Emily Byrd Starr
Encyclopedia
Emily Byrd Starr is a fictional character
created by Lucy Maud Montgomery
and featured in the series of novels including Emily of New Moon
, Emily Climbs, and Emily's Quest.
The series takes Emily from age ten to twenty-eight. She starts out a small, dark-haired child with a vivid imagination and passion for writing, and the series closes on her as an adult woman and professional writer. She goes through many difficult times in this period, and deals with near-death experiences, the deaths of those around her, love affairs, psychic experiences, and her quest for fame.
Throughout the three novels of this series, Emily grows up an orphan under the care of her strict, old-fashioned relatives, the Murrays. Emily loves the farm, called New Moon, and her Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy but has a difficult relationship with her autocratic Aunt Elizabeth.
Emily enjoys the stimulating friendship of Dean Priest, a distant relative and former schoolmate of her father, and they are briefly engaged during the final volume of the series. Emily finally marries her childhood sweetheart, Teddy Kent and her best friend Ilse Burnley is married to another of their friends, Perry Miller, who was also New Moon's hired chore boy in the first volume.
Throughout the series, Emily ponders what it means to be a writer and a woman and has 'very decided ideas of what she was going to make of herself'. Living up to her place as a Murray and a woman of New Moon, she often acts to protect her pride and reputation rather than her happiness.
She is described as slender, tall, and pale, with black hair
and grayish-purple eyes.
Emily falls in love with New Moon and soon comes to love her guardians, Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy, although she always has a difficult relationship with the old-fashioned and unyielding Elizabeth.
Other relatives mentioned in the series are Aunt Ruth Dutton, Uncle Wallace Murray and his wife Aunt Eva, Uncle Oliver Murray and Aunt Addie, and two of their children, Jen and Andrew.
She makes friends at school, and one of them betrays her by revealing that she doesn't really like her. She then meets Ilse Burnley, a neighbour, distant relative, and unconventional tomboy
, and they are fast friends throughout the series.
She also meets Perry Miller, the hired chore boy at New Moon, and Frederick Kent, known as Teddy, who lives nearby.
picks up exactly where Emily of New Moon
left off.
Emily is finally given permission to go to Shrewsbury High School to further her education and dream of becoming an author. Her friends Ilse, Perry and Teddy attend high school with her. Each of the central foursome has dreams toward which he or she is working: Emily to be a writer, Ilse an elocutionist, Teddy an artist and Perry a business man and/or politician.
She makes new friends and enemies, endures various scandals, and experiences many triumphs, including having her first pieces of writing published. While studying at the high school, she boards with her Aunt Ruth. Aunt Ruth is an incredibly intolerant and annoying person, who constantly suspects Emily of being secretive and who never gives Emily the benefit of the doubt; however, she does come through in Emily's hour of greatest need.
An expatriate Islander offers to take Emily to New York and help her with her literary career, but Emily chooses to remain in rural Canada and work from there. The novel closes on the central foursome graduating and making plans for their futures: Emily is to go home to New Moon and settle down to her writing career, Ilse and Teddy are going to Montreal to study elocution and art respectively, and Perry has a job as a law clerk for a big firm in Charlottetown
where he expects to be successful.
, Emily is finally considered grown up. She writes and sends her stories and poetry to magazines where many of them are published, and has a novel published to significant acclaim.
Emily spends much of her time trying to gain Dean Priest's blessing on her writing; she values his opinion above all others, as he has travelled and seen a lot of the world, but Dean is jealous of her dedication and dismisses her stories as 'pretty, childish scribbles'. When he tells Emily that her first novel, 'A Seller of Dreams' is terrible, she burns it and then falls down the stairs. Although the fall is not too serious, Emily's foot is pierced by a pair of scissors and she nearly dies of blood poisoning.
Touched by Dean's care and affection after the accident, and thinking that Teddy Kent does not care for her any more, Emily agrees to marry him, much to the shock and displeasure of both their families (Dean is old enough to be her father and is lame). But after a second sight experience that seemed to tell her that she 'belonged' to Teddy, Emily realises that she does not love Dean in the way he loves her, and breaks off the engagement.
