Accidental Aesop: Mandatory Motherhood is bad and can lead to disinterest and apathy on the parents' side at best. Mary's parents had absolutely no interest in their daughter, and her mother in particular didn't want to have children at all; due to the time period and society she lived in, once she learned that she was pregnant Mrs Lennox likely had no choice but to carry Mary to term, and handed her off to someone else as soon as she was born. It can be argued that if Mr and Mrs Lennox had actually wanted their daughter, they could have been far more attentive, if not necessarily better, parents.
Anvilicious: The book takes several Author Tracts towards the end to smack the idea of "Go outside and run around in the fresh air, and if you think you're ill, it'll make you ill, and if you think you're healthy, it'll make you healthy, and believe in the Magic!"
Designated Hero: Mary's harshness towards Colin is presented as right because he changes afterwards — but most, if not all of what she says, is as applicable to her as it is to him. Also in the film version, when Mrs. Medlock blames Martha for letting her in, Mary doesn't tell the truth, that Martha had nothing to do with it and actually tried to stop her. It is Colin who orders Medlock out. To be fair, even Medlock's not a complete Jerkass as she clearly does care about him and her duty.
It Was His Sled: For the first time through the book, Colin's existence is quite a shock.
Jerkass Woobie: Colin and Mary are both, pre-Character Development. They're spoiled brats and rude to everyone around them. But that's only because they've never been shown love by their parents and have grown up essentially alone. Through others being kind to them, they are able to become nicer people.
Squick: Mary's parents and many others on the estate died of cholera. This becomes much grosser if you know what the symptoms are. Basically, it's like food poisoning... on steroidsnote The primary symptom is massive diarrhoea, which is often the cause of death due to severe dehydration, which can happen in only hours - the fluid loss is that high. Modern sanitation has essentially eliminated it in developed countries, and when it is contracted, it can usually be treated by drinking lots of clean water that has some sugar and salts (sodium and potassium) added to it. More severe cases may require an IV to get enough water back into the body.
Toy Ship: A three-way version. Mary has Ship Tease with both Dickon and Colin. She's not paired with either, allowing shippers to fill in the blanks for themselves.
In 1911, The British Empire was in full swing, and it shows in this book. Indian people are referred to as "blacks" and they're considered less respectable than white people. The narration even refers to Mary having used violence against her servants in the past.
This entire conversation:
Mary sat up in bed furious.
“What!” she said. “What! You thought I was a native. You—you daughter of a pig!”
Martha stared and looked hot.
“Who are you callin’ names?” she said. “You needn’t be so vexed. That’s not th’ way for a young lady to talk. I’ve nothin’ against th’ blacks. When you read about ’em in tracts they’re always very religious. You always read as a black’s a man an’ a brother. I’ve never seen a black an’ I was fair pleased to think I was goin’ to see one close. When I come in to light your fire this mornin’ I crep’ up to your bed an’ pulled th’ cover back careful to look at you. An’ there you was,” disappointedly, “no more black than me—for all you’re so yeller.”
Mary did not even try to control her rage and humiliation.
“You thought I was a native! You dared! You don’t know anything about natives! They are not people—they’re servants who must salaam to you. You know nothing about India. You know nothing about anything!”
On a less serious note, Mary, a ten-year-old girl, is often and bluntly referred to as "ugly" by both the narrator and other characters and often to her face. Also, compare the approving references to her getting "fatter" (i.e. healthier and less scrawny) with today's concerns with obesity.
Mrs. Medlock, and even some of the more sympathetic characters like Martha and Mrs. Sowerby, also often refer to Mary as sour, contrary, or with adjectives that indicate a perpetually bad attitude. One wonders how much self-fulfilling prophecy played into her character.
Also, this: "She used the wrong Magic until she made him beat her." Ben Weatherstaff mentions a woman in the local village who nagged her husband until he beat her up and left for the pub. Colin's response is that she used the "wrong Magic" and Ben agrees.
We're supposed to see Mary (admittedly through Martha's eyes, who's from a different social class and who likely started working as a servant at a relatively young age) as dysfunctional and hopelessly coddled because at the advanced age of nine, she never goes anywhere by herself. In the same part of the world now, Mary would be at about the minimum age that children would start going out of sight of home without an adult.
Mary's treatment of her Indian servants - including getting violent towards them - and Colin's tantrums towards the staff of the manor, are used to illustrate both of them as Spoiled Brats. Martha also scolds Mary for her racist attitude when she gets angry that Martha thought she would be an Indian. That's not to mention that it's implied that bringing a little girl up to believe that she's inherently superior to those around her - even her adult caretakers - is what made Mary so dysfunctional in the first place.
The book is also surprisingly ahead of its time for criticising neglectful parenting among upper-class families. Both Mary and Colin are spoiled and dysfunctional because they've essentially never been raised by a proper parent. Mary's parents ignored her and her mother in particular didn't want her at all, and had their servants take care of her while keeping her hidden away as much as possible - and, as a result, she grew up into a cold, entitled, and demanding little brat with huge abandonment issues. The story further shows that even non-malicious neglect can still cause problems; Lord Craven is just too afraid to care for Colin in case he dies like his mother - but the lack of attention he showed his son still had a negative effect on him, and, consequently, Colin grew up into a miserable and wretched boy. Compare this with Martha and Dickon, who are much less well off financially but immensely richer in their happy home life and loving mother and, thanks to this upbringing, are far more physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy. The book points out that all children do need love and proper care from their families - in an era where upper-class children would still be handed off to nannies and governesses and then sent to boarding schools and treated more as heirs to pass property onto.
