Marilla Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables

Major character

The practical, stern landlady of Green Gables who becomes guardian to Anne and provides structure, discipline, and quiet care.

Who is Marilla Cuthbert?

Marilla Cuthbert is the hardworking, no-nonsense sister who lives at Green Gables and, with her brother Matthew, intends to adopt a boy to help on the farm but instead becomes guardian to Anne Shirley. She wants order, thrift, and moral steadiness in her household and initially responds to Anne's talkative imagination and breaches of decorum with discipline and skepticism. Across the story she enforces rules (prayers, chores, sensible dress), consults neighbors about the adoption, and wrestles with punishments and apologies (the Lynde incident, the missing brooch). Though often brusque, Marilla quietly softens: she allows Anne to stay, supports her schooling, shows private tenderness (kissing Anne asleep after the wine mistake) and grieves deeply when Matthew dies. Faced with her own failing eyesight and the possible loss of Green Gables, Marilla meets practical despair but is persuaded by Anne and community counsel to accept help and keep a home she and Matthew made. Her steady presence shapes Anne's upbringing and anchors household and village life.

In the book: Marilla Cuthbert is the practical, stern-minded woman of Green Gables who, alongside her brother, becomes guardian to Anne. Initially cautious and rule-bound, she provides structure, guidance, and quiet steadiness, gradually revealing warmth and depth as she shapes—and is shaped by—Anne’s presence in the household and community.

Personality

Practical: She insists on sensible dresses, organizes household routines, and repeatedly evaluates Annie’s suitability for farm work (Chapters 1–6, 11).
Stern: Marilla confines Anne to the east gable as punishment and demands a formal apology to Mrs. Rachel Lynde (Chapters 9–10).
Protective: She hesitates to send Anne to Mrs. Blewett and ultimately decides to keep her rather than risk the child's welfare (Chapter 6).
Reservedly affectionate: Marilla quietly comforts the tear-stained Anne after the currant-wine incident, kissing her as she sleeps (Chapter 16).
Principled: She insists on religious instruction, requiring Anne to learn the Lord’s Prayer and to kneel in prayer (Chapter 7–8).

Character arc

When Marilla first appears she is rigid, rule-bound and intent on bringing up a practical farmhand; her immediate reaction to the unexpected arrival of Anne is disbelief and determination to send the child back. Over early chapters she moves from resolution to strict training—insisting on prayers, sensible clothing, and proper behavior—while privately worrying about the household and yielding only when convinced by Matthew's gentle support or by practical concerns for Anne's welfare. Repeated incidents (Anne's defiant outburst at Mrs. Lynde, the false confession about the brooch, the wine accident, and Anne's ridgepole fall) force Marilla to balance correction with compassion; she punishes but also softens, sometimes surprised at her own amusement and tenderness. Matthew's death exposes the depth of her attachment: she shows restrained grief and unexpectedly confesses her love for Anne. Faced with her failing eyesight late in the story, Marilla contemplates selling Green Gables and losing purpose, but Anne's resolution to stay and the village's support persuade her to accept help. By the end Marilla remains essentially practical but has become more openly dependent on and affectionate toward Anne, allowing quieter warmth to underlie her authority.

Relationships

Matthew Cuthbert Her gentle, shy brother and partner in running Green Gables; they disagree about Anne at first but share deep mutual devotion.
Anne Shirley Her adopted charge whose imaginative temperament Marilla initially resists but gradually loves and disciplines with steady care.
Mrs. Rachel Lynde A neighbor whose gossip and moral judgments Marilla tolerates and consults while often defending her household choices.
Diana Barry Anne's bosom friend whose relationship Marilla approves as stabilizing for Anne and whose household becomes entwined with Green Gables.
Gilbert Blythe A local youth and academic rival of Anne whose future teaching arrangements intersect with Marilla's decisions about Anne's schooling.
Miss Stacy The encouraging schoolteacher whose formation of the Queen's class gives Marilla reason to support Anne's advanced education.

Quotes by Marilla Cuthbert

“We’re getting a little boy from an orphan asylum in Nova Scotia and he’s coming on the train tonight.”
Chapter 1Marilla's plain announcement that shocks Mrs. Rachel and sets the chapter's main event in motion.

““Call you Cordelia? Is that your name?””
Chapter 3Marilla's blunt question to Anne after the child asks to be called a romantic name, highlighting the adults' literal practicality against Anne's imagination.

““We sent word to Mrs. Spencer to bring a boy.””
Chapter 3Marilla states the original instruction that sets up the mistake and the central dilemma of the chapter.

““It’s time you were dressed,” she said curtly.”
Chapter 4Marilla interrupts Anne’s reverie at the window and insists she get ready for breakfast, showing her practical, blunt manner.

““You talk entirely too much for a little girl.””
Chapter 4Marilla rebukes Anne at the table, illustrating the gulf between Anne’s loquacious imagination and Marilla’s emphasis on restraint and propriety.

“I suppose we’ll stay a little while to rest the mare,” said Marilla, “but I promised Matthew I’d be home early. The fact is, Mrs. Spencer, there’s been a queer mistake somewhere, and I’ve come over to see where it is.”
Chapter 6Marilla opens the visit at Mrs. Spencer's by explaining they were expecting to receive a boy from the asylum, introducing the central mix-up.

Why Marilla Cuthbert matters

Marilla embodies the book's tension between practical order and imaginative life: she enforces the rules and domestic economy that give Anne foundations while gradually learning the value of tenderness and emotional openness. Her moral steadiness, resistance to sentimentality, and eventual softening illuminate themes of chosen family, duty, and moral education. Marilla's struggle with pride, grief, and failing eyesight also highlights vulnerability and the community's reciprocal care, showing how love often grows through everyday responsibility rather than grand gestures.

More Anne of Green Gables characters

Anne ShirleyProtagonist
Matthew CuthbertMajor character
Diana BarryMajor character
Jane AndrewsMinor character
Ruby GillisMinor character
Rachel LyndeMinor character
Gilbert BlytheMajor character
Josie PyeMinor character

All chapter summaries ›Characters ›

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