evita mgfs

GELFLING: There are threads devoted to arguments for and against Theon meeting his fate beneath a nearby heart tree. Spilling the "hot" king's blood dispassionately upon the carpeting of snow, a pristine, white canvas safeguarded by lofty branches stretching to reach the sky. The swift separating of the head from the neck results in a gush of red, then a spray, and finally a slow pulsing stream that stains the shaded floor as if an abstract artist whose medium of paint is replaced by blood. The snow drinks the blood and feeds the roots buried beneath the frozen, hard-packed earth. Many members also post the pro's and con's of Bran skinchanging Theon so that he can articulate a sincere and meaningful confession, including Theon's full disclosure about the fates of Bran and Rickon. Now, my issue is why Theon's sacrifice is necessary to feed the greenseer and advance his magic when Bran is proficient enough to taste the blood of an ancient sacrifice 1000's of years in the past. It is also an exercise in futility for Bran to apply his energies into skinchanging with Theon when his traitor status prevents a meaningful connection between them. Good luck finding kindred spirits to rehash and debate your Theon/Bran theories.

LYKOS: :bowdown: THANKS FOR RESPONDING! Regarding the spelling of "Gared", nowadays, so many spellings are adapted from other names and nationalities, so I think my argument was weak. I am not the type who puzzles over names, but when I was annotating the "Prologue", Martin's choice of "Will" was so darn direct and deliberate, I figured Gared's name had some significance as well. Dividing it into syllables made it all clear. Awesome connection: "Das Leonoren Motiv". Martin may have read Poe's novel Arthur Gordon Pym, an "adventure" story about cannibalism at sea - the survivors draw straws to select their sacrificial "lamb". This scene reminds me of Stannis issuing judgment on several of his men who were so hungry, they ate from a corpse. I anticipate more POE-TWISTS, especially with an army of the dead at hand. Oh, Bran's cave full of skulls resembles the catacombs of the Montresor's in "The Cask of Amontillado"., where Montresor entombs his unfortunate friend Fortunato because of an insult the author never reveals. Now, the Poe trick of never revealing what his readers desperately want to know sounds like Martin to me! Actually, the walking dead reminds me of Odysseus visiting the Land of the Dead in Homer's Odyssey in order to speak with the dead, blind prophet Tiresias. The rows of dead were endless and deep, and heroic Odysseus is afraid, but he makes an animal sacrifice and holds back the horde to allow Tiresias the first sip of hot blood. The dead cannot speak until they drink the hot blood of an animal sacrifice. The "blood" may play a similar role in the future. I just had an idea, but I need to take time to write it out and find textual evidence. Thanks again!

From my close reading essays on the prologue from AGoT : MARTIN and NOMENCLATURE WILL and GARED in the “PROLOGUE” from A GAME of THRONES Will and Gared may be dispensable, “generic” rangers on a fatal mission whose lives are forfeit because of their inexperienced commander Ser Waymar Royce, but Martin names them with purpose as a way to honor and thank two authors who inspire his prose fiction in A Song of Ice and Fire Series. The appearance of the names Will and Gared in the first “Prologue” of a voluminous series of novels speaks to the degree of gratitude Martin owes his sources. First, Will is short for “William”, or for “William Shakespeare”, the celebrated English writer whose works still have universal appeal hundreds of years after his death. It is no secret that Martin borrows from “the bard”, and among Shakespeare’s many poetic plays that Martin alludes to in conflicts, plot elements, and language, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar ranks high as the source material Martin prefers, putting his own “spin” on ideas and themes throughout his fantasy novels. To convey Will’s association with Shakespeare, Martin includes details pertaining to Will’s crime of poaching a deer that parallels similar events Shakespeare biographers debate happened to young Will Shakespeare before his arrival in London. Martin says of Will’s crime: “Will had been a hunter before he joined the Night’s Watch. Well, a poacher in truth. Mallister freeriders had caught him red-handed in the Mallisters’ own woods, skinning one of the Mallisters’ own bucks, and it had been a choice of putting on the black or losing a hand” (AGoT). Likewise, William Shakespeare trespasses on Sir Thomas Lucy’s property to kill a deer. In the article “In Search of Shakespeare: The Poaching Myth 1598”, a PBS.org author writes: “Though the tale is widely discredited today, three