Marilla Cuthbert's Character

Marilla was a tall, thin woman, with angles and without curves... She looked like a woman of narrow experience and rigid conscience, which she was; but there was a saving something about her mouth which, if it had been ever so slightly developed, might have been considered indicative of a sense of humor.

Marilla's first encounter with Anne and her famous reaction: 'But we don't want a girl.' Her gradual softening begins here.