The Secret Garden

by

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Colin's mother; she died about the time of his birth after a tree branch in the secret garden broke, and she fell. She and Mr. Craven were madly in love, and the garden was their sanctuary. There, Mrs. Craven was a skilled gardener and carefully tended her roses. On her deathbed, she asked Ben Weatherstaff to care for the roses in her absence. After her death, Mr. Craven was consumed with grief, and to try to bury the memory of his wife, he locked her garden and buried the key. Similarly, though Colin has a portrait of her in his bedroom, he keeps it covered with a curtain most of the time, wanting to keep his beautiful mother’s smile only for himself. As Colin and Mary grow and develop and connect with the garden, they learn to see it as a place of life and nurturing, not a place of death as Mr. Craven sees it. Susan Sowerby even remarks at one point that Mrs. Craven's spirit must be in the garden. When Colin finally shares his recovery with Mr. Craven, Mr. Craven cries with happiness to see his wife's pride and joy returned to its former glory. As Colin recovers, he also removes the curtain from Mrs. Craven's portrait and decides to think of it as smiling down on him.

Mrs. Craven Quotes in The Secret Garden

The The Secret Garden quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Craven or refer to Mrs. Craven. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Healing, Growth, and Nature Theme Icon
).
Chapter 10 Quotes

"Do you like roses?" she said.

Ben Weatherstaff rooted up a weed and threw it aside before he answered.

"Well, yes, I do. I was learned that by a young lady I was gardener to. She had a lot in a place she was fond of, an' she loved 'em like they was children—or robins. I've seen her bend over an' kiss 'em." He dragged out another weed and scowled at it. "That were as much as ten year' ago."

Related Characters: Mary Lennox (speaker), Ben Weatherstaff (speaker), Mrs. Craven
Related Symbols: The Secret Garden, Roses
Page Number: 111
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Secret Garden LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Secret Garden PDF

Mrs. Craven Quotes in The Secret Garden

The The Secret Garden quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Craven or refer to Mrs. Craven. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Healing, Growth, and Nature Theme Icon
).
Chapter 10 Quotes

"Do you like roses?" she said.

Ben Weatherstaff rooted up a weed and threw it aside before he answered.

"Well, yes, I do. I was learned that by a young lady I was gardener to. She had a lot in a place she was fond of, an' she loved 'em like they was children—or robins. I've seen her bend over an' kiss 'em." He dragged out another weed and scowled at it. "That were as much as ten year' ago."

Related Characters: Mary Lennox (speaker), Ben Weatherstaff (speaker), Mrs. Craven
Related Symbols: The Secret Garden, Roses
Page Number: 111
Explanation and Analysis: