For this reason, I would venture that the "secret" of the garden is the secret of life itself, for when it is locked up, all of Misselthwaite Manor, headed by the grieving Archibald Craven who is the most inclined to cast life away, becomes a lifeless place, with initially "no lights at all in the windows" save but a "dull glow" (Burnett). Mary and Colin's existences are also "secrets of lives," in a sense; they are both kept hidden such that when they are discovered (Mary by the two officers, Colin by Mary), their discovers don't even know who they are. And as long as the garden, Mary and Colin are neglected and kept hidden away, none of them are able to grasp life either.
It seems to me that the Magic of the garden lies in its interaction with other forms of life. It is transformed "as if Magicians were passing through it drawing loveliness out of the earth and the boughs with wands" (Burnett) - but the readers know that this miraculous transformation is only a result of the care of kid-gardeners holding spades, not wands.
Furthermore, if the transformations of Mary and Colin from waxy- and yellow-skinned brats into children full of life are so extraordinary as to be hailed Magical, we might deduce that Magic's power lies in those relationships that take one out of oneself. For it is only when Mary begins to care wholeheartedly for the well-being of the garden that she fully begins to heal; similarly, Colin gets better only when "new beautiful thoughts begin to push out the old hideous ones" - when he stops brooding on his own misfortunes and starts dreaming about everything around him.
In brief, I would say that the secret, and Magic, of life - and the garden - lies in the perpetual interaction of its beings with one another, and so long as that is denied, sickness and death reign.
*****
I agree that the garden is a “feminine entity.” The garden - Lilias's and as much a "sweet, pretty thing" as the lady was - embodies femininity, as is particularly apparent when it is juxtaposed with the massive and dominant Misselthwaite Manor, inheritance of the Craven male line.
Linking nature with femininity leads to the notion of "Mother Nature," as Professor Cooper noted in her lecture (Cooper). The garden takes on a maternal position in the lives of the motherless cousins and, like a mother, acts as a socializing agent. Before Mary and Colin come into contact with it, they are each selfish and disagreeable; then they venture, literally, into the outside world, where they learn how to live alongside others.
Furthering the idea of the garden as a socializing agent, I think it may be said that the garden raises the children into their respective gender roles.
Consider that, initially, Mary is “stony” and ugly, and Colin, weak and prone to bouts of hysteria, to which, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "women [were] much more liable than men" (OED Online). Thus, both Colin and Mary are far from masculine/feminine ideals. Then, we see a shift in the two as they interact with the garden. Mary develops a nurturing knack, as evidenced by her handling of Colin and the garden. A direct link is made between her and Lilias when she bends down upon "a clump of crocuses" and kisses them - a feminine gesture formerly ascribed to Lilias. She becomes beautiful through the garden's influence. In short, she becomes a little lady. Colin, similarly, grows into a young man: he boyishly aspires to be an athlete and scientist, he grows strong and competitive, and yearns to prove himself – he even states “Now...I am a real boy” in chapter 25.
By the last chapter, Mary is a “pretty, sweet thing” herself, and Colin has risen to the title of “Master.” Therefore I would say that the garden plays a tremendous role in the upbringing and socializing of the two children; it nurtures them to healthy bodies and minds, just as a mother would.
SOURCES
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. New York: The Phillips Publishing Co. 1911. Web. Release Date: December 26, 2005 [EBook #17396]. Produced by Jason Isbell, Emmy and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17396
Cooper, S. “The Secret Garden” lecture. Feb 13, 2010.
“hysteria, n.1” The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press.
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