(urth) (no subject)

[Andrew Mason]

Gerry Quinn wrote:
>
> If all Severian's lovers in BotNS are close relatives, his family would seem
> to be extraordinarily diverse and geographically dispersed.  His lovers are
> spread (so to speak)  from the slums of Nessus to the Autarch's Palace to
> villages in the interior and the minor aristocracy of provincial towns. They
> include pureborn exultants and those who are apparently lowborn, and some
> who are in between.  If we include UotNS, we may add a woman from thousands
> of years in the past, and a female creature not borm on Urth, nor even in
> Urth's universe.  But even leaving these two  aside, the thesis seems
> improbable to say the least.

I suspect that Severian's lovers represent the different classes of
the Commonwealth, linking him to all of them.

Thecla - exultant.
Valeria - armiger.
Dorcas - optimate.
Jolenta - commonalty.
Cyriaca - (former) religious.
Daria - servant of the throne.
Apheta - cacogen. (She would certainly be called that if she came to Urth.)

(The first four are explicitly listed as examples of those classes in
the appendix to COTC. The others have not yet been introduced.)

Thecla's khaibit represents an anomalous group who don't really fit
into the classification. Pia represents autochthons, a group which
hasn't been highlighted when the classification is given.
Gunnie/Burgunadofara can be seen as representing off-Urth humans, and
the tall woman was born millions of years before the Commonwealth
existed.

> Furthermore, apart from Dorcas there is just one woman mentioned in the
> story whom most agree is plausibly a close relative of Severian's.  That is
> Merryn - and there is no indication that Severian has sexual relations with
> her.  If Wolfe intended to indicate that Severian's lovers were hidden
> relatives, leaving Merryn out appears rather bizarre!

There is also a fair chance that Casdoe is a relation of his - likewise.