Diana Barry
Diana Barry, the pretty, dark-eyed daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Barry of Orchard Slope, enters Anne Shirley's life as the answer to a long-cherished dream. From their first meeting in the Barry garden, surrounded by tiger lilies in the mellow sunset light, Anne immediately asks if Diana can like her enough to be her bosom friend. Diana's frank, laughing reply—"Why, I guess so"—launches a friendship that becomes the emotional anchor of Anne's world at Green Gables. Diana is described as a very pretty little girl, with her mother's black eyes and hair, rosy cheeks, and the merry expression inherited from her father. She is a year older than Anne, and though she lacks Anne's extravagant imagination, she possesses a warm, practical nature that perfectly complements Anne's flights of fancy.
Friendship and Shared Worlds
The two girls seal their bond with a solemn oath, joining hands over an imagined running water and vowing eternal faithfulness "as long as the sun and moon shall endure." Together they create a private geography of wonder: they name the spring by the log bridge the Dryad's Bubble, the little round pool in Mr. Barry's field Willowmere, and build a playhouse called Idlewild in a ring of white birch trees. Diana introduces Anne to the delights of reading thrilling books, singing songs like "Nelly of the Hazel Dell," and exploring the woods for rice lilies. Anne, in turn, furnishes most of the imagination for their games, a role she is well able to fill. Their walks to school through Lover's Lane, Willowmere, Violet Vale, and the Birch Path become daily rituals of shared confidence and joy. Diana is the first person to tell Anne she loves her, a revelation that overwhelms the orphan girl who had never believed anyone could love her.
The Currant Wine Crisis and Separation
The deepest test of their friendship comes when Anne, intending to offer Diana raspberry cordial during a tea party, mistakenly gives her three large tumblerfuls of Marilla's homemade currant wine. Diana becomes dizzy and ill, and Mrs. Barry, believing Anne acted out of malice, forbids Diana from ever playing with her again. The separation is devastating for both girls. Diana obeys her mother but smuggles a note and a handmade bookmark to Anne in school, declaring her love unchanged. They meet secretly by the Dryad's Bubble for a farewell, where Anne clips a lock of Diana's jet-black hair and speaks in the most pathetic language she can think of, using "thou" and "thee" for romantic effect. Diana promises never to have another bosom friend and keeps her word, even as she is forced to sit with Gertie Pye in school.
Reconciliation and Deepened Bond
The rupture is healed when Anne saves the life of Diana's three-year-old sister, Minnie May, who is stricken with croup while the Barrys are away. Drawing on experience gained from caring for Mrs. Hammond's three pairs of twins, Anne administers ipecac and nurses the child through the night with skill and presence of mind. The doctor later tells Mr. and Mrs. Barry that Anne saved the baby's life. Mrs. Barry, overcome with remorse, visits Green Gables to apologize and restores the friendship. Diana and Anne are reunited with an intensity that surpasses their earlier bond; they pledge a solemn vow never to reveal a new fancy crochet stitch to anyone else, and Diana gives Anne a card inscribed with the verse, "If you love me as I love you, nothing but death can part us two." From that point, their friendship is unshakeable.
Growth and Constancy
As the girls grow older, Diana remains a constant presence through Anne's triumphs and trials. She is there when Anne breaks her ankle walking the ridgepole, when Anne dyes her hair green, and when Anne wins the Avery scholarship. Diana does not join the Queen's class because her parents do not intend to send her to Queen's Academy, a separation that Anne feels as a bitter loss. Yet Diana continues to visit, to signal with candles from her window, and to share in Anne's joys. When Matthew Cuthbert dies, Diana offers to sleep with Anne, but Anne gently declines, needing solitude. Diana's loyalty never wavers, and she is the one who brings Anne the newspaper announcing that Anne has passed first in the Entrance examinations. In the final chapters, Diana's light still gleams through the old gap in the trees, a symbol of enduring friendship. Anne's love for Diana is as intense as her hatreds, and Diana remains, throughout the novel, the truest kind of kindred spirit—one who accepts Anne completely, imagination and all.
