Eugenides's Mother, "The Queen Thief"
May. 6th, 2017 05:12 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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queensthiefDoes anyone wonder just what Eugenides's mother was really like? I ache with curiosity about her and a little bit of disbelief. While I know the QT Universes are not intended to be historically accurate, being a female professional thief seems a very unlikely position to have even in the comparatively progressive country of Eddis at the time. With the ways that women were oppressed and reduced to being swathed in stifling velvets and made to spin and weave and gossip all day in Attolia, denied lessons in swimming, fighting and riding (although Irene eventually got the riding lessons) it seems comparatively radical that a woman could rise to master a complex professional skill of thieving to the point that Gen's mother did to become known as the Queen Thief (not to be confused with the Queen's Thief, although I'm not exactly sure what the differences are precisely). Maybe it's another nod toward the obviously borderline criminal, informality of the "profession."
Maybe I'm not fully appreciating the extent that the cultures of Eddis and Attolia differ, even though they share a language (but differ in dialect). Eddis, aka "The Ranch" (as someone coined it) seems to be significantly more liberal in allowing women and girls to have the same practicality and survival-oriented experiences of boys and men. Eddis learned to ride, hunt, was trained in swordsmanship from a very young age, learned to fight her own battles, buzzed her hair, wore trousers more than dresses, and the country additionally bore at least one female thief who earned the title of "Queen Thief." Even more, Eddis's female attendants were all armed with their own weapons in CofK indicating that it wasn't just the special circumstances of two individuals at work here.
Do you have any thoughts on MWT's portrayal of Eddisian society as less intent on subjugating women than Attolian society?
I've lived 13 years in Boulder, Colorado in the U.S. there are a lot of distinct mountain communities close by and I can safely say that living in the mountains definitely influences cultural norms-- the harshness of the land bends its citizens away from frivolity.
Maybe I'm not fully appreciating the extent that the cultures of Eddis and Attolia differ, even though they share a language (but differ in dialect). Eddis, aka "The Ranch" (as someone coined it) seems to be significantly more liberal in allowing women and girls to have the same practicality and survival-oriented experiences of boys and men. Eddis learned to ride, hunt, was trained in swordsmanship from a very young age, learned to fight her own battles, buzzed her hair, wore trousers more than dresses, and the country additionally bore at least one female thief who earned the title of "Queen Thief." Even more, Eddis's female attendants were all armed with their own weapons in CofK indicating that it wasn't just the special circumstances of two individuals at work here.
Do you have any thoughts on MWT's portrayal of Eddisian society as less intent on subjugating women than Attolian society?
I've lived 13 years in Boulder, Colorado in the U.S. there are a lot of distinct mountain communities close by and I can safely say that living in the mountains definitely influences cultural norms-- the harshness of the land bends its citizens away from frivolity.
