Thea and Thecla

Lee Berman · 10 Jan 2011, 18:28 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:28:18 -0500
Subject: (urth) Thea and Thecla
Message-ID: <SNT123-w23BDC43DD46986E89F1B9BCF0E0 at phx.gbl>

"I played again with pebbles in the courtyard beside the fallen curtain wall, as Thecla dodged the hooves 
of my father's mounted guard."

Jeff Wilson: .."extraordinary" identity problem that results in an acute dislocation that this passage 
captures very well.

It is a likely interpretation. But I see another possibility with that particular passage. This occurs at 
the terminus of a sequence of memories which switch back and forth between Severian and Thecla. The final 
combined memory could be showing us a merging of their identities (though the merge does not seem to take; 
the identities for the rest of the story remain back and forth switching).

I think there is a possibility that this is a disguised hint regarding identification of a family member of 
Severian (which I roundly think we are supposed to be doing as we re-read). Perhaps Severian's first memory 
has been jogged to include the presence of a young Thecla there with him at the Citadel. Severian is loathe
to admit any incidences of incest, and he is suspiciously reluctant to admit the truth of his sexual congress
with Thecla (it takes him more than 3 books, despite his open revelations of other sexual liaisons).

Roy has argued that a family connection is impossible because Thecla reports her family has a villa in the north. 
I have argued with Roy that a villa is defined as a secondary residence. So where was her primary residence? So it
goes. I still find it possible. (and who is "the Castellan" of the Citadel? Why is he lame? Does he have a mounted 
guard?)

I have further wondered about the ancestry of Thecla based on Severian's dream after his wounding at Orithya.
As Thecla he dreams of her father as a weird, mythological bull figure. I have some guesses about this but
either way I am pretty sure there is more to Thecla and her ancestry than is generally acknowledged. Since
there is a constellational aspect to this dream, I wonder if James might have any input here.

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