The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson-Burnett is a well loved story that was first published in the early 1900's. A young girl, Mary Lennox, becomes an orphan when her parents contract cholera and die. Mary is sent to live with her uncle Achibald Craven on the moors of Misslethwaite Manor in the English countryside. As Mary slowly learns independence and cultivates a love of the outdoors, not only her health but her manner changes. When her maid, Martha tells her of a secret garden that has been closed off for ten years, Mary's interest awakes for something more than self-centered causes. When Mary discovers her bed-ridden cousin, Collin, she shares her stories of the secret garden inspiring the same spark of interest. While the children of Misslethwaite work to revive the garden and bring things back to life, their own lives are revived with purpose.
The characters of The Secret Garden are well developed through their interactions with each other. Mary's spoiled, inconsiderate manner when she first arrives at Misslethwaite is evident in her fits of temper, her inability in accomplishing the smallest tasks herself, and her belief that servants around her are meant to do her bidding. Mary's cousin Collin suffers from a similar attitude, having grown up like Mary, neglected by his father with only the company of servants who feared a turn in his health.
Every scene in The Secret Garden serves the purpose of contributing to the plot. It is with some sense of mystery and the Gothic that Mary arrives at the large, fairly empty house in the middle of the night. Her curiosity grows with her surroundings as she encounters secrets that must be solved: the garden and the soft crying that floats in the hallways. As the secrets are solved, the darkness of the house gives way to the hope and light of spring. It is through determination and hearty involvement in creating change that a transformation takes place not only in the garden but in the house and it's inhabitants as well.
The story is told from an omniscient third-person point of view which becomes important as characters have vastly different personalities and others change drastically. Burnett's writing has elements of Romanticism and the Gothic in it. The lonely manor sitting in the midst of the moors filled with locked rooms in which you can occasionally catch the sound of soft sobbing in the empty hallways is a Gothic image. The growing independence of the children and the emphasis on nature and it's healing powers are Romantic images. By cultivating these images of light versus dark throughout the story, Burnett emphasizes the transformations taking place.
Although The Secret Garden was well received when it was first released in print, it's popularity waned until the 60's when it experienced a resurgence of popularity. The Secret Garden is a heart-warming story of personal growth and transformation that any child or adult could appreciate.
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