Characters You Love and Loathe by Allison Symes
Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. I loathe Fanny Price from Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park -- always have done and always will. She is too insipid a character for my liking. It has struck me she is too reliant on rotten things happening to other characters rather than trying to make her own happiness. Yes, those other characters deserve their comeuppance but come on, Miss Price, do something positive for yourself, will you? I know I can’t judge by the standards of our time, right? Fanny Price reflects a different era, right? Okay, but by contrast, I love Elizabeth Bennet, who knows her own mind, is flawed, and holds out for what she wants. Same author, same era, two well known creations, one of whom is significantly better than the other! I guess this proves no writer gets it right all the time. I take some comfort from that. Characters for me make or break a story. I have to get behind them even if I don’t like them or want them t...