seventeenth-century accounts claim that Shakespeare was once beaten and imprisoned for poaching [a deer]. The alleged crime took place on land belonging to Sir Thomas Lucy - one of Walsingham's and Elizabeth's chief enforcers”. [http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/events/event83.html]]. Although Will and Will share like crimes, their punishments are quite different. Ranger Will chooses an option that will take him a lifetime to repay, but he prefers becoming a Sworn Brother of the Night’s Watch over losing his hand, which is an early allusion to the stigma associated with disfigurement in Martin’s world of ice and fire. Second, the name “Gared” has an unusual spelling, one not Americanized with a “J”. However, Martin aspires to create memorable characters, and he alters spellings of familiar names to give them a medieval flare. Analyzing the spelling of “Gared” requires some mental creativity: when readers divide “Gared” into two syllables, GAR / ED, and transpose them, one with the other, the “revised” appellation is EDGAR, the first name of American author and poet Edgar Allan Poe. Of course, the obvious inspiration Martin takes from Poe is Lord Commander Mormont’s talking raven, a character that owes a debt of gratitude to Poe’s poem “The Raven”. The title bird flies in a window and perches on a bust of Athena, and he punctuates any question the narrator poses by saying hauntingly “Nevermore!” The narrator asks the raven if he will ever see his dead lover Lenore: quothe the raven, “Nevermore!” Furthermore, Poe’s favorite thematic inclusion in several of his short stories is the death of a beautiful woman. In Martin’s I & F Series, the death of Lyanna Stark haunts Ned and figures in many other character arcs throughout the novels.

SANSA AS A MOTIVATION FOR ARYA’S MERCY PORTRAYAL: NOT!!!! I appreciate viewpoints that make a connection between Sansa and Arya, but Arya has attended different schooling since stitching alongside her perfect sister – and so has Sansa. Other than a Stark girl partnered with a “little person”, I am unable to garner exactly how or when Arya “acts” like “Sansa” in her portrayal of “Mercy”? Now, this does not preclude what Martin intends, which is for his readers to associate Mercy and Arya with Bobono and Tyrion. Mercy securing Bobono’s phallus in his pants with a warning to keep “it” there does mirror Sansa’s refusal of Tyrion and his phallus, but such is Martin’s way of having fun with his players and readers both. Mercy could not have known about Sansa and Tyrion’s marriage bed. The evidence to the point is Arya’s assessment of Mercy as “empty-headed”, and Sansa is far from that: Sansa sings, dances, sews, writes poetry, and dresses well, among other talents Arya herself confirms in her first POV in AGoT. Since Arya credits herself with a keen gift for math and numbers [AGoT], it is my prediction that she will have an internship or a mission with the Iron Bank of Braavos under the tutelage of Tycho in the future novel(s). Arya wearing a new face might be assigned the duty of collecting debts owed the IB, an opportunity that might take her on the road to revisit old haunts and new, and give her an opportunity to X-off more hits from her death list.

ISSUES with “MERCY” I have discerned a few problems with “Mercy” in regards to continuity. Martin has strategically avoided describing Arya’s “grey eyes” or attributing a color to Mercy’s eyes. In a theatre setting, mirrors are plentiful. Here and elsewhere, Martin does not have “Arya” examine herself in a mirror. (I assume this is because she will only see herself as “Arya”.) The feasibility of illuminating a stage with firelight for a performance that begins at twilight is troublesome. [Historically, theatre performances occurred in daylight hours to avoid such worries.] Furthermore, the safety and convenience of the patrons are concerns as they will need light in the house and on the tiers to enter, to climb and to descend stairs, and to exit without hazards. POSSIBLE RESOLUTIONS: Martin will address these ambiguities in POV’s to come as “flashback” scenarios most likely appearing in an ARYA POV. 4). How does Arya lug the dead corpse of Raff down five flights of steps, then drag the dead weight to the canal, and finally toss him in? All while remaining undetected and leaving no trace evidence such as blood? POSSIBLE RESOLUTION: Much like her brother Robb in AGoT, who demonstrates herculean strength as part of his bond with Grey Wind, evident when Robb “manages” to hoist an elk onto his cooperative mount, securing it even though the horses are reactive to the direwolves and to the smell of blood. [i have discussed this at length in my The Blood Motif thread]. Since Bran is part of the fog and mist, he conceals his sister and protects her from discovery.

