anne to
join a group of advanced scholars who will study every day after
school to prepare for the entrance exam to Queen’s Academy in a
year and a half. Marilla says that every woman should be able to
support herself and that teaching is a good profession for a woman.
Anne hesitates to accept the offer to attend college because she
worries that the cost of college will be too high for the Cuthberts.
However, after Marilla says that Anne’s education is worth the cost,
Anne expresses excitement.
The other students in the advanced class are Gilbert
Blythe, Ruby Gillis, Jane Andrews, Josie Pye, Charlie Sloane, and
Moody Spurgeon MacPherson. They study for an hour every day, but
begin to lose their drive when spring comes and the other students
leave school early every day. For the first time since Minnie May
was sick, Anne and Diana are separated, since the Barrys do not
intend to send Diana to college.
The rivalry between Gilbert and Anne rekindles. Gilbert
decides to treat Anne just as coldly as she treats him. This icy
treatment distresses Anne, but she acts unconcerned. She realizes
that she no longer feels angry with Gilbert, and she regrets causing
tension.
