Oof, what started off as a fairly conflict-free episode turned messy when Anne returned to Avonlea for Christmas vacation.
And gosh I feel so bad for Anne. She was so happy to be home with the family she loves again, but at the same time, she discovers things that had been left out of the letters she had been receiving from her friends. It came as a genuine shock to her when Rachel shared the news that Ruby’s rumoured to be engaged with a schoolteacher from Spencervale, because neither Ruby nor Diana had ever brought it up to her. It dawned to her at that moment that perhaps that was what Jane wanted to talk to her about, which left her feeling rather blue about soon being the only fancy-free maiden of their old quartet.
Unfortunately for Anne, perhaps you could say the thing Jane wanted to talk was actually worse than that. Rather than breaking news that she too is engaged (she’s not just to be clear), Jane had instead come to propose to Anne– and get this, on her brother’s behalf! Sheesh, what way to ruin something Anne has been looking forward to all her life! Jane really should’ve known better how much Anne values romantic moments, and she took that away from her to fulfill her brother’s embarrassingly selfish request all because he’s “too shy”. She knew coming into this Anne was very likely to refuse him, even if she did try to vouch for him.
Oh and if that wasn’t bad enough, the next day Jane later went on to assure Anne (who was trying to be polite about the rejection) that her brother isn’t just interested in Anne, but also some other girl Nettie Blewett who their mother approves of the most. Like really? REALLY? How ridiculous is an understatement! It’s truly no wonder why Anne felt so bitter after that. No thanks to all of that, this really really seemed to put their friendship in a really awkward spot because Anne just doesn’t have any feelings towards the guy at all. Hell she hardly even remembered, let alone ever interacted with the guy!
Anne has always been a romantic at heart, so she had always dreamed the day she would be proposed to, it would be one of the most romantic scenes of her life. And contrary to her own denial, she’s still set on convincing herself that her true ideal guy isn’t a match with the guy that’s been by her side on all long. Though side-note, I did have to do a double-take when Anne fantasized about freaking turning down a proposal for someone who pines for her. She really does imagine just about every scenario, but I digress.
Speaking of, Gilbert certainly does have a knack for timing of showing up when Anne’s in the dumps. He had come to just invite her out for a walk to admire the snow together. At first glance you’d think he were about to propose to her when he knelt down to tie her lace– especially when he went on to tell her that if he had it his way, he’d shut out all the sadness in her life so she could be happy. Like a line like that could easily lead straight into a proposal.
However as endearing as that sentiment was, Anne says no life can be developed without sorrow, so rather than having it completely shut out, she’d rather embrace so she could grow.
And finally on the last subject of love-lines, ohh boy…. Charlie… I didn’t mention him last week, but oof, this week pretty much solidified the extent crushing hard on Anne. You may as well say he’s obsessed with her, to the point he’s trying to manifest it or something by writing her first and his last name together a zillion times. Either way, this means Anne has yet another round of a mess with love and marriage to deal with.
That said, it will be interesting to see how this unfolds considering that he and Gilbert are said to be friends. And with Anne’s friendships getting rocky because of the subject of love and/or marriage, it makes one wonder how Gilbert is going to respond to such situation.
