Urth Net
Dorcas
↰ answers Clifford Drane
· by quotation
2 quoted lines
I wrote:
Also, has Dorcas as a parallel to the Lady of the Lake been mentioned before? Severian grasps both her hand and the sword at the same time, almost like she gave it to him. Any thoughts about that?
Yikes. I just read the Lexicon Urthus entry about Terminus Est. Guess that idea had been bandied about before.
Also, to continue my ruminations about Dorcas being in stasis or actually dead, 'Charon' tells the group that "the water... pickles them." I guess that could mean it acts like formaldehyde (nothing could survive in that!) and simply preserves bodies. But the eyes popping open remark seems very important. Either she was so ill she was submerged by mistake, and the shock of the water woke her (then she drowned), or she was dumped by 'Charon'. It's also mentioned that bodies are weighed down with lead shot in the stomach, and the eyes glued shut. Dorcas never complained of being unusually heavy, and obviously her eyes weren't cememented shut. So, I guess her being in the lake IS indicative of foul play. How tragic. And 'Charon' seems full of remorse. What a beautiful little tragedy, one of many in TBOTNS.
Interestingly, it was pointed out to me today on the racquetball court by a friend who's reading TBOTNS (he just finished Shadow), that Dorcas, just after being resurrected, follows Severian like a dog (parallel to Triskele).
ccd