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Demoiselle Alisande la Corteloise, other wise known as Sandy, is the incomprehendable leading lady of A Connecticut Yankee in Sir Authur's Court. Sandy first comes into the story as a princess, telling a tall tale of how she and fourty-four other ladies, most of them princesses, were being held prisoners in a castle by three four armed, one-eyed brothers. King Authur assigns Hank, the protagonist, to the task of saving the group of fourty-four ladies but when Hank tries to probe her for information as to the location of the castle, he comes across a problem, a communication problem that is. He cannot understand a single thing she says. In frustration, Hank loses patience and questions, "Can't you understand that the difference between your- why do you look so innocent and idiotic?"(90). Hank continues to describe her and her manner of speech -"She was quite a biddable creature and good hearted, but she had the flow of talk that was steady as a mill, and made your head sore like the drays and wagons of the city"(103).
Sandy demonstrates a blissful ignorance at times, frequently recalling stories of dragons and knights as if they were true. When Hank and Sandy finally arrive at the four-armed brother's castle, the brothers are, of course, absent and the princesses turn out to be just pigs. - pigs she adored. In addition, she is a pious creature. When Hank asks how will they know where to go to get to the castle, she replies, "ye wit well it were God's work to do that, being not within man's capacity"(92). Attempting to understand Sandy and her apparent naivete, Hank concludes - "My Land, the power of training! of influence! of education! It can bring a body up to believe anything. I had to put myself in Sandy's place to realize she wasn't an idiot"(191).
Another aspect Sandy displays is a sense of her own elevated position within society - she was a princess. When they were traveling through the country towards the four-armed brother's castle, she refused to eat with the commoners even though they were hungry - "My Lady put up her scornful lip and withdrew to one side; she said in their hearing that she would soon think of eating with the other cattle"(109). Hank makes a similar observation when he describes the room they had in Morgan le Fay's castle-"of course the place was all right and agreeable enough for Sandy, for she had been used to the high life all her days"(174).
The next role Sandy occuppies in the novel is as a moral advisor to Hank for when Hank's conscious goes unchecked, he shows a kind of moral ambiguosness. For instance, when they first get to Morgan le Fay's castle, Hank starts participating in the evil whims of Morgan le Fay and gives orders to hang the band. We first begin to see Sandy's moral influence during the scene when a grandmother enters the castle and curses le Fay for killing her "innocent grandchild." In response to the affrontal, le Fay sentences her to be executed. Hank becomes appalled at the sight but feels helpless in the situation - "It was a shame; it was a cruel thing to see. What could be done? Sandy gave me a look: I knew she had another inspiration. I said- 'Do what you choose'"(152). At this point, Sandy comes to the rescue and saves the grandmother by using Hank's reputation as a powerful magician and threatening to blow up the castle. After Sandy endows Hank with the confidence to use his reputation, Hank gets morally inspired and starts saving other people from Morgan le Fay's wrath; like the husband on the stretch machine and the rest of prisoners. Finally, Sandy reinforces Hank with a moral code by telling him tales of knights, chivalry, honor, etc.(196).
Although Hank starts off with the ability to survive, as seen in the first eclipse scene, Sandy comes to his rescue several times. The first of which occurrs when Sandy and Hank run into a suspicious group of knights on horses. Hank's first instinct is to flee the situation but Sandy non-chalantly walks over to them and tells them who Hank is, for she knows the name and reputation will suffice in deterring them. Hank sums up her usefulness - "How much better she managed that thing than I should have done it myself! She was a daisy"(123). She uses the same tactic when they first arrive at Morgan le Fay's castle - "I was right; but she had stood by me most helpfully in the castle, and mightily supported me and reinforced me with gigantic foolishnesses which were worth more for the occasion than wisdoms double their size"(175). In conclusion, Hank credits much of his success and even survival to Sandy.
Hank best describes the nature of his relationship with Sandy:
"Ah, Sandy, what a right heart she had, how simple, and genuine, and good she was! She was a flawless wife and mother; .......I was a New Englander, and in my opinion this sort of partnership would comprimise her, sooner or later. She couldn't see how, but I cut the argument short and we had a wedding.
Now I didn't know I was drawing a prize, yet that was what I did draw. Within the twelvemonth I became her worshiper; and ours was the dearest and perfectest comradship that ever was. People talk about beautiful friendships between two persons of the same sex. What is the best of that sort, as compared with the friendship of man and wife, where the best impulses and highest ideals of both are the same? There is no place for comparison between the two friendships; the one is earthly, the other divine."(406)
In this passage, Hank begins by exclaiming what a good person she was and even expresses some doubt about his general worthiness of her. He worries about comprimising her values and integretity for they were both from different places; geographical as well as class. In the second paragraph, Hank describes how ideal his marriage was for they became the best of friends and had the "perfectest comradship."
Although the most obvious connections can be made to Olivia, aspects of the all of the following real life figures can be see in Sandy:
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