| dc.description.abstract | Rilla of Ingleside (1921) is the final novel in L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series. The novel tells the coming-of-age story of Rilla Blythe during the First World War and is partially made up of entries in Rilla’s diary. This thesis explores the significance of the diary structure for Rilla’s bildungsroman, examines the connections between Rilla of Ingleside and Montgomery’s personal diaries, and argues that the novel should be seen as the beginning of a new direction for Montgomery’s career. Rilla’s diary, which often mirrors Montgomery’s personal journals, is a unique insight into Rilla. It allows readers to see a side to Rilla that the third-person narrative often neglects to portray and emphasizes the diary structure’s role as a tool for producing realistic fiction, which was Montgomery’s goal in writing the novel. The last two chapters of the thesis deal with the critical conversation surrounding Montgomery and highlight common misconceptions about her treatment of female characters, attitude toward war, and use of the Romantic style. Finally, the thesis argues that Rilla of Ingleside is best understood as a watershed moment for Montgomery’s writing because it contains elements (beginning with the diary structure) that come to define the works published in the later years of her life. | en |
