Ruby Gillis in Anne of Green Gables

Who is Ruby Gillis?

Ruby Gillis is one of Anne Shirley’s close school friends and a regular member of the girls’ social circle (with Diana Barry, Jane Andrews and others). She loves romance, prettiness and social life, joining in teas, theatricals, the story club and outings to Beechwood and the Exhibition. Ruby appears in village scenes—school, the Christmas concert, the queen’s class—and at Queen’s where she visits Anne during homesick periods. She participates in dramatic games (Elaine tableaux at the pond), shares in the excitement and anxieties of examinations, and is part of the network of friendships that support and tease Anne. Though not central to plot-turning events, Ruby’s presence helps shape Avonlea’s social texture: she is both companion and occasional foil, embodying the girlish gaiety and social interests of the group and helping to make Anne’s successes and struggles feel communal rather than solitary.

In the book: Ruby Gillis is one of Anne Shirley’s Avonlea schoolmates, noted for her beauty, flirtatiousness, and delight in romance and attention. As part of Anne’s wider circle (with Diana Barry and Jane Andrews), she provides social color and a foil to Anne’s more imaginative and earnest nature, appearing in school, church, and community scenes that flesh out village life.

Personality

Romantic

She delights in dramatizations (the Elaine tableaux) and in the story club’s fanciful compositions, sharing Anne’s taste for romance in play.

Social

She attends teas, the Christmas concert and the Exhibition and figures in the village’s social rounds, comforting and amusing classmates.

Pretty

Other characters and chapter notes repeatedly note Ruby’s attractiveness and her interest in dress and appearance (e.g., visits to Beechwood, fashionable talk at Queen’s).

Companionable

She visits Anne at Queen’s to relieve homesickness and takes part in the girls’ private story club, showing steady friendly support.

Character arc

Ruby’s role remains steady rather than transformative: she appears first as one of Anne’s school companions and continues through the seasons as a consistent presence in girls’ entertainments, studies and social life. Early on she shares in plays, teas and the story club, contributing to the imaginative and social world that Anne inhabits. During the Queen’s class and examination episodes Ruby experiences the same nerves and triumphs as her classmates (she has a breakdown during exams and later plans to teach), and she moves with Anne from village school life to the broader world of Queen’s—visiting and easing Anne’s loneliness. Ruby does not undergo a pronounced personal metamorphosis in the chapters where she appears; instead she functions as part of the constancy of friendship that frames Anne’s changes. By the end of the provided chapters she is a young woman preparing for teaching alongside her friends, a steady social anchor whose tastes and anxieties mirror Avonlea’s shared coming-of-age experience.

Relationships

• Anne Shirley Close school friend, fellow story-club member and occasional visitor at Queen’s who provides companionship and social support.
• Diana Barry Friend and frequent companion in dramatizations, teas, and outings; part of Anne and Diana’s intimate circle.
• Jane Andrews Friend and collaborator in school activities and the story club, later a fellow student and visitor at Queen’s.
• Gilbert Blythe Seen socially as a young man often walking with Ruby at Queen’s, representing the developing social pairings among students.
• Josie Pye Schoolmate who takes part in the same entertainments and occasional rivalries of the Avonlea girls.
• Mrs. Lynde Part of the village social environment Ruby inhabits; Mrs. Lynde comments on the girls’ appearances and behavior in the community.

Why Ruby Gillis matters

Ruby Gillis embodies the social, girlish world that surrounds Anne: imagination mixed with a love of prettiness and community entertainments. She helps show how Avonlea’s girls form a supportive, sometimes competitive network that shapes identity, ambition and consolation. By participating in plays, the story club, exams and outings, Ruby makes clear that Anne’s education and emotional life take place within a shared social fabric—her successes, embarrassments and reconciliations are communal events. Ruby thus helps dramatize themes of friendship, coming-of-age, and the ordinary pleasures and anxieties that mark growing up in Avonlea.

Chapters with Ruby Gillis

• Chapter 10
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 24
• Chapter 25
• Chapter 26
• Chapter 28
• Chapter 29
• Chapter 30
• Chapter 31
• Chapter 32
• Chapter 34
• Chapter 35
• Chapter 36
• Chapter 37
• Chapter 38

More Anne of Green Gables characters

• Anne ShirleyProtagonist
• Marilla CuthbertMajor character
• Matthew CuthbertMajor character
• Diana BarryMajor character
• Jane AndrewsMinor character
• Rachel LyndeMinor character
• Gilbert BlytheMajor character
• Josie PyeMinor character