Emily writes a new novel in order to entertain her injured Aunt Elizabeth, and some months after this, the novel is finally published and her artistic dreams are realised. However, pride in her accomplishments does not protect her from the pain and shock of Ilse becoming engaged to Teddy. Still too proud to admit that she has feelings for Teddy, Emily helps Ilse with the preparations until the morning of the wedding, when Ilse hears that Perry is on his deathbed after a car accident and runs off to be with him. Ilse and Perry admit their feelings for each other and are married quietly.
After many years of misunderstandings, Emily and Teddy finally find each other and become betrothed at the close of this, the final volume of the series.
was a 1998 Canadian television series, adapted from the series, that starred Canadian actress Martha MacIsaac
as Emily Byrd Starr.
called Kaze no Shoujo Emily. The series was produced by NHK
and Tokyo Movie Shinsha
. In the series, Emily is voiced by Japanese voice actress Tomoko Kawakami
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
created by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Lucy Maud Montgomery OBE , called "Maud" by family and friends and publicly known as L.M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908. Anne of Green Gables was an immediate success...
and featured in the series of novels including Emily of New Moon
Emily of New Moon
Emily of New Moon is the first in a series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery about the development of a writer. It was first published in 1923.-Plot summary:...
, Emily Climbs, and Emily's Quest.
The series takes Emily from age ten to twenty-eight. She starts out a small, dark-haired child with a vivid imagination and passion for writing, and the series closes on her as an adult woman and professional writer. She goes through many difficult times in this period, and deals with near-death experiences, the deaths of those around her, love affairs, psychic experiences, and her quest for fame.
Throughout the three novels of this series, Emily grows up an orphan under the care of her strict, old-fashioned relatives, the Murrays. Emily loves the farm, called New Moon, and her Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy but has a difficult relationship with her autocratic Aunt Elizabeth.
Emily enjoys the stimulating friendship of Dean Priest, a distant relative and former schoolmate of her father, and they are briefly engaged during the final volume of the series. Emily finally marries her childhood sweetheart, Teddy Kent and her best friend Ilse Burnley is married to another of their friends, Perry Miller, who was also New Moon's hired chore boy in the first volume.
Throughout the series, Emily ponders what it means to be a writer and a woman and has 'very decided ideas of what she was going to make of herself'. Living up to her place as a Murray and a woman of New Moon, she often acts to protect her pride and reputation rather than her happiness.
Background
Emily is the daughter of Douglas Starr, a poor journalist, and Juliet Murray, a woman from an elitist family who would not allow her to marry Douglas and rejected her when the two eloped. Juliet died when Emily was four and her father dies of consumption at the beginning of the first novel when Emily is ten. Emily is then taken in by her mother's family and moves to New Moon, her mother's family's ancestral home, in nearby Blair Water.She is described as slender, tall, and pale, with black hair
Black hair
Black hair is the darkest and most common of all human hair colors globally. It is a dominant genetic trait, and it is found in people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. It has large amounts of eumelanin and is less dense than other hair colors. Black hair is known to be the shiniest of all hair...
and grayish-purple eyes.
Emily of New Moon
We are introduced to Emily as a ten year old living with her ailing and penniless father, her mother having died when she was four. When her father dies, taken in by her mother's family and moves to New Moon, her mother's family's ancestral home, in nearby Blair Water.Emily falls in love with New Moon and soon comes to love her guardians, Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Laura and Cousin Jimmy, although she always has a difficult relationship with the old-fashioned and unyielding Elizabeth.
Other relatives mentioned in the series are Aunt Ruth Dutton, Uncle Wallace Murray and his wife Aunt Eva, Uncle Oliver Murray and Aunt Addie, and two of their children, Jen and Andrew.
She makes friends at school, and one of them betrays her by revealing that she doesn't really like her. She then meets Ilse Burnley, a neighbour, distant relative, and unconventional tomboy
Tomboy
A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
, and they are fast friends throughout the series.
She also meets Perry Miller, the hired chore boy at New Moon, and Frederick Kent, known as Teddy, who lives nearby.
Emily Climbs
Emily ClimbsEmily Climbs
Emily Climbs is the second in a series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery. It was first published in 1925.While the legal battle with Montgomery's publishing company continued, Montgomery's husband Ewan MacDonald continued to suffer clinical depression. Montgomery, tired of writing the Anne...
picks up exactly where Emily of New Moon
Emily of New Moon
Emily of New Moon is the first in a series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery about the development of a writer. It was first published in 1923.-Plot summary:...
left off.
