ICONS! and POLLS!

[lodessa]

Some wonderful person bought me paid account time. Whoever you are, anonymous angel, thank you!

Therefore, a poll.

I've been thinking recently about how old we are meant to read Brienne as. I mean in the book's world women are thought of as coming of age fairly young, and Brienne is a puzzling mixture of innocence and experience that doesn't automatically pinpoint her.

[Poll #1383115]

Comments

[marinshellstone.livejournal.com]

are we talking GRRM, Brienne the Beauty?

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

We are indeed.

[marinshellstone.livejournal.com]

I voted in the poll that I see her around 18-19. still young by our standards, but too "old" to still be an inexperienced maiden by theirs.

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that seems to be the winning theory so far.

I find I have a hard time keeping track of how much time has passed during the series, sometimes things seem like months and sometimes years.

[zoeiona.livejournal.com]

I think of her as 18 because I know she's around about 18 because I worked it out. I'm not really capable of separating that knowledge from the way I read the character. Without any of the date information in the books I might peg her as early twenties instead of late teens, but that said, I'd peg Margaery and ASOS/AFFC-era Sansa as being a good few years older than they actually are too. hm.

[lodessa.livejournal.com]

sophia_helix and I were talking about this on the phone earlier and I realize that there are two things that play into our imagining her as in her early twenties rather than late teens:

1) We always see her act as an independent adult rather than a protected girl. Even though we know 14 is marriagable and "adult" for a woman in Westeros, we still think in our own societies terms of development.

2) Jaime/Brienne. If we see her as a "real" adult then it doesn't add the squicky factor of the woman-child/grown man thing to it. There are already so many differentials between them and issues arising from that. Since he's got to be in his mid to late thirties and obviously no matter how you slice it he's more experienced... has fathered 3 children even, and she's still a maiden. Well I don't usually think about the age thing but I compensate without thinking about it. I feel I am ill expressing myself... but that's probably because the porn I am writing has addled my brain.