Gender Performativity and Compulsory Heterosexuality in L.M. Montgomery´s Anne of Green Gables

Abstract: This essay will demonstrate how the character Anne from Anne of Green Gables is open to multiple interpretations. I specifically look at the character Anne from the perspective of gender and queer theory. Anne can be read as someone who has both feminine and masculine traits. She is assigned female at birth and lives in the 19th century, in a society where gender norms and normative behavior were strictly defined. During the novel, Anne must learn how to become a “proper girl” by performing gender norms. Her difficulty with this, as well as her expression of desire for other women, allows for queer readings of her character