The Currant Wine Incident

The Currant Wine Incident is one of the most consequential and comedic crises of Anne Shirley's early life at Green Gables, a mistake born of good intentions, domestic inexperience, and the treacherous similarity of bottles. It temporarily severs the friendship Anne values above all others and forces her to confront the limits of her imagination when faced with the cold, unforgiving judgment of an adult world that does not share her romantic view of events.

Background and the Mistake

The incident occurs on a Saturday afternoon in October, when Marilla Cuthbert, before driving off to a meeting of the Aid Society at Carmody, grants Anne permission to invite Diana Barry to tea. Marilla instructs Anne to use the old brown tea set and to serve a bottle of raspberry cordial from the second shelf of the sitting-room closet. However, Marilla herself had earlier moved the bottle of raspberry cordial down to the cellar and had placed in the pantry a bottle of her three-year-old homemade currant wine, for which she was celebrated in Avonlea, though certain stricter sorts, Mrs. Barry among them, disapproved strongly of it. Anne, who had never tasted the cordial and thus could not distinguish it from the wine, retrieved the wrong bottle. She set it on a tray with a tumbler and, after the two girls had spent the afternoon in the orchard eating apples, invited Diana to help herself. Diana poured a generous tumblerful, admired its bright-red hue, and sipped it daintily, declaring it the nicest raspberry cordial she had ever drunk. Encouraged by Anne's hospitality, Diana drank three large tumblerfuls.

Consequences and the Aftermath

Almost immediately, Diana became unsteady, dizzy, and sick. She insisted on going home, refusing tea, and walked dizzily away, leaving Anne in tears of disappointment and bewilderment. The next day, Mrs. Barry, having learned from Mrs. Rachel Lynde what had occurred, was in an awful state. She accused Anne of having set Diana drunk and declared she would never let Diana play with her again. Anne, weeping, protested that she had given Diana nothing but raspberry cordial. Marilla, investigating the pantry, discovered the mistake: the bottle of currant wine was on the shelf where Anne had looked, and she realized she had put the raspberry cordial in the cellar. Anne had given Diana currant wine instead of cordial. Marilla, though she saw that Anne was not to blame, was unable to persuade Mrs. Barry of this. Mrs. Barry remained indignant, believing Anne had acted out of malice. Anne, in a desperate final attempt, went alone to Orchard Slope and pleaded with Mrs. Barry, but was coldly rebuffed and told to go home and behave herself. The door was shut on her, and she returned to Green Gables calm with despair, believing her friendship with Diana was over forever.

Reconciliation and Significance

The rupture lasted for several weeks, during which Anne and Diana communicated only through notes passed in school and a solemn, romantic farewell by the Dryad's Bubble. The incident was resolved only when Anne, through her quick thinking and experience gained from caring for Mrs. Hammond's twins, saved the life of Diana's younger sister, Minnie May, who was stricken with croup. This act of heroism changed Mrs. Barry's mind completely. She came to Green Gables to thank Anne, apologized for her earlier behavior, and restored the friendship. The Currant Wine Incident thus serves as a crucial lesson for Anne in the dangers of domestic carelessness and the gap between her imaginative world and the literal consequences of her actions. It also demonstrates the power of genuine, selfless action to heal even the most painful social wounds, and it marks a turning point in Anne's relationship with the adult community of Avonlea, as her competence in a real crisis earns her a respect that her imaginative flights could not.