Post by wordy on Oct 2, 2011 15:56:39 GMT 10
Social Norms in Tortall and Emelan
by figgsthepirate and rachy
Tortall
While the rules of co-habitation and marriage vary from country to country within Tamora Pierce's Tortall books (polygamy in Tusaine, for example), Tortall itself has fairly similar societal norms to our own time, though perhaps a little more medieval. The noble classes are divided into fiefs of varying power and influence, from duchies to baronies. The head of the fief, be he Lord or Baron, is also the head of the family. His wife and children will generally live at his fief, although daughters will eventually be married off to live with their own husbands. Commoners tend to dwell in villages or cities, in homes befitting their station, and their wives and children live with them until the latter grow old enough to brave the world on their own. Like medieval Europe, prostitution is rampant in the Lower City and is no doubt relatively common among serfs and the nobility alike. This was the general picture painted by Tammy in the Song of the Lioness quartet. (Naturally, the Bazhir are far more Arabic in their living arrangements, with the family unit being centered around a tent and under the strict authority of the oldest male.) So far, so average.
It isn't until The Protector of the Small that we catch a hint of societal rule-breaking. Some bullying from Joren and his cronies early on in Kel's page training results in a stable-wide brawl. The instigator? Neal's drawling taunt that Joren was only friends with Garvey because he could "have him." This confuses Kel, because, as she later explains to Neal, homosexuality is considered perfectly acceptable in the Yamani Islands. Neal explains in turn that in Tortall, same-sex couples are taboo, a forbidden topic of discussion.
Later, in Lady Knight, we come across an unnamed fellow from New Hope who lost his life when the Scanrans invaded, who apparently preferred male company to female sweethearts. Thanks to her Yamani upbringing, Kel has no problem with this. However, true to a medieval mindset (and also paralleling a very similar modern debate), homosexuality continues to be an unacceptable form of romantic attachment in Tortall.
As far as co-habitation without marriage, it's clearly more acceptable for commoners to live together outside of wedlock than for nobles. The nobility are expected to form advantageous marital connections, and by extension, women are expected to be virgins (though Delia, apparently, didn't care too much about this!). Typical of the era, it is clearly acceptable for the men to pursue their own forms of recreation outside of wedlock, be they noblewomen or commoner prostitutes.
In Beka's time, societal rules were a little looser in some respects. As a Lady Knight, Sabine of Macayhill had perhaps less of the standard "morals" of the time, and was not expected to preserve herself for a noble marriage; thus, her affair with Matthias Tunstall is more acceptable. It might be a trickier situation for Kel in her day, considering the close scrutiny accompanying her actions as the second Lady Knight in over a century. Provost's Dog as a whole also gives us a fuller perspective of Lower City life and scruples, which differ greatly from those of the nobility.
By and large, Tortall's "societal norms" are not so different from the medieval Europe of our own world. In general they are slightly more modernized, in keeping with the other "modern" themes of women's rights, the rights of commoners, and sanitation and medicine. However, such tidbits as homophobia and prostitution keep societal rules well-grounded in the medieval era.
Emelan
While Emelan focuses more on platonic relationships, there are still social norms in Emelan in terms of the living arrangements, marriage and co-habitation. While several of the characters in Emelan are Dedicates in the faith of the Living Circle and so cannot marry or have traditional living arrangements due to their faith and vows, we do observe many other characters that can.
Living arrangements are present from the Circle’s arrival in Winding Circle. Sandry initially has the option of residing in the Duke’s Citadel with her great-uncle, Duke Vedris, but it is decided that it will be better for Sandry to live in the student temple dormitories, along with Briar, Tris and Sandry, with the other temple students. After each of the Circle have issues fitting in, they move to Discipline, a cottage on the outskirts of Winding Circle under the guardianship of Dedicates Lark and Rosethorn, who live in Discipline, a place for the ‘outcasts’ of the dormitories. The majority of Dedicates seen in Emelan live in the Fire, Earth, Water or Air temple dormitories, although Frostpine lives above his forge. Guest housing is also available for guests or travelling students, such as Niko or Aymery. Living arrangements first become prevalent for the Circle with their return to Winding Circle in Will of the Empress. Under the discovery that as the Circle are not novices or planning to be dedicates and so could no longer remain living in Winding Circle, Daja purchases a house with the intent for Tris and Briar to live with her, Sandry living in the Duke’s citadel with Duke Vedris. Other living arrangements observed outside of Emelan, such as in their travels in Namorn, included staying in both Sandry’s family lands and house in the capital, as well as the palace with Berenene’s other courtiers, and in their travels with their teachers, in the houses of acquaintances as guests or associates within their teacher’s temple. The typical living arrangements in Emelan appear to be for nobility, to live in family houses or within the ruler’s Court, for Dedicates and novices to live in temples and for others to live in city houses.
The idea of marriage is an almost rarity in what we have seen in Emelan. None of the Circle are married and there is only five couples that we have come across in Emelan that are married in the traditional sense, being Daja, Tris and Sandry’s parents, Kol and Matazi and the implied marriage of Duke Vedris and Yasmin. As mentioned by Tammy in quasi-canon, the temple life of Dedicates discourages marriage or hand fasting, as their vows to the temple are their first priority and they are sworn to go wherever the temple chooses to send them, a matter that would be complicated by having a partner or children. For nobility, the idea of marriage is shown to be mainly political, especially in Sandry’s case in Namorn, but both Sandry’s parents and Duke Vedris married for love, an idea Sandry also seems keen to uphold. Aside from marriage, co-habitation is also an option, shown slightly more commonly in Emelan. Lark and Rosethorn live in Discipline together, in a de-facto long-term relationship that fits within their temple vows and also within their differing living arrangements to other temple Dedicates. While Lark and Rosethorn’s relationship is the only romantic co-habitation we’ve really seen in Emelan, there have been other co-habitation relationships, such as the friendship between Keth and his fellow lodgers like Yali and Glaki, and the Circle in Cheeseman Street.
While there doesn’t appear to be an exact norm for living arrangements, marriage or co-habitation in Emelan in comparison to Tortall, in part due to the focus on Dedicates and the temple in Winding Circle, it’s obvious that whatever the arrangements, they each still work for all of the Emelan community.