Emily is finally given permission to go to Shrewsbury High School to further her education and dream of becoming an author. Her friends Ilse, Perry and Teddy attend high school with her. Each of the central foursome has dreams toward which he or she is working: Emily to be a writer, Ilse an elocutionist, Teddy an artist and Perry a business man and/or politician.
She makes new friends and enemies, endures various scandals, and experiences many triumphs, including having her first pieces of writing published. While studying at the high school, she boards with her Aunt Ruth. Aunt Ruth is an incredibly intolerant and annoying person, who constantly suspects Emily of being secretive and who never gives Emily the benefit of the doubt; however, she does come through in Emily's hour of greatest need.
An expatriate Islander offers to take Emily to New York and help her with her literary career, but Emily chooses to remain in rural Canada and work from there. The novel closes on the central foursome graduating and making plans for their futures: Emily is to go home to New Moon and settle down to her writing career, Ilse and Teddy are going to Montreal to study elocution and art respectively, and Perry has a job as a law clerk for a big firm in Charlottetown
Charlottetown
Charlottetown is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885...
where he expects to be successful.
Emily's Quest
In Emily's QuestEmily's Quest
Emily's Quest is a novel and the last of the Emily trilogy by Lucy Maud Montgomery. After finishing Emily Climbs, Montgomery suspended writing Emily's Quest and published The Blue Castle; she resumed writing and published in 1927....
, Emily is finally considered grown up. She writes and sends her stories and poetry to magazines where many of them are published, and has a novel published to significant acclaim.
Emily spends much of her time trying to gain Dean Priest's blessing on her writing; she values his opinion above all others, as he has travelled and seen a lot of the world, but Dean is jealous of her dedication and dismisses her stories as 'pretty, childish scribbles'. When he tells Emily that her first novel, 'A Seller of Dreams' is terrible, she burns it and then falls down the stairs. Although the fall is not too serious, Emily's foot is pierced by a pair of scissors and she nearly dies of blood poisoning.
Touched by Dean's care and affection after the accident, and thinking that Teddy Kent does not care for her any more, Emily agrees to marry him, much to the shock and displeasure of both their families (Dean is old enough to be her father and is lame). But after a second sight experience that seemed to tell her that she 'belonged' to Teddy, Emily realises that she does not love Dean in the way he loves her, and breaks off the engagement.
Emily writes a new novel in order to entertain her injured Aunt Elizabeth, and some months after this, the novel is finally published and her artistic dreams are realised. However, pride in her accomplishments does not protect her from the pain and shock of Ilse becoming engaged to Teddy. Still too proud to admit that she has feelings for Teddy, Emily helps Ilse with the preparations until the morning of the wedding, when Ilse hears that Perry is on his deathbed after a car accident and runs off to be with him. Ilse and Perry admit their feelings for each other and are married quietly.
After many years of misunderstandings, Emily and Teddy finally find each other and become betrothed at the close of this, the final volume of the series.
Television
Emily of New MoonEmily of New Moon (TV series)
Emily of New Moon was a Canadian television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2000. The series originally aired in the United States on the Cookie Jar Toons block on This TV and it's currently seen in Canada on the Viva, Bravo! and Vision TV cable channels...
was a 1998 Canadian television series, adapted from the series, that starred Canadian actress Martha MacIsaac
Martha MacIsaac
Martha MacIsaac is a Canadian television and film actress and former child actress....
as Emily Byrd Starr.
Anime
In April 2007, the novels were adapted into a 26-episode animated television series in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
called Kaze no Shoujo Emily. The series was produced by NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
and Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Tokyo Movie Shinsha
, formerly known as , is a Japanese animation studio, founded on October 1946. One of the oldest and most prominent anime studios in Japan, it has also produced numerous animated series airing in other countries such as France, the United States, and Italy. The company currently uses "TMS...
. In the series, Emily is voiced by Japanese voice actress Tomoko Kawakami
Tomoko Kawakami
was a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo. Having graduated from the Toho Gakuen School of Music, Kawakami was affiliated with Production Baobab at the time of her death.-Career:...
.