Anne of Green Gables (AmazonClassics Edition) characters

First appears in chapter 2

An observant, talkative eleven-year-old orphan sent from an asylum to Green Gables by mistake. Anne longs for a home and family, invents romantic names for ordinary places, and is acutely sensitive about her red hair and thin appearance. Her imagination and impulsiveness make her arrival disruptive, while her eagerness to love Avonlea quickly becomes clear.

Appears from the start

The reserved, painfully shy brother of Marilla Cuthbert. He works the Green Gables farm and finds social encounters difficult, especially with women and girls. Sent to collect the boy he and Marilla expect to adopt, he instead meets Anne and is quietly won over by her conversation during the drive home.

Appears from the start

Matthew's unmarried sister and the practical manager of Green Gables. Exacting, restrained, and accustomed to an orderly life, she has agreed to adopt a boy who can help on the farm. The arrival of an imaginative girl instead confronts her with a decision she had not prepared to make.

Appears from the start

The Cuthberts' outspoken neighbor, known throughout Avonlea for combining energetic community work with close attention to everyone else's affairs. She notices Matthew's unusual trip away from the farm and immediately sets out to learn its purpose.

First appears in chapter 12

A girl of Anne's age who lives near Green Gables. Pretty, warm, and more conventionally brought up than Anne, she agrees to become Anne's closest friend in a solemn ceremony beside the Barry garden.

First appears in chapter 15

A handsome, confident Avonlea schoolboy returning after time away. He tries to attract the new girl's attention by teasing her about her red hair, provoking an angry response and beginning a determined rivalry.

First appears in chapter 15

The teacher at Avonlea school when Anne first attends. Young and self-important, he pays conspicuous attention to an older pupil and handles classroom discipline in ways that can humiliate his students.

First appears in chapter 12

Diana's strict, socially conscious mother. She permits Diana's friendship with Anne but expects both girls to behave properly and judges Anne by the mishaps that occur in her home.

First appears in chapter 18

Diana's much younger sister. When she becomes dangerously ill with croup while the adults are away, Anne draws on experience gained while caring for children in an earlier household.

First appears in chapter 19

Diana's wealthy elderly great-aunt, visiting the Barry household from Charlottetown. She is sharp-tongued and formidable, and her unexpected presence turns one of Anne and Diana's indoor adventures into a serious social offense.

First appears in chapter 24

A fashionable, energetic young teacher who takes charge of the Avonlea school. She encourages her pupils through special projects and ambitious study, giving Anne a model of education founded on sympathy as well as discipline.

First appears in chapter 15

One of Anne's Avonlea classmates and a member of the socially prominent Pye family. Critical and competitive, she frequently irritates Anne and represents a rival within the girls' school circle.

First appears in chapter 15

A friendly, romantic Avonlea schoolgirl in Anne and Diana's circle. She is especially interested in stories of love and courtship and later joins the group preparing for the Queen's Academy entrance examinations.

First appears in chapter 15

A sensible Avonlea classmate who becomes part of Anne's close school circle. She shares the girls' games and, as they grow older, studies alongside Anne for the Queen's Academy entrance examinations.