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Character analysis

Ruby Gillis

in Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Ruby Gillis is a minor yet memorable supporting character in Anne of Green Gables, mainly known for being part of Anne Shirley's social circle at Avonlea School. She acts as a foil and background figure, helping to shape the dynamics of girlhood friendship and rivalry throughout the story.

Ruby is introduced as one of the prettier girls at school, a fact she is very much aware of. Her character is marked by vanity, a fascination with boys and romance, and a flair for the dramatic. During conversations about their dreams and ideals, Ruby's goals focus almost entirely on catching male attention and marrying well, which starkly contrasts with Anne's more imaginative and intellectual aspirations.

As a member of the Avonlea girls' group alongside Diana Barry and Jane Andrews, Ruby engages in the typical social activities of school life—passing notes, gossiping, and dealing with the little dramas of adolescence. She plays a role in key group scenes, like when the girls discuss Gilbert Blythe's looks and charm, where her enthusiastic admiration heightens the romantic tension that Anne initially resists.

Ruby doesn't experience much personal growth in the novel; her character remains largely consistent and illustrative. She embodies a traditional femininity that serves as a backdrop to Anne's unconventional spirit. Her traits—being pretty, boy-crazy, somewhat superficial, and good-naturedly silly—are presented with light humor instead of criticism, making her more of a recognizable type than a fully fleshed-out character. She returns in later books in the series with a more significant storyline, but in Anne of Green Gables, she remains a cheerful, decorative part of the school community.

About this character

Form
Novel
Author
L. M. Montgomery
First published
1908

The person01–03

01·Who they are

Who is Ruby Gillis?

Ruby Gillis is a schoolgirl of Avonlea and one of the recognisable faces in Anne Shirley's peer group, introduced early in the novel as the school's reigning beauty — and, crucially, a girl who knows it. Montgomery sketches her with economy but precision: pretty, pleasantly vain, romantically fixated, and enthusiastically ordinary. She represents a particular mode of girlhood that Avonlea considers perfectly respectable — the girl who measures success in admiring glances and matrimonial prospects rather than scholarships or flights of imagination. Though she never dominates a scene, Ruby's presence is always purposeful. She is the novel's clearest emblem of conventional feminine ambition, and her cheerful superficiality throws Anne's unconventional inner life into sharper relief every time the two share narrative space.

02·Arc & motivation

What is Ruby Gillis's arc and motivation?

Ruby has no arc in the strict sense — she begins the novel boy-conscious and romance-focused, and she ends it the same way. Her motivation is social approval and romantic admiration, desires she pursues without embarrassment or self-examination. When the Avonlea girls discuss their futures and ideals, Ruby's vision stops comfortably at the altar. She wants to be admired, courted, and married well. This is not presented as villainous; Montgomery treats it with a light, amused touch, suggesting that Ruby is simply uncomplicated. Her stasis is itself meaningful: while Anne grows intellectually and emotionally across the novel's chapters, Ruby remains a fixed point, a portrait of the girl Anne could have been had circumstance and temperament shaped her differently.

03·Key moments

What are Ruby Gillis's key moments?

Ruby's most telling appearances occur in group scenes where the girls discuss romance and boys. When Gilbert Blythe becomes a topic of conversation, Ruby is reliably the most vocal admirer, enthusing over his looks and charm with a candour the other girls might qualify but Ruby delivers whole-heartedly. These moments are pivotal because they register what Anne refuses to acknowledge: that Gilbert is attractive, that boys matter, that romance is already threading itself through school life. Ruby's unguarded enthusiasm makes Anne's determined indifference — rooted in wounded pride over the "carrots" incident — all the more pointed and slightly comic.

She also functions in the background of school social life under Mr. Phillips and later Miss Stacy, occupying the cluster of ordinary, pleasant girls — typically paired with Jane Andrews — who populate the classroom without especially distinguishing themselves academically. Their collective ordinariness is the canvas against which Anne's imagination and Diana's loyalty are painted.

The cast04–05

04·Relationships

What are Ruby Gillis's most important relationships?

With Anne: Ruby is a peripheral friend, a classmate rather than a confidante. The relationship is cordial but defines itself largely through contrast. Anne's intellectual ambitions, romantic idealism, and fierce individuality stand out most sharply when held against Ruby's uncomplicated boy-focus and social conformity.

With Diana Barry and Jane Andrews: Ruby is habitually grouped with Jane as part of the wider circle Diana and Anne inhabit. Jane and Ruby represent conventional girlhood — pleasant, predictable, untroubling — while Anne and Diana form a more charged and committed pair. The grouping is social shorthand on Montgomery's part, and it works efficiently.

With Gilbert Blythe: Ruby's openly expressed admiration for Gilbert is one of the novel's most useful dramatic tools. She says what other girls might think privately, and in doing so she keeps Gilbert's romantic significance alive in scenes where Anne is actively trying to dismiss it. Ruby, unconsciously, is a barometer of the romance Anne won't yet admit to feeling.

With Josie Pye: Where Josie is sharp-tongued and genuinely unkind, Ruby is merely shallow. The distinction matters: Ruby's silliness comes without malice, which keeps her sympathetic even when she is being laughed at gently by the narrative.

05·Connected characters

How is Ruby Gillis connected to the other characters?

Anne Shirley

Ruby is a schoolmate and peripheral friend of Anne's. Her conventional romantic preoccupations and vanity serve as a contrast to Anne's imaginative idealism, helping define Anne's distinctiveness within the Avonlea peer group.

