Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Last updated
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm 001.png
Author Kate Douglas Wiggin
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Children's novel
Publisher Houghton Mifflin
Publication date
1903
Media typePrint (Hardback)
OCLC 4738229

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her aunts, one stern and one kind, in the fictional village of Riverboro, Maine. Rebecca's joy for life inspires her aunts, but she faces many trials in her young life, gaining wisdom and understanding. Wiggin wrote a sequel, New Chronicles of Rebecca. [1] Eric Wiggin, a grand-nephew of the author, wrote updated versions of several Rebecca books, including a concluding story. The story was adapted for the theatrical stage and filmed three times, once with Shirley Temple in the title role, as well as a Japanese animated short as part of the Anime Tamago project.

Contents

Synopsis

The novel opens with Rebecca's journey from her family's farm to live with her two aunts, her mother's older sisters Miranda and Jane Sawyer, in their brick house in Riverboro. Rebecca is the second-oldest of seven children. Most of the children have fanciful names, such as Marquis and Jenny Lind, influenced by their father's artistic background; Rebecca is named after both the heroines in Ivanhoe . The family is quite poor, due to the number of children, Mr. Lorenzo DeMedici Randall's inability to stick to a job, and the farm being mortgaged. As the novel begins, the family is barely scraping by three years after the father's death. Rebecca's stay with her aunts is a chance to improve her opportunities in life and to ease the strain on her family's budget. Despite her impoverished background, Rebecca is imaginative and charming. She often composes little poems and songs to express her feelings or to amuse her siblings. It is she who named their farm "Sunnybrook".

Miranda and Jane had wanted Hannah, the eldest sister, because of her household skills and pragmatic nature, but her mother needs her at home for the same reasons and sends Rebecca instead. Miranda is unimpressed by Rebecca's imagination, chatter, and dark complexion, calls her the image of her shiftless father, and determines to train Rebecca to be a proper young lady who won't shame the Sawyer name. Jane becomes Rebecca's protector and acts as a buffer between her and Miranda. Jane teaches Rebecca to sew, cook, and manage a household. Rebecca's liveliness and curiosity brighten Jane's life and refresh her spirit. Although Rebecca strives to win Miranda's approval, she struggles to live up to Miranda's rigid standards, as Miranda views her as "all Randall and no Sawyer."

The middle of the novel is mainly a description of life at Riverboro and its inhabitants. Important characters are Jeremiah and Sarah Cobb, who first encounter Rebecca's charm; Rebecca's schoolmate and best friend, Emma Jane Perkins; and young businessman Adam Ladd, who takes an interest in Rebecca's education. Adam meets Rebecca when she and Emma Jane are selling soap to help a poor family receive a lamp as a premium; Rebecca nicknames him "Mr. Aladdin."

Poster for the stage adaptation of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm starring Edith Taliaferro produced by Klaw & Erlanger, 1910 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm 1911.jpg
Poster for the stage adaptation of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm starring Edith Taliaferro produced by Klaw & Erlanger, 1910

Rebecca proves to be a good student, especially in English, and goes on to attend high school in Wareham. In the book's last section she has become a young lady with the same high spirit and a talent for writing. She applies for a teaching job in Augusta, but her mother has an accident and Rebecca must go home to look after her and the farm. While she's away, Miranda dies and leaves the Sawyer house and land to Rebecca. A railway company will buy Sunnybrook Farm for construction purposes, which will give the Randall family a sufficient living, and Miranda's will provides Rebecca enough money to become an independent woman who can help her siblings. The novel ends with her exclaiming, "God bless Aunt Miranda! God bless the brick house that was! God bless the brick house that is to be!"

Adaptations

Play

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was dramatized for the theater in 1909. Wiggin co-wrote the play with Charlotte Thompson. It was produced for Broadway by Klaw & Erlanger in 1909. [2] Before opening on Broadway, it toured Boston and New England where it was warmly received. [3]

Film

The story was filmed three times. Shirley Temple played Rebecca in the more freely interpreted adaptation of 1938.

Animation

An anime short film was made in 2020. [4]

Cultural references

In the 1960s, Lauren Wood was lead singer of a band called Rebecca and the Sunnybrook Farmers.

In the 1973 film, Cleopatra Jones , drug dealer, "Doodlebug" Simpkins, references Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by contrasting her wholesome character against his: "If Mommy wants trouble, I'm not exactly known as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms." [5]

In the 1997 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer titled What's My Line? Part Two, antagonist vampire, Spike, refers to Buffy, who lives in Sunnydale, as "Rebecca of Sunnyhell Farm." [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i> (film) 1992 film by Fran Rubel Kuzui

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 American comedy horror film directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui and starring Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry, Hilary Swank, and David Arquette. It follows a Valley Girl cheerleader named Buffy who learns that it is her fate to hunt vampires. It was a moderate success at the box office, but received mixed reception from critics. The film took a different direction from that which its writer, Joss Whedon, intended. Five years later, he created the darker, and critically acclaimed, television series of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffy Summers</span> Lead character of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy Anne Summers is the title character of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in The WB/UPN 1997–2003 television series and subsequent 1998–2018 Dark Horse and 2019–present Boom! Studios comic series of the same name. The character has also appeared in the spin-off series Angel, as well as numerous expanded universe materials such as novels and video games. Buffy was portrayed by Kristy Swanson in the film and by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the television series. Giselle Loren has lent her voice to the character in both the Buffy video games and an unproduced animated series, while Kelly Albanese lent her voice to the character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight motion comics.

