As mentioned in a previous essay, Martha Wells plays a lot with gender roles and expectations in the Books of the Raksura. Moon is our semi-reliable narrator who was raised outside Raksuran culture, and therefore does not act very much like a consort. (Or rather, he doesn’t act the way a consort is “supposed” to behave.) Moon is confused and frustrated by these new expectations that he’s failing to meet. At first impression it seems as if Wells is having the consort gender role be analogous to the ideal of the “angel in the house.” This phrase refers to what was considered the “ideal wife” or “ideal woman” about a hundred years ago (And among certain fundamentalist groups in the present.) The “angel” is passive, selflessly supportive of her husband and obedient.
The concept of the “angel” is also related to the idea of the alleged “gentling” or “civilizing” energy the “angel in the house” is supposed to generate. (By being submissive, obedient and being selflessly supportive to their husbands. The idea of men being hyper-aggressive and needing to have that aggressiveness soothed and catered to is extremely popular among both men and women of certain demographics.) This also seems at first what Wells is doing with the way the consort gender role is portrayed. And I feel if the Books of the Raksura were written by any other writer, that’s what we’d get; a simple gender role flip where Moon has to prove he is a strong independent male who don’t need no Amazonian woman.
But this is not actually what Wells is doing. This is not a simple gender flip where men are the “gentle sex.” This is also not a situation where a traditionally masculine character is deliberately placed in opposition to Amazons. (Which is an occasionally popular Thing in early SF and fantasy.) Instead, Moon is a character who finds the way people decide to arrange their gender roles to be somewhat confusing to begin with. The people he’s living with at the beginning of The Cloud Roads are extremely patriarchal. He does not quite understand why the people he’s with think women are weaker and in need of protection, but he’s willing to accept the responsibility if he can have a place in the community. This does not go well, as Moon is mistaken for a Fell and nearly fed to the local wildlife.
Moon is rescued by Stone. (For values of “rescue” that might also include “kidnapping.”) Since Moon is obviously and completely ignorant of his own species and their customs, does not realize that Stone is recruiting him as a potential consort for his great granddaughter. (Not until it becomes really, really obvious.) Moon is confused, he doesn’t know what’s going on and he is very anxious about both being accepted or being rejected by this new community. This is also in the middle of a hostile action by the Fell, so Moon gets to be extra traumatized by the situation he’s in. Our Boy does not quite understand what being a consort–or a Raksura for that matter–means. He does not get what his responsibilities are supposed to be–and he is very suspicious and a less than reliable narrator because of trauma and literally not knowing anything about his own species. So to Moon, it at first seems as if consorts are expected to be mostly ornamental, which is not the case.
We get a better idea of what a consort’s function is in a Raksura colony via Moon’s various interactions with other consorts throughout the series. We also learn about consorts via Ember, a young consort who is brought as an apparent–from Moon’s perspective–replacement when Moon’s birth Court comes calling due to Emerald Twilight’s accidental-on-purpose screw up. It’s implied that the situation is slightly more complicated than, “here have a replacement consort.” (Of course, Moon is not aware of the nuance, because he has absolutely no training in the traditional consort role. The way he grew up and his various traumas basically give him an attitude that is closer to a line grandfather than a consort.) Ember is being sent as a peace offering, but not necessarily a replacement for Moon.
With Ember’s introduction to the series we get something of a compare/contrast between Ember’s more cultured and indirect methods and Moon’s more blunt methods. (By which I mean, “when he beats the living daylights out of warriors who are rude to him.”) Ember is able to assist Pearl with dealing with sudden changes and stressful situations. He makes diplomatic decisions and ensures that the various protocols of civility that keep queens from going for each other’s throats. Ember is the “proper” consort, though I suspect he may have picked up or be in the process of picking up Moon’s more blunt way of doing things. In turn, I think Moon is definitely acquiring some of Ember’s more subtle observational ability and also Ember’s more subtle social manipulations. Despite Moon not being a “proper” consort, he does enforce civility–yes, mostly by beating people up, and I feel that’s absolutely valid of him. Some people (River) can only be improved via physical violence.
What slightly fools us about the situation is the way young consorts are expected to behave and the way they are treated. Young consorts are expected to be sheltered, refined, a bit high strung and elegant. They are expected to be unfailingly polite and there are many, many rules for their behavior. They are to set an example of good behavior. (Which is where Moon keeps tripping up.) Older consorts have more to do and say. Their sphere of influence involves etiquette, hospitality, diplomacy and keeping their queen informed about what’s going on in the colony.
Their weapons of choice are supposed to be tact, knowing the correct forms and protocols (with the ability to enforce them), and finding the most convenient ways to keep their queen from hauling off and killing someone they probably shouldn’t. (I’m talking about Moon’s tendency to swoon on Jade when she’s contemplating homicide.) The amount of authority a consort has is age based–young consorts have less authority than older consorts, but it eventually their authority levels up to line grandfathers who tend to be kind of eldritch. This concept of authority of course differs from the idealized “angel,” who was passive, and had no authority to create a civil environment. You really do get a feeling Wells went, “what if the ‘angel in the house’ had the actual authority and ability to enforce civil behavior?”
Once again, I really love what Wells does with worldbuilding and the way she subverts the expectations of the reader. Wells takes the “gender role flip” and does new and interesting things with it. (Mostly by having egalitarian dragon people instead of sexist monkey people.) Wells really goes in some interesting directions in regards to worldbuilding and the xeno-anthropology of the Raksura.
Leave a comment