The Character of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada

“The Devil Wears Prada” is a novel written by Lauren Weisberger talking about a young woman, Andrea Sachs, who got a job as a personal assistant to a successful fashion magazine editor, that makes her life difficult with her selfish demands and grueling schedule. For six months, it was the best-selling novel. This helped the storyline make its way to the film business in 2006 with a cast consisting of star names such as Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, and Ann Hathaway. The writer was inspired by a personal experience having worked for Editor Anna Wintour for the American Vogue. Andrea Sachs is the protagonist, while Miranda Priestly is the main antagonist. The devil in this book is Miranda Priestly. She is considered irrational and very rude. Despite her body size, her beauty alone helps in commanding authority the minute she walks into a room without even saying a single word. The following are some of her character traits:

• Influential

Miranda is running a successful fashion magazine as the lead editor of all time. This is because of the influence she brings to the company to help them succeed. She is talented and can make magic work, best described as “she always gets the job done well does not matter how, but she delivers quality.”

• Powerful

Miranda is thin and gorgeous, her appearance is far from intimidating, but as soon as she walks into the room, Andrea is gripped by fear and panic strikes. She commands authority into the room even without saying a word.

• Bossy and demanding

She is always asking for this and that from her assistant, this is because she thinks that Andrea will always be there to respond anytime and attend to her needs. Andrea has to do her boss’s laundry, send books to Miranda’s children in Paris, looks for food in numerous restaurants because of the wrong information given by her boss. All these errands are too much and demanding, but due to Miranda’s bossy nature, she does not care, all she wants is her demands satisfied.

• Rude and irrational

She misuses funds of the company, and when asked about it, she brushes off the idea explaining that she makes the magazine more than she can spend. Similarly, she proves to be irrational when she cannot give her assistant, Andrea, a moment to herself. She does not want her leaving for any reason whatsoever.

• Extravagant and arrogant

Miranda is wasteful, she asks Andrea to get different types of food only for her to choose one. Secondly, she throws deluxe parties whenever she feels it’s right for her to do so, and even she has standing orders of hundreds of white Hermes scarves with trademarks, which she ends up losing carelessly. That is proof enough that she is reckless and extravagant. Arrogance gets the better part of her as she proudly belittles Andrea with the kind of menial jobs, she assigns her to do.

• Selfish

She does not understand that Andrea has a separate life from the office waiting for her back home. She always puts herself first and does not care about her assistant’s feelings.

• Hardworking and ambitious

The writer sells us the background from which Miranda came from, and for her to make it this far, it needed dedication, hard work, never losing ambition. That is what drives her, and it has helped her become one of the most successful editor.

The protagonist, on the other hand, displays admirable character traits though she resents Miranda as a boss who has no morals and respect for her employees. Her role may not be as important as Miranda’s, but without her handling Miranda’s mess, then there would be no success. Andrea also develops new character traits working under her boss’s influence.

• Patience

Andrea exercises patience and a lot of perseverance with Miranda’s way of life. Despite her losing her relationships with her best friend Lily, and her boyfriend Alex, she does not quit her job. Instead, she stays on.

• Hardworking

To handle the kind of pressure she goes through, it needs hard work. Andrea has proved that she is diligent and more so ambitious as she handles her boss’s assignment carefully and in time.

• Kind-hearted

Despite the harsh treatment she gets from her boss, it does not change who she is, and she still treats everyone with kindness.

Furthermore, Miranda is a consultative leader. This is seen when she asked her crew and Nigel their opinion on the dress and also asks them to choose a jacket for the fashion run through. She is a transactional leader. Her punishments are not mentioned. Instead, they are understood, and also her expectations are quite clear. Andrea displays passionate leadership as she is ready to learn though she has no skills, she is patient and committed to her work. Communication is the key to any successful business or relationship. It can be seen as the barrier between an employer and employee, but trust is the main issue. In the movie, communication between the two main characters is too formal and weak, but after the trip to Paris, things take a different turn. This is because both parties gain trust amongst each other.

In the end, Andrea, though she has lost a lot, she gets to be a journalist which was her dream all along. The movie has attracted many negative critics, but most importantly, it has brought about a concept that women have a place in this men-based industry and that they can deliver pretty well. This movie teaches that leadership and management skills are commendable.