Subject: (urth) Regency

From: Charles Dye <raster at highfiber.com>
Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 16:43:43 +0000

adam louis stephanides <astephan at students.uiuc.edu> writes:

>2) The entry for Valeria states that "she becomes regent during the
>decades of [Severian's] absence."  I don't think this is correct.
>In _Urth_, ch. IV, p. 27 (hardcover), Severian says: "'I was the
>Autarch--the ruler--of the Commonwealth; now I'm the surrogate of Urth,
>and its ambassador.'"  Later, there's this dialogue: "'Then you still
>claim you're really the Autarch?'  'I was,' I told him." (ch. XVI, p. 115)
>These passages indicate clearly that when Severian left Urth, he ceased to
>be the Autarch.  That being the case, Valeria could not have been
>Severian's regent.  Furthermore, Eata refers to Valeria as being Autarch
>before she marries Dux Caesidius. (ch. XLVI, p. 328)

I also disagree, though for a different reason.  Near the top of chapter
34 of "Urth" Severian indicates that Father Inire is minding the store.

I could be mistaken, but I think the last regency in England was George
the Fourth's, after George III was declared insane ...

raster at highfiber.com

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