Diana Barry

Ruby belongs to the same social circle as Diana and is frequently grouped with her in school scenes, though Diana holds a far closer and more meaningful friendship with Anne than Ruby does.

Jane Andrews

Jane and Ruby are often mentioned together as part of the same cluster of Avonlea schoolgirls, representing the more ordinary, conventional girls alongside whom Anne and Diana stand out.

Gilbert Blythe

Ruby openly admires Gilbert's looks and charm, her enthusiastic commentary on his attractiveness highlighting the romantic undercurrent of school life that Anne initially refuses to acknowledge.

Josie Pye

Both Josie and Ruby inhabit the same school social world, though Josie's sharp cattiness contrasts with Ruby's more good-natured, if shallow, personality.

Mr. Phillips

As Ruby's teacher at Avonlea School, Mr. Phillips presides over the classroom environment in which Ruby's social dynamics and personality are displayed.

Miss Stacy

Miss Stacy later becomes the girls' teacher, and Ruby is among the students whose education and ambitions she shapes, though Ruby's goals remain more romantic than academic.

Study06–07

06·Questions

Questions readers ask about Ruby Gillis

Who is Ruby Gillis's closest friend in Anne of Green Gables?

Ruby Gillis does not have one single close friend but is most habitually paired with Jane Andrews as part of the wider Avonlea girls' circle. Together, Jane and Ruby represent conventional, uncomplicated girlhood, and Montgomery routinely groups them as a duo to distinguish them from the more intensely bonded Anne and Diana. Ruby's friendships are cordial and social rather than deep or confiding.

What does Ruby Gillis want for her future?

Ruby Gillis's ambitions begin and end at the altar — she wants to be admired, courted, and married well. When the Avonlea girls discuss their dreams, Ruby's vision is entirely romantic and social rather than intellectual or imaginative. Montgomery presents this without harsh judgment, treating Ruby's uncomplicated desires with a light, amused tone that contrasts with Anne's aspirations toward scholarship and creative fulfilment.

How does Ruby Gillis feel about Gilbert Blythe?

Ruby Gillis is one of Gilbert Blythe's most vocal admirers, enthusiastically praising his looks and charm with a candour that other girls might soften or qualify. Her open admiration serves an important narrative purpose: it keeps Gilbert's romantic significance alive in scenes where Anne is actively trying to dismiss him. Ruby unintentionally acts as a barometer of the romance Anne refuses to admit she feels.

What is Ruby Gillis's role in the novel compared to Josie Pye?

Ruby Gillis is shallow but essentially good-natured, whereas Josie Pye is sharp-tongued and genuinely unkind. Both inhabit the same Avonlea school world, but the distinction matters: Ruby's silliness carries no malice, which keeps her sympathetic even when the narrative gently laughs at her. Josie functions as an antagonist; Ruby serves as a cheerful, decorative emblem of conventional femininity.

Does Ruby Gillis change or grow over the course of Anne of Green Gables?

Ruby Gillis does not change or grow in Anne of Green Gables — she begins boy-conscious and romance-focused and ends exactly the same way. Her stasis is thematically deliberate: she is a fixed point against which Anne's intellectual and emotional development appears all the more striking. Montgomery uses Ruby's consistency to illustrate the kind of conventional girl Anne might have become had temperament and circumstance shaped her differently.

How does Ruby Gillis function as a foil to Anne Shirley?

Ruby functions as a structural foil by embodying the conventional feminine ambition that Anne consistently rejects. Where Ruby measures success in admiring glances and matrimonial prospects, Anne chases scholarships, imagination, and fierce individuality. Each time the two share narrative space, Ruby's cheerful superficiality highlights Anne's unconventional inner life, suggesting Montgomery's sympathy lies firmly with girls who refuse to be defined by romance alone.

Are there any famous or notable quotes attributed to Ruby Gillis in the novel?

No specific lines spoken by Ruby Gillis are recorded in the surviving attributed quotes for this novel. Her contribution to the story is largely atmospheric and functional — she is more often described enthusing about Gilbert Blythe's looks or voicing romantic ambitions in group scenes than delivering a single memorable line. Her impact comes from her role and personality type rather than from any standout dialogue.

Is Ruby Gillis a villain in Anne of Green Gables?

No, Ruby Gillis is not a villain — she is a minor, good-natured supporting character whose worst quality is vanity. Montgomery treats her with light humour rather than criticism, presenting her romantic preoccupations and superficiality as pleasantly ordinary rather than threatening or malicious. Unlike Josie Pye, who carries a genuinely unkind edge, Ruby is simply uncomplicated, making her more a figure of gentle comedy than any kind of antagonist.

07·Essay angles

Use this in your essay

Tool · Essay angles

  • Ruby as foil: How does Ruby Gillis function as a structural foil to Anne, and what does this contrast reveal about Montgomery's feminist sympathies and her critique of conventional feminine ambition?

  • The comedy of normalcy: Montgomery treats Ruby with humour rather than censure. What does this gentle tone suggest about the novel's attitude toward girls who choose romantic over intellectual goals?

  • Girlhood and social conformity: Using Ruby alongside Jane Andrews and Josie Pye, argue how Montgomery maps a spectrum of conventional femininity against which Anne's exceptionalism is defined.

  • Ruby and Gilbert: Analyse how Ruby's vocal admiration for Gilbert Blythe serves a narrative function in sustaining romantic tension in a novel whose protagonist refuses to acknowledge that tension.

  • Static characters and thematic purpose: Defend or challenge the claim that Ruby Gillis, precisely because she does not grow, is more thematically essential to *Anne of Green Gables* than her minor status suggests.

Anne of Green Gables

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