MERCY RESPONSES I do not presume to know Martin’s mind; however, I have determined his ASoIaF Series is deliberately constructed with purposeful elegance and an eye for detail. Much like a gourmet chef coaxes flavors from entrees by using spices, so Martin coaxes meanings from themes by using words. Martin’s master plan is a network and sub-network of plots, devices, and motifs that originate in A Game of Thrones and that Martin artfully continues, and adds to, in the novels and POV’s that follow. Even though Martin separates the Starks’ and other characters’ POV’s by time and place, he binds them together through chance, fate, and magic. Insinuating symbolic significance to people, places, actions, and things and repeating these literary associations within narratives, Martin achieves a literary fantasy that readers can enjoy on a variety of levels. Martin gifts his POV narrators’ with VOICES to define their perspectives and to report on the people, places, and events around them. [NOTE: Not everyone in the series HAS a voice, figuratively and literally.] Martin further unifies POV narrators in their personal journeys that involve their individual searches for identities BECAUSE OF Martin’s well-established formula of multiple narrators, it defies logic to separate “MERCY” from “ARYA STARK”. Arya is the ACTRESS who plays “Mercy” in a POV titled “Mercy”. This is similar to a POV entitled “Reek” from ADwD, yet the readers know Reek is Theon Greyjoy. In passages throughout AGoT, [and the novels that follow], Martin frequently relies on words with theatre and performance arts associations in general, but he is specific in describing the many FACES of Arya Stark and her acting prowess. Therefore, Martin successfully demonstrates in “Mercy” how Arya Stark applies her training thus far with the House of Black and White and the Faceless Men of Braavos, and her studies with Izembaro and his Mummers. It is a testament to Martin’s ingenuity that his prose narratives evocate thoughtful, provoking scholarship by members of Westeros. This thread – and all its earlier threads – contains a variety of theories that are well-argued and supported with evidences from the texts. Fortunately, Martin peppers his prose with enough ambiguities to allow for and to justify varying assumptions on many hundreds, if not thousands, of topics.

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! MEANING IN MARTIN’S “MERCY” PART I: THE THEATRE ARTS MOTIF: ALLUSIONS to SHAKESPEARE’S POETIC PLAYS The generous George R. R. Martin has once again blessed his loyal fans with a sneak peek from The Winds of Winter: “Mercy” is the fourth POV in his highly anticipated fifth novel of the series The Song of Ice and Fire, currently unfinished and unpublished. I have now spent a year in a close reading of AGoT that focuses on the significant motifs Martin introduces at the onset of the series ASoIaF. As I inched past the halfway point of the first novel, my initial list of ten topics had grown exponentially, even though I had narrowed my scope before ever beginning my copious documentation of evidences. Even more frustrating was my own impatience to hurry the process of organization and sanity in order to trace the reappearances of Martin’s motifs in the novels that follow AGoT. The temptations to establish connections and to advance my literary assumptions with analytical commentary proved too great for me to resist, and I am ignoring the voice of reason that cautioned me against working out-of-order from the texts. I am plunging willy-nilly into the “connections” between and among the novels in the series and what literary assumptions are appealing to me after studying “Mercy” specifically. [Actually, through careful analysis and following Martin’s language patterns throughout the novels, I was able to predict Arya’s internship with the mummers, the identity of Izembaro, the value of theatrical training, and Arya’s death scene on stage in 2012, which I published in several Arya-related threads.] Martin’s “Mercy” POV dramatizes the complexity of a child who has been devastated as the result of man’s inhumanity to man. Mercy’s journey parallels aspects of those set on by her siblings and others featured in the series, albeit at different times; hence, as an early chapter in The Winds of Winter, readers may look to “Mercy” for hints of what may come. Arya’s “crooked stitches” introduce her to readers for the first time in the first sentence of her first POV in AGoT. Now, “crooked” is a modifier Martin employs to describe Arya’s environment in The Winds of Winter: “Braavos was a crooked city. The streets were crooked, the alleys were crookeder, and the canals were crookedest of all.” Martin’s word choices are deliberate and emphasize the dark path “No One” has found herself taking. Arya Horse Face’s “stitches” are a metaphor symbolizing a “path”, but the predicate adjective “crooked” defining “stitches” foretells a twisted and corrupt passage that leads to the city of “masks and whispers” with its “crooked” terrain. She walks “crooked” streets and alleys, and she disposes of her kills in “canals”, “crookedest of all”. The comparative and superlative forms of “crooked” - crookeder and crookedest, respectively – are, to a purist grammarian, “ill-done”, and in the name of fluidity – it is more correct to use “More” crooked and “most” crooked rather than encumbering the root word with a heavy suffix. BUT – that is Martin’s genius. He wants his language to “sing” discord with awkward pronunciations because Arya/No One is not in a good place. She is becoming more “crooked” and soon she may prove the most “crooked” when she kills someone else without mercy – and the act will be unforgiveable and perhaps beyond redemption. Contemplating the futures of the heroes whom readers initially find appealing and sympathetic is painful, and Martin excels in exposing each layer of grey corruption in his faltering personalities who are as vulnerable to the forces of evil as are his villains. Characters who readers loved and celebrated metamorphose into the very monsters Martin encourages his readers to despise. Martin’s brilliance extends to realizing the contrary as well when he exposes an antagonist’s view in such a way as to evocate his readers’ sympathy. The Stark ward Theon Greyjoy is as complex as Arya, yet Martin guides readers to distrust Theon, and later despise him for his taking Winterfell and betraying his foster brothers. Theon is but one of several Martin characters who do despicable, hateful acts that somehow Martin coaxes some readers to forgive, like me – at least, I have deemed Theon worthy of forgiveness because Bran forgives him. After Theon’s mystical communication with Bran in the heart tree of Winterfell’s godswood during ADwD, Bran expresses his forgiveness by saying Theon’s name – and in this last event Bran has moved past using the wind and the leaves to speak. Now, there is no wind when Bran voices “Theon”. The bloody, hand-shaped leaf from the weirwood falls from the tree to brush against Theon’s forehead. [No wind, remember.] This is Bran flexing his muscles as a greenseer through his WF network. So, if Bran can forgive Theon, I determined I could as well. Sadly, “No One” is becoming a “monster” herself, and her behavior foreshadows how the new greenseer Bran may use and abuse his powers and his training to deliver vengeance in the name of “justice”. THE THEATRE ARTS MOTIF One motif Martin enlists early on in AGoT is the theatre arts motif wherein he engages language that evokes elements associated with drama and performance. For example, Bran narrates that his father changes his face when he takes upon duties related to Winterfell: Bran calls it “his lord’s face”, and he later notices Robb wears a mask as well when he takes on the duties of a lord in his father’s absence. Likewise, the weirwood in the godswood wears a face – a mask – carved by the Children of the Forest so that their greenseers can look through the trees. In Arya’s first POV, Martin describes her twice as making a face: “Arya made a face and hugged her wolfling tight” and “Arya made a face at him [Jon] (AGoT 71). Arya’s making faces foreshadows her daily “face” exercises performed in front of her Myrish mirror during her training at the HoB&W. The Kindly Man advises her to learn to control her facial muscles in order to lie with great success and to command her smile. When she and Jon Snow watch the sword play in the yard from a window, Martin calls the sparring area a “scene”, and Jon announces “The show is done” (75). These are “small” ways in which Martin calls upon language related to the theatre to tell his story