American Childhood: Essays on Children's Literature of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.

The Family, The School, and The Community in a Rural Area: From Montgomery’s Novel to the Mills’ Picture Book – A Secondary Publication

“…This fact creates a more hostile atmosphere and a poorer context. However, both in the novel and in the album, these girls close to adolescence share numerous characteristics and are willing to overcome certain stereotypes (MacLeod, 1995) and to be masters of their destinies.…”

“…Regarding Montgomery's work, previous studies on it are much more extensive. If attention is paid to its socio-historical context and its characters, mention must be made of MacLeod's work [11] , which addresses the portrayal of American childhood in children's literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. Some interesting aspects within this publication point to a much lower presence of boys than girls in rural environments in works of this period, which, according to the author, partially corresponds to the reality of the time.…”

“…Another characteristic feature in children's literature of this moment is the age of the protagonists. In this sense, MacLeod asserted that both the gender and age of these protagonists are related to the custom of many girls to write down their memoirs or diaries before becoming adults, something that occurred not only in the higher social strata but also in the rural middle class, to which Anne of Green Gables would belong, which could justify this rural female predominance in works of this period [11] . Similarly, it is curious that the girls who are the protagonists, far from opting for a passive role, take on numerous tasks at home or outside it, and that in many of the stories of the period to which we refer, these young women enjoy many activities that boys also appreciate, such as climbing trees, fishing, or playing freely in the natural environment [11] , something that also coincides with the portrayal of the protagonist of this work.…”

“…For her part, Bernroth focuses on the protagonist from a feminist perspective [13] : she analyzes Montgomery's first three "Annes," concluding with how happiness and well-being can finally be achieved by this young woman, even though she does not fit the expected female stereotypes in her context or certain social patterns. Likewise, this study highlights that the numerous female protagonists presented in Montgomery's works do not always have to opt for a unique or restricted social role exclusively in the academic, domestic, or rural seclusion sphere, but in many cases, these girls or women combine different roles, take on household tasks, work in the field, or take charge of their own education at the same time, something that MacLeod also pointed out and that happens equally in the album we are studying [11] .…”