Wangst: Colin is like this until Mary gives him a good talking-to.
Some details from the 1993 film are sometimes taken as happening in the book - such as Mary's parents dying in an earthquake rather than cholera, and Medlock being an overbearing caretaker.
The 1987 version uses Chopin's Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72, #1 as its theme music.
The 1993 film has some very beautiful theme music, too.
The score for the 1975 miniseries? Yeah—freaking awesome.
"Lily's Eyes" and the various Storms in the musical version.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The 1993 film has a scene where Colin is taking photos of Mary and Dickon on the garden swing. When they look into each other's eyes rather lovingly - for too long - Colin angrily says "hey!" and looks furiously jealous. A love triangle between Mary, Dickon and Colin is never explored, Mary doesn't show romantic interest in either boy again and the incident isn't mentioned again. The very next scene has the children playing happily together only a few minutes later.
The 1993 film and the anime series designate Mrs. Medlock as an overbearing caretaker, even though in the book her initial antagonism fades as the narrative progresses. Although, even in the 1993 movie, she genuinely believes her treatment of Colin is what he needs to make him better, while Mary probably does need to learn to be more self-sufficient and less spoilt. Also, she, like everyone else, is moved to tears at the climax.
The musical designates Neville Craven, a doctor whom Mary accuses of wanting Colin to die so he can inherit his brother's estate – while it's never stated whether this is true or not, he's still the primary antagonist. In the book, although it is mentioned that Dr. Craven is a rather weak-willed man who would be happy to inherit the estate, he is a good man at heart and does not want Colin to die or be put in danger. It is also never made clear in the book how Dr. Craven is related to Colin and his father, just that he is some kind of relative.
The 1987 film has a bit of this outside of the story. Since the film makers made it so Colin and Mary aren't related, they had to get rid of Dickon. The only way to do that was to kill him.
The sequel to the 1987 version Back to The Secret Garden also does this when Dickon gets a fair bit of mention from Martha and Mary as he died in the war before the end of the last film resulting in Mary and Colin ending up married.
Speaking of Back to The Secret Garden, Lizzie Buscana is a Heartwarming Orphan who travels to Mistelthwaite Manor from America at Lady Mary Craven's request to take the place of one of the orphan's now living at the manor in desperate need of surgery at an American hospital. When Lizzie arrives she quickly gains two Love Interests in the form of Robert and Steven, orphans who now live and go to school at Misselthwaite Manor.
Lizzie's new friend Geraldine, a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who later turns out to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, actually spurs on the plot by encouraging Steven to take the blame for Lizzie when she steals her Orphan's Plot Trinket, the key to the Secret Garden, from Martha Sowerby's desk drawer.
Lizzie and Robert become an Official Couple during their Fetch Quest to find the original door to the Secret Garden which was replaced when Martha Sowerby was unable to find it after Mary left for America with Colin.
Mary's deadpan reactions to Martha the maid's enthusiasm in the 1993 film. Most notably, when Martha deliberately leaves Mary's turtleneck unfolded over her face.
Mary: Let me out of here.
She pulls the neck down.
Mary: What do you think you are doing?
Martha: Ah there you are, Miss Mary. I wondered where you'd gone.
And then Martha puts a hat over Mary that falls into her eyes. Mary deadpans "I can't see."
It's both funny and Awesome when Mary tells Colin off because no one else has. He tries to justify his Wangst by saying he's ill, but Mary remarks "no one ill could scream like that."
In any of the film adaptations, Mary walking through the house to find Colin can be deeply unsettling. The 1987 version takes this up to eleven with scary music and a lightning storm raging outside the manor — and let's not forget the cutaways to the light playing off of the dark, ugly statues.
There's also the opening from that same movie, where Mary's wandering through a house where everyone except her is dead or dying from cholera, and she doesn't even understand what's happening. Special mention goes to the lingering shot on Mary's dying parents, with their faces twisted up in pain.
The 1993 film replaces the cholera epidemic with an earthquake. The scene built around said earthquake, while short, could still be a case of Nightmare Fuel.
The 1993 film also gives Medlock a very creepy Leitmotif.
The Dreamers in the musical, especially in the various Storm songs.
Rewatch Bonus: The 1993 film has a sequence where Mary in her first morning wanders around Mistelthwaite and finds her aunt's room. She hears crying and Medlock shouting "Martha!" - which turns out to be Foreshadowing that Colin is hidden away in the house.
The '93 movie gives us a dream sequence of a toddler Mary being abandoned by her mother in the jungle, and crying piteously. It's pretty heartbreaking.
You could consider that scene to be foreshadowing for the end of the movie, when Colin and his dad run off through the garden and leave Mary alone. That's what finally drives her to tears.