from the onset of his novel A Game of Thrones. JULIUS CAESAR A bigger way Martin enlists theatre involves his many allusions to Shakespeare’s plays, most obviously Julius Caesar. The assassination of Robb Stark at the Red Wedding and the attempted assassination of Jon Snow in the Ides of Marsh debacle are among the stronger associations Martin draws from the bard’s tragedy. However, Martin alludes to Julius Caesar in Arya’s Braavos as well: The Titan of Braavos mirrors the Colossus of Rhodes, a huge statue of a Titan that straddled the Harbor of Rhodes with room enough for ships to travel through his legs. It is this “wonder of the ancient world” that Cassius uses to demonstrate for Brutus Caesar’s growing power. Cassius says of Caesar: Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves. (Julius Caesar. 1, 2. 136–38). On her passage to Braavos, Arya travels beneath the legs of the Titan, and the formidable entrance to Braavos is mentioned again in “Mercy”: “What hour?” Mercy called down to the man who stood by the snake’s uplifted tail, pushing her onward with his pole. The waterman gazed up, searching for the voice. “Four, by the Titan’s roar” (IV TWoW). THE MERCHANT OF VENICE Now, in “Mercy”, the play The Merchant’s Lusty Lady is one of several that Izembarro’s mumming troupe have performed in the past, which echoes the title of a Shakespearean comedy The Merchant of Venice, and within the title is the location of “Venice”, which Westeros.org scholars have asserted is the model for Martin’s Braavos. Not only do the titles of the two “Merchant” plays share similarities, but the heroine Portia in the Shakespeare comedy pretends to be Balthazar, a male “doctor of law”, who delivers a moving speech about the “Quality of Mercy”, arguably one of the bard’s most famous speeches, as an appeal to the Merchant Shylock’s desire to take his “pound of flesh” as restitution for an unpaid loan. Even when Antonio offers to pay double what he owes Shylock, the merchant is determined to excise his pound of flesh as bound by contract. Similarly, Arya, like Portia, pretends to play a male and she “performs” regularly when she takes a new face as a Faceless Men. Arya also shares Shylock’s determination to exact vengeance, although in Arya’s case, she owns a “prayer list” of victims who deserve no mercy. “Mercy” is a quality that Arya has not often seen in people she has met along her journey. Moreover, Martin choosing “Mercy” as a new face for “No One” is ironic as she takes her “pound of flesh” when skewering Raff the Sweetling. Now, Martin explores the theme of “mercy” in all the novels within his Series ASoIaF. Through characters displaying a lack of mercy Martin defines what it is to be “merciful”. For instance, Arya witnesses Joffrey’s “mercy” when her father is beheaded [during a “live” performance for the masses] even after he confesses his treason. But this is but one of many “mercy-related” examples specific to Arya in the novels. “Mercy, mercy, mercy” is a mantra Reek is quite fond of saying as well in ADwD. Below is Portia’s “Quality of Mercy” speech from The Merchant of Venice. I believe Martin has already and will continue to “play on” some of the logic in Portia’s appeal through his characters and conflicts in TWoW and beyond. The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. . . Though justice be thy plea, consider this, That, in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. TITUS ANDRONICUS But back to Shakespeare and further possible allusions I have noted that reappear in “Mercy”, such as The Bloody Hand, the name of the evening performance in honor of Westerosi visitors. Of course, the title echoes many themes throughout the series thus far, but in the tragedy of Titus Andronacus, Titus has his own hand hacked off and delivered as payment for the “safe” return of his sons taken prisoner by his enemy. Titus mutilates himself on behalf of his sons, who he never sees alive again. Instead, the two heads of his children are delivered to Titus, along with his bloody hand. Titus’ sorrow is replaced with a black rage that leads him to vow vengeance. The revenge of Titus is not unlike Arya’s sense of vengeance, yes? The severed hand relates to the Kingslayer as well as Tyrion’s time as hand to the king. The “bloody hand” also symbolizes the blood on Arya’s hands as she