Rebecca is a biblical matriarch.

<i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i> American supernatural drama television series (1997–2003)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, also written by Whedon, although they are separate and otherwise unrelated productions. Whedon served as executive producer and showrunner under his production tag Mutant Enemy Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Douglas Wiggin</span> American writer

Kate Douglas Wiggin was an American educator, author and composer. She wrote children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and composed collections of children's songs. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878. With her sister during the 1880s, she also established a training school for kindergarten teachers. Kate Wiggin devoted her adult life to the welfare of children in an era when children were commonly thought of as cheap labor.

Faith (<i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i>) Character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Faith Lehane is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Played by actress Eliza Dushku, Faith was introduced in the third season of Buffy and was a focus of that season's overarching plot. She returned for shorter story arcs on Buffy and its spin-off, Angel. The character's story is continued in the comic book series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, and she also appears in apocryphal material such as other comic books and novels. Faith was set to receive her own spin-off television series after the final season of Buffy, but Eliza Dushku declined the offer, and the series was never made. The character later co-stars in the 25-issue comic book Angel & Faith beginning in August 2011 under the banner of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine, the story taking place mostly in London and the surrounding area. Seven years after the character's creation, Whedon granted her the surname Lehane for a role-playing game and subsequent material. The last issue of Season Eight was the first source officially confirmed to be canon that referred to Faith by her full name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nora Archibald Smith</span> American writer

Nora Archibald Smith (1859–1934) was an American writer of children's literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and sister of Kate Douglas Wiggin. Smith and Wiggin co-authored and co-edited a series of children's books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vampire film</span> Film genre

Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptation of vampire fiction has been from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, with over 170 versions to date. Running a distant second are adaptations of the 1872 novel Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. By 2005, the Dracula character had been the subject of more films than any other fictional character except Sherlock Holmes.

<i>Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm</i> (1917 film) 1917 film by Marshall Neilan

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a 1917 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Marshall Neilan based upon the 1903 novel of the same name by Kate Douglas Wiggin. This version is notable for having been adapted by famed female screenwriter Frances Marion. The film was made by the "Mary Pickford Company" and was an acclaimed box office hit. When the play premiered on Broadway in the 1910 theater season the part of Rebecca was played by Edith Taliaferro.

This is a list of bestselling novels in the United States in the 1900s, as determined by The Bookman, a New York-based literary journal. The list features the most popular novels of each year from 1900 through 1909.

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a 1932 American pre-Code film based on the 1903 children's classic novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin.

<i>Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm</i> (play) Play by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Charlotte Thompson

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a play written by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Charlotte Thompson. It is an adaptation of Wiggin's novels about the character Rebecca Rowena Randall, including elements from the 1903 novel of the same name and the 1907 follow-up, New Chronicles of Rebecca. Producers Klaw and Erlanger debuted it at the Court Square Theatre in Springfield, Massachusetts on November 15, 1909. After touring New England for a season, it appeared on Broadway, opening at the Republic Theatre on October 3, 1910. The play received positive reviews and was used as the basis for subsequent movie adaptations.

<i>Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm</i> (1938 film) 1938 film by Allan Dwan

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Allan Dwan, and written by Don Ettlinger, Karl Tunberg, Ben Markson and William M. Conselman, the third adaptation of Kate Douglas Wiggin's 1903 novel of the same name.

A popular American TV show from the late 1990s through early 2000s, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has had a tremendous influence on popular culture that has attracted serious scholarly attention. Even the language used on the show has affected modern colloquial expressions.

Susan Birkenhead is an American lyricist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Westley</span> American actress

Helen Westley was an American character actress of stage and screen

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire McDowell</span> American actress (1877–1966)

Claire McDowell was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 350 films between 1908 and 1945.

Sunnybrook may refer to:

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a classic American children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ursula St. George</span> American actress

Ursula St. George , born Ursula Edith Kate Mackarness, was an American actress as a teenager. Later in life, known as U. E. K. Cull, she collected art and ancient Chinese artifacts with her banker husband in London.

References

  1. New Chronicles of Rebecca, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, The Riverside Press, Cambridge, April 1907, copyright 1906 and 1907 by Charles Scribner's Books, copyright 1907 Kate Douglas Wiggin, reprinted in June 1986 by Buccaneer Books, ISBN   0-89966-572-1.
  2. "PLAY FROM 'REBECCA' BOOKS.; Klaw & Erlanger Produce "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm"" (subscription). The New York Times . November 17, 1909. p. 11. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
  3. Burbank, Emily M. (October 22, 1910). "REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK; How Kate Douglas Wiggin Was Induced to Turn Her Enormously Popular Books Into a Play" (subscription). The New York Times Saturday Review of Books. p. BR1. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
  4. "Anime Tamago 2020 Shorts Reveal Visuals in Promo Video".
  5. "Antonio Fargas: Doodlebug". IMDB. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  6. ""Buffy the Vampire Slayer" What's My Line?: Part 2 (TV Episode 1997) - Quotes - IMDb". IMDb . Retrieved 11 February 2023.