"... and all the sort of things girls do talk about on such an occasion."

[marmota_b]

I've just had a thought. And maybe it's wrong and putting too much stock in Lewis and his wording (which is rather unfortunate), but what if that whole sentence actually goes to show that, look, they don't have to be only one or the other, Lucy isn't limited into either being a "lady" or "more like a boy" and Aravis can still enjoy talk of clothes with a likeminded woman?

It might stink of "Aravis arrives to her destination and instantly becomes more womanly", except that Lucy's been there for years, she's the queen of that place (well, the neighbouring place), and she's clearly both. So it's more like, Aravis arrives to her destination and finds out that, phew, it's okay to be the sort of woman she is.

Because, after all, knowing our characters we do know they aren't that one-dimensional. It's kind of like Jill who's heritage of Narnia is both taking up archery and keeping the fine clothes. Or, for that matter, Susan who's a womanly woman but also good at archery and swimming (just not in a battle context).

And maybe it's obvious, but I had to write it down. :-)

Comments

[heliopausa]

But talking about a safe place of her own (not just a bedroom,but a boudoir - her own private place which can be furnished just as she likes) is probably just what Aravis needs after all her upheaval - it's rather like the King talking to the Horses about their families. Furnishings, clothes (not her family, for obvious reasons) - easy, safe topics, small talk, after so much trauma.
As for the rubbish about "who’s as good as a man, or at any rate as good as a boy" - that's the wildly bumptious, big-head Corin speaking, not the author!

[marmota_b]

I think I'm disputing something outside our little online circle, something I can't fully remember anymore, and as I said, I just needed to put it all down, maybe in the hopes someone will carry on with the thought - yours are all also good points. ;-)

[rthstewart]

Oh Lewis. There are different ways of reading that unfortunate phrasing. I have no doubt he meant it in the most awkward way possible (OMG, WHAT DO GIRLS TALK ABOUT I HAVE NO IDEA HAND WAVE). The better reading is something more along the lines of, you've run away from home and a forced marriage, you have nothing of your own, no home, no family, no clothes, no future, let's go chat, just the two of us. Lucy is an adult, reigning Queen, an adult, yet much closer in age to Aravis than Lune, and outside Lune's chain of command, and the same sex, and also wonderfully empathetic. Lucy surely understands what even Aravis herself does not.

[marmota_b]

It's very handwave-y; I think I would mind it more were it not for the rather less unfortunate wording in the Friendship chapter of The Four Loves, where he goes something along the lines of "I'm sure women have strong friendships like that as well but I can only comment on the male side of it." It feels like an echo of the same sentiment, and now I wonder in what order those two books came - I believe HHB was earlier, which would make sense.