Subject: (urth) Sex and Severian

From: J. Schultz <jschultz at wcnet.org>
Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 09:08:34 +0000

First I'd like to ask Mantis a quick question.
Why do you believe Severian 1 to have probably killed prostitutes?  AND Why
do you think Sev1, being such a complete prick, would care enough about the
New Sun to reshape his own life to bring it?  I'd like your thoughts on
this.

Now I'd like to get a little controversy going.  I'd like you all to know
however, I'm not doing this just for the sake of controversy-- I think
there's some meat to this argument and I'll try and back it up with text.
Here me out.

Does Severian have a sexual relationship with Little Severian?

I know it sounds crazy, but on two occasions when Severian remembers L'il
Sev he is thinking about pedophillia.  Just because the actual ACT does not
appear in the text is not sufficient to prove he hasn't.  Sev doesn't tell
us he has had sex with Thecla untill vol 3 or 4 and only hints about it in
2.

uhhg!  Now I can't find the passages,  I didn't mark them.  If you know
where they are please post them.  Twice (once I believe toward the end of
Sword and once in the first half of Citadel) Sev mentions pedophillia and
remebers Lil Sev.  It struck me as very odd.  Odd enough to post my
incomplete thoughts here.  If you have the quotes or can clarify please do.
Strangly enough the two events do NOT come when Sev sees Baldander's bed
mate or when he meets the leech and his young apprentice.

Here's another question:
What does Sev wake in the cave of the Man-Apes?  Is it related to the
mentioning of a beast whoose mouth is a cave entrance so that those who
enter are dead in its belly without knowing it?  Is it Arioch or Scylla (was
Scylla the one in the cave or the one in the whirlpool)?

One last question:
What is the purpose of Severian recieving his wounds all over again as the
New Sun?  The cheek when he's beaten by Typhon's troops, the chest when
Valaria is assasinated, etc.

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/

---

From: m.driussi <m.driussi at genie.com>
Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 05:14:00 +0000

J. Schultz,

Why I guessed that Sev1 might have killed a prostitute.

(1) He would have been sent to the brothel even if Thecla wasn't in
the tower--he is of an age.  (And the thought experiment involves
stripping Sev2 down to the bare minimum: no Triskele, no Claw, no
Thecla, etc.)

(2) His companion explicitly warns him about using grips on the
prostitutes.  Red flag.

(3) He comes very close to becoming very violent with the prostitute.
This despite the "softening" effects of being in love with Thecla and
the direct warning from his "elder brother" of the guild.

(4) Sev2's carnal relations with women are usually marked by a degree
of violence.

That's pretty much it.  Just a guess.

You were trying to remember the name of the beast whose mouth is a
cave--the name is "Uroboros" (II, ch. 27).

=mantis=