Talk:Matthew Cuthbert/@comment-205.153.50.104-20200116032648

I don't think he was the oldest, but the youngest. He and Marilla had an older brother, Michael, who died a young adult. Their mom was grief-stricken so retreated from life, making Marilla step in as "mother" of the home, raising Matthew. It's because of this challenge that he and Marilla never married anyone. They focused on farm tasks in their grief and got into a groove, remaining on their family farm as brother and sister together w/o any other companions until Anne came. Or, at least, that's the storyline in the TV series "Anne with an E". Maybe the show deviated from the original book in this way. If this is not the backstory shared in the book, then I wonder what explanation the author did give for why Matthew and Marilla never married and settled for single life throughout adulthood.