When Anne Shirley arrives at the Cuthbert’s Farm on Prince Edward Island, she is a precocious, romantic child, desperate to be loved, and highly sensitive about her red hair and homely looks. In her own unique, headstrong manner, Anne manages to insult the town matriarch, Rachel Lynde, in a dispute over her looks, smashes her slate over Gilbert Blythe’s head – when he calls her “carrots” during her first day at school – and accidentally dyes her hair green in an effort to turn her red hair black and salvage her wounded pride.