continues to dispense her brand of “justice” to those on her hit list, to those she deems worthy of receiving death, and to those victims assigned to her as a Faceless Assassin. Now – I am simplifying the complex tragedy – but aside from sharing themes, the revenge Titus delivers speaks to events Martin narrates through his POV characters. Titus prepares for his enemy their children baked inside a pie, which he serves to the unsuspecting diners, waiting until the queen has taken a bite before revealing the horrific truth. This “pie” is reminiscent of the cautionary story Bran tells of the Rat Cook and of the literary assumption that Manderly delivers a Frey Pie to Red Wedding participants at table. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Martin’s delightful descriptions in “Mercy” of the mummer’s troupe and their antics reminds me of an acting troupe that appears in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; they are a motley crew Shakespeare calls “Mechanicals”, and their names, professions, and “parts” speak to their characters and are meant to be funny. For example, Snout the tinker plays “the Wall” and Nick Bottom the weaver volunteers to play every role, but ends up as the hero. The Mechanicals aspire to impress their honorary guests in the audience, the Fairy King Oberon and the Fairy Queen Titania. Likewise, the mummers hope to win the approval of Westerosi’s in the house. The Mechanicals rehearse their play Pyramus and Thisbe in the woods, and the troubles they have are laughable –[ I often used this little play within a play with teen actors intimidated by Shakespeare’s language and austerity. It is fun to “play” any of the actors, and the skit is hilarious and a crowd pleaser for an audience not whetted on Shakespeare’s work.] To illustrate, the actor playing the Wall has a fun costume wherein he wears paper mache bricks and mortar on either shoulder similar to shoulder-pads worn by football players. I usually had the Wall wear a construction worker’s hat topped with additional brick work, Carhardt’s, and work boots. But the Wall has no dialogue and just stands on stage with his hand outstretched, his fingers making a “peace sign”. This “signal” represents the “chink” in the Wall through which the young lovers speak secretly to one another. The Moon actor stands on a ladder holding a flashlight over the couple at the Wall, and his costume features white Christmas lights wrapped around him; needless to say, the Moon does not have a good sense of balance on his ladder, which adds to the fiascos in rehearsal and during the actual performance for the King and Queen of the Fairies. Aside from the “spirit” of the actors in AMSND and the mummers of “Mercy”, I have no hard evidence that Martin bases his mummers on the Mechanicals. However, if Mercy continues her internship with the mummers, or if she reflects upon her time with the mummers in a POV that occurs later in the text, maybe Martin will be more direct in purposing comparisons to AMSND. [The appearance of a Wall, a Moon, and a Lion are characters featured in Pyramus and Thisbe that align themselves in content to elements in Martin’s ASoIaF Series.] HAMLET Shakespeare’s “melancholic” Prince Hamlet from a tragedy that bears his name advises a traveling troupe of actors who visit Elsinore on the fundamentals of good acting. Shakespeare scholars tend to believe this oft-quoted speech contains Shakespeare’s personal views on the acting process and performance. Relatedly, Izembaro advises his troupe of mummers prior to their show. Even though the views Hamlet and Izembaro share are more different than similar, Hamlet’s sharp criticisms of scene stealing and over-emoting to curry favor with the audience are not Izembaro’s concerns for his troupe. As a matter of fact, Izembaro appears to be guilty of melodramatic performances himself, and the dwarf as a clown wears a costume meant to exaggerate his phallus, which is probably a crowd-pleaser for those in the pit and other bawdy theatre fans in attendance. Hamlet says to the players: “Oh, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noise. I would have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant. It out-Herods Herod. Pray you, avoid it” (3.2). Mercy and Bobono reveal Izembaro’s “wisdoms”: “I always give Wendeyne’s titties a nice squeeze