I wasn't a fan of Amanda's character upon first viewing either, but she grew on me, for certain, after several [many] more times watching LiA.
I loved her explanation to her mother in the beginning, when she described how she felt about P&P: the love story, about Elizabeth & Darcy, about the language, the manners...all of with which I think many of us can identify. In some ways, I think Amanda represents us, we who are also bewitched by Austen's story. Her yearning after a time gone by opened the door to it. As Elizabeth said to her, 'You are the key, Miss Price!'
Amanda was not an expert on all things period, just an observer from afar who was thrown into the story, helter-skelter, and who struggled to keep her head above water when it became clear she could not go home and had to adapt as quickly as she could. She made mistakes, glaring, some of them. She was a creature of the twenty-first century, after all, and it showed; but her heart and good intentions forced her to get involved when she saw things going off track story-wise, due to Lizzy's absence.
Consequently, she tried to help, but found herself the unwitting center of the drama, her bizarre presence causing a ripple effect in the story she loved, none of which she desired. All in all, I think she had a positive effect on everyone in the story...even Mrs. Bennett!...despite her occasional vulgarities and modern haircut (I even grew to like her hair)!
In keeping with the premise that fate is not necessarily firm and can be altered by intervening events and shifts 'in the time-space continuum' , I loved the ending, that Darcy came to know himself because of the ruthless way Amanda held up a mirror for him to see himself...just as Lizzy would have done. But Lizzy was not there and Amanda was. So it was she who captured Darcy's heart, something he did not give away lightly. In this story, he was hers and she was his and I loved it.
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JaeBianca
9 years ago
I think Amanda represents us, we who are also bewitched by Austen's story.
I think that is the crux of why some people find Amanda annoying. A lot of Austen fans probably feel like that they would have made a better effort to fit into the period than Amanda did. If we found her awkward, it really stretches the imagination that actual Georgians/Victorians would not be incredibly suspicious of her. Connections and manners were very important to them. In fact, that is the only way Officer Wickham was able to get as close to the Bennetts as he had (a random enlisted man would not have gotten within 10m of those girls).
Moreover, I was shocked that Amanda thought it was even remotely a good idea to falsely claim to someone that she is a lesbian, given that homosexuality was a criminal offense punishable by death back then. It's like the only thing she knows about the period is what is in the book...not even her own country's history!
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heartfelt4-1
9 years ago
A lot of Austen fans probably feel like that they would have made a better effort to fit into the period than Amanda did.
One would hope so, but, like it or not, she's the one who went through the doorway and not any of us. Amanda was not sophisticated or polished, just an average modern young woman who happened to love the world Austen portrayed in her books. This didn't make her an expert on the decorum and proper language of that period, merely an admirer of what she saw in Austen's story. She had heart enough to long for it, which says something about her character, even if she couldn't exactly pull off becoming an nineteenth century woman when given the chance. And no one was more aware of her shortcomings than she was herself. And, yes, almost everyone was suspicious of her, that's what created the anxiety in her (and us) that she was going to be tossed out on her ear and end up a beggar on the streets- which is what happened to her, more or less.
A tale of an Amanda who fit in perfectly and who didn't rock the boat would have made a less interesting story, imo, lacking the comedy and tension created by the ridiculous premise of a well intentioned, yet somewhat coarse person, being trapped inside a classic story!
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cantadora-212-57670
7 years ago
Moreover, I was shocked that Amanda thought it was even remotely a good idea to falsely claim to someone that she is a lesbian, given that homosexuality was a criminal offense punishable by death back then.
Actually, I believe that was only the case for men and the related buggery laws. Lesbian and queer women were generally safe as the punishable offense was not the affection itself, but the
sexual act and since the sexual act was then still defined by penetration only, women -- in their limited view -- could not have sex with one another. And thus, it was usually a non-issue from a legal standpoint.
Now, obviously, it was generally not something that you spoke of from what I understand, but it certainly wasn't unheard of. I mean, take the case of Anne Lister (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Lister) from around roughly the same period, who was landed gentry and
even took a wife and was just fine for doing so. I think the gentry often turned a blind eye to that sort of thing because of money -- or at least, as I said, did not even have a conception that women could be lovers in the first place, so again, a non-issue. *shrug*
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JaeBianca
7 years ago
Still, your example is of a woman with confirmed money and connections, not a suspicious stranger with the potential to "corrupt" others.
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