(urth) Thecla and Thea

[Jerry Friedman]

> From: Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com>


> SOmebody argued that  Thecla and Thea are not identical. Nor are natural clones 
>or what we
> call  "identical twins". Actually the main difference between them, that we are 
>hit  with
> numerous times, is that Thecla has a "triangular face" while Thea has a  
>"heart-shaped face".
> What is the difference between these shapes? I think the  answer might be, 
>"sunken cheeks".

To pick a nit, a heart-shaped face seems to be one with a narrow chin but wide 
at the top.  A triangular face is wider than usual at the bottom and narrower 
than usual at the top.  (I wouldn't describe that shape as "triangular", but 
what do I know?)  The Web sites I've looked at are
http://www.visual-makeover.com/face.htm
http://beauty.about.com/od/bestcutsbyfaceshape/ss/heart_face_hairstyles.htm
http://www.thehairstyler.com/features/articles/hairstyles/the-right-hairstyle-for-your-triangular-face-shape


> There is a mysterious repeated theme  of "sunken cheeks" in BotNS.

With no evidence, this can be a difference between the Commonwealth and our 
society.  We have the Hollywood ideal of sunken cheeks (high cheekbones), which 
look emaciated to cultures that see beauty in person rather than in 
photographs.  (Cyriaca's comments on Severian may contradict this.)

> I think it may be related 
> to cloning and blood  sharing on somewhat flimsy evidence: in a dream, we are 
>shown a  (heart-
> shaped) blood bat on the cheek of a young woman in a roomful of  Thecla clones. 
>In another dream, 
>
> Thecla is revealed to have had her eyes  enlarged as a child through 
>application of poison extracts 
>
> (belladonna).

Another nitpick: It enlarged her pupils, not her eyes, right?

That dream sounds familiar, but I couldn't find it with Amazon book search (and 
I have no idea where it might be).

> I  think both dreams can be interpreted as Severian's realization of the foul  
>practices
> used to create youth and beauty among wealthy women of the  Commonwealth.
...

In my opinion, temporarily dilating pupils with belladonna is much less foul 
than creating clones for exploitation.

> Somebody  wondered about Agilus and Agia. I'm not sure. But they are so 
>identical in  appearance one
> would suspect them of being identical twins. But we know that  natural 
>identical twins are always of
> the same gender. I think they could be  evidence of unnatural twinship.
...

I know twin brothers who I can't tell apart, but they assure me they're 
fraternal twins.  ("Two placentas", one of them said.)  I admit that the fact 
that they always wear turbans doesn't help, but still, Agia and Agilus could be 
like them but different sexes.  I'm not saying they can't have been created 
artificially.  I doubt one of the Khalsa brothers will scream if the other dies 
(a long time from now, I hope) in his absence.

Jerry Friedman