"A Land of Ruby and Emerald and Sapphire"

"Oh, my Island is matchless-matchless. I feel that I did some violence to my spirit by leaving it. I belong here. It is mine - I am its own. It is in my blood. There is a part of me that only lives here... this colorful little land of ruby and emerald and sapphire."

- L. M. Montgomery

Many Anne of Green Gables fans will know that the timeless book written by L. M. Montgomery was based in a similarly timeless place - her childhood home of Cavendish, on Prince Edward Island. As dramaturg, I had a unique opportunity to travel to Prince Edward Island and do a little research into this land that held such permanent sway on the heart of L. M. Montgomery. Here, I would like to share some of the insights and personal revelings of this mystical setting where our story, Anne of Green Gables takes place.

The Mi'kmaq people, who first inhabited the island, called it Epekwitk, "cradled on the waves". Their legends tell of the Great Spirit forming the island on the blue sea by placing dark red clay in a crescent shape. The island sits northeast of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was discovered by the French, but they were driven from the island by the British. After that, a high influx of Scottish highlanders settled the island in the late 1700s, giving a pronounced Gaelic culture to the island that is still felt today. In 1873, the island was federated into Canada and became the nation's smallest province.

The island's economic foundation is farming, especially potatoes. In fact, Prince Edward Island supplies 25% of all of Canada's potatoes. Their other greatest resource, especially today, is tourism (thanks in large part to L.M. Montgomery and her Anne books). There are two major ways to get onto the island. The first is the ferry, which travels to and from Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. There used to be a second ferry service from New Brunswick until 1997, when the Confederation Bridge was built, linking the two provinces together. It is the longest bridge in the world that spans ice-covered waters.

The whole island has a prevalent pastoral feel and is abundant with large, rolling hills, creaking woods, and long saltwater marshes. Most of the soil and dirt on the island is, indeed, red sandstone. This is because of the high iron concentration within the ground. As the iron touches the air, it turns red. There is a large amount of white silica sand as well, which makes up the dunelands along the coast and makes a scrubbing sound when walked on. The climate is usually moderate on the island (as it was when I was visiting), but can change quite rapidly from day to day.

All of these facts are well and good. I find it incredibly interesting myself, as I

am an absolute nut for research. But the thing that stood out most during my visit was the overall impression of the island. I ended up visiting the island (in early May) before the tourist season started. Because of this, I was able to take long car trips through the island without much traffic. I could walk through the woods, hills, and beaches in near solitude. I experienced the extreme calming effect that the natural beauty of the island has to offer, which L.M. Montgomery often alluded to in her journals. Prince Edward Island really is a gem set apart from the rest of the world and the perfect place for young girls such as Anne and L.M. Montgomery to set their imaginations free.

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="376"] Margaret Roper[/caption] Margaret More Roper: Scholar and Daughter by Adam White, dramaturg Thomas More was a family man; he was married twice and had four children with his first wife, Jane Colt. After being married for six years, Jane Colt More died, leaving More with four children: Margaret, Elizabeth, Cecily and John. However, More quickly remarried to the widow Dame Alice Middleton, marrying her within a month of his wife’s death. While many of his friends resisted the rapid nature of the arrangement, More went through with it. Thomas and Alice More would raise the four children Thomas More had with Jane, as well as Alice’s daughter from her previous marriage and a foster daughter. Certainly, More valued his family and the welfare of his children. More also valued the power of education. He insisted that his daughters be educated through rigorous schooling, and this was unusual in 16th-century England, as society at large believed women unfit for scholarly pursuits. Despite cultural and institutional norms, Margaret More, the eldest of the More children (and More’s favorite, some would argue), would grow to become one of the most educated people in all of England, a woman of great scholarly knowledge. Margaret More Roper was tutored at home and became well-known for her studies, particularly for her adeptness in Greek and Latin. Her skill in writing and speaking Latin would impress the clergy of England. This specialty is reflected in a scene in Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons where Margaret and King Henry VIII engage in a bit of Latin language sparring. She would also become the first woman who was not of royal birth to publish a translated book. In October 1524, Roper published an English translation of a book called ‘Precatio dominica’ written by Thomas More’s good friend Erasmus. This book was based on the Lord’s Prayer. Instead of translating the book directly from Latin to English, Roper would use her extensive knowledge of both languages to construct the themes and the meanings Erasmus had written in to the treatise with her own words. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="291"] Erasmus, Dutch humanist and good friend to Thomas More[/caption] It was Margaret who would visit the imprisoned Thomas More the most often. They were very close, writing letters to one another regularly the duration of their relationship. It was in a letter to Margaret that Thomas More confided, “I do nobody harm, I say none harm, I thinke none harm, but wish everybody good. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive, in good faith I long not to live.” We have good reason to believe that Margaret More Roper very well understood what would be her father’s fate. After Thomas More’s execution, Margaret More Roper and her husband William Roper would continue to carry on his legacy in their own ways. William Roper would write the first biography of Thomas More, a glowing and gracious document that would influence our understanding of More’s personality for hundreds of years to come. Margaret More Roper actually kept her father’s head after his beheading, pickling it to preserve it from decay. While many of us may find that historical tidbit a tad macabre, I would like to believe that Margaret More Roper had deep admiration for her father; perhaps it was out of this feeling she kept his head. Please stay tuned to the 4th Wall Dramaturgy Blog to catch clips of my interview with Mallory Gee, the actress who will portray Margaret More Roper in BYU’s A Man for All Seasons. Bibliography: Abernathy, Susan. "Margaret Roper, Daughter of Sir Thomas More." Early Modern England. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2014. Duerden, Richard. "A Man for All Seasons." Telephone interview. 31 Jan. 2014. "Margaret Roper." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. "Sir Thomas More Quotes and Quotations." Sir Thomas More Quotes and Quotations. Luminarium. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.

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"A Land of Ruby and Emerald and Sapphire"

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