Kevin Sullivan’s adaptation of the Lily Maid scene in Anne of Green Gables reads remarkably close to the novel it is based on.
Lucy Maud Mongtomery writes that Anne, Diana, Ruby and Jane had all studied Tennyson’s poem in school the winter before and therefore knew it inside out. “They had analyzed and parsed it and torn it to pieces in general until it was a wonder there was any meaning at all left in it for them, but at least the fair lily maid and Lancelot and Guinevere and King Arthur had become very real people to them…” she writes.
Kevin took the dialogue set out by Lucy Maud Montgomery and turned it into one of the most comical and memorable scenes in the film. Ruby’s nervous trepidation about the sins of acting - as lectured to them by Rachel Lynde - and Anne’s complete focus on the task at hand translate seamlessly from page to screen.
From the novel:
“Oh, she does look really dead,” whispered Ruby Gillis nervously, watching the still, white little face under the flickering shadows of the birches. “It makes me feel frightened, girls. Do you suppose it’s really right to act like this? Mrs. Lynde says that all play acting-acting is abominably wicked.”
“Ruby, you shouldn’t talk about Mrs. Lynde,” said Anne severely. “It spoils the effect because this is hundreds of years before Mrs. Lynde was born. Jane, you arrange this. It’s silly for Elaine to be talking when she’s dead.”
Something viewers may not know, is that the making of this scene involved a lot more than meets the eye. During the filming, the pond water was completely still and so the props people had to pull the dory from underwater so that the boat would seem to float effortlessly downstream. The boat was later pulled ashore by string.
Viewers will also remember that Anne quotes verses of the The Lady of Shalott as she holds a book of Tennyson's poems in her hands and wanders through the forest on her way to Mr. Hammond's mill at the beginning of the film.
Tennyson's work is somewhat based on the thirteenth century Italian novel, Donna di Scalotta, which recounts the story of Elaine of Ascolot - whose romantic thoughts and feelings Anne is ultimately trying to channel during her own shaky interpretation of the river scene. This poem has inspired countless pieces of art, been included in several novels, used as lyrics for music and been referenced in a number of films, including both the novel and film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
If you would like to read more of Lucy Maud Montgomery's work, visit Shop at Sullivan, where all of her Anne novels are available.
