(urth) Severa

[Lee Berman]

>Larry Miller: I may be wrong but I remember Jolentas hair being described as
>Red-Gold. Red as we know is the color of the Pelerines who can be called witches.  

>And that may also provide a connection with Catherine.

 

You are right. The Cumaean even calls her "big red-gold". She says Jolenta's hair

was dyed and thickened with colored silk threads. Gold may be a connection to Dorcas

and Severian's family (though Catherine is dark-haired). Red seems to me most likely

to indicate the self-important Dr. Talos, his own red hair and the injection of his 

own version of beauty into her.

 

One thing to consider- if Jolenta is really Severa the ex-witch, then Merryn and the

Cumaean are being deceptive in pretending they don't know her. There is evidence they

are being deceptive. Firstly, they pretend Hildegrin is not there. Also, they might be

pretending they don't recognize Severian as a torturer and that they have arranged this

meeting with him on purpose (a coincidence that two witches from the Citadel and 

Severian's childhood happen to appear in the middle of nowhere to intercept his journey? 

I don't buy it).

 

Even after Severian introduces Jolenta by name, the witches do not call her that name.

She is just "the sick woman". In my view, this episode could be one of a string of

pre-arranged situations, complete with rehearsed lines, designed to test and/or poach

Severian's nascent New Sun powers of healing and resurrection by those who only have 

a dark, perverted version of that power. (the Lake of Birds, the avern battle, Typhon, 

etc. are further examples)

 

>Jerry Friedman: (re: colored pubic hair) and because Jolenta was going to appear nude 

>as Jahi (or were she, Severian, and Dorcas wearing some kind of body stocking or g-string?)


I think they were nude and I agree the pubic hair color may well be as artificial as the 

hair on her head. Still the indirect reveal of the color seems too elaborate to have no

meaning. I am old enough to remember that in the 60's, 70's it was a cultural trope that

men wanting to know if a woman was a "true blonde" or not would check the pubic hair as

an indicator (see the movie M*A*S*H, which made a memorable tent-raising scene from that

principle).

 

>Gerry Quinn: Why the fear of posting it, if all posters but I would consider it evidence?


Heh, heh. Fear? Nice try. Actually I do respond to all polite requests when I can. I think you

have been making an effort lately Gerry, but I still don't really trust your sincerity yet. I

hope you can understand that.

 

>A worse problem, perhaps (for Jolenta as witch-Severa, is Wolfe’s selection of her as an 

>exemplar of the commonality.

 

And choosing Severian, (her twin?) as an example of servant of the throne. On the other hand, 

by doing this he does bring both characters to mind and asks us to compare them  and their social 

class. Social class is related, in part to height, and Jolenta is tall, like Severian.

 

Keep in mind, Gerry, that Jolenta as Severa is only a suggestion. There may have been no intention

by WOlfe to include a Severa.  It seems quite clear that Jolenta-as-Severa can't be proven or 

disproven with the evidence we are given. I'm comfortable leaving it at that.