(urth) Severa

[Gerry Quinn]

From: Lee Berman 

> 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. 
A good point.  You would expect them to know her.  Definitely a strong point against her having been a witch.
> 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).

It seems not unlikely that devotees of Vodalus and those who deal with them tend towards discretion when they meet strangers.  As for the rest: it’s a story; building conspiracy theories on the coincidences inherent to stories achieves nothing.  


> 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)

Such a theory has the advantage that everything naturally deducible from the text can be waved away and ignored. 
 

> > 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.

You’re repeating your lines.  But I wasn’t making a polite request above.  I was pointing out that if you had anything, you’d have posted it.  If your “evidence” is worth anything, my words cannot negate it.
 

> > 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.

Tall is sexy in the Commonwealth, for precisely that reason; thus Jolenta is tall.  We are not told, however, that the waitress is.
 

> 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.      

Indeed, even Merryn has considerable defects as a candidate, and it may very well be that no sister-character exists at all.  That said, the question of whether something can be proven or disproven rests substantially on one’s standards of proof.

- Gerry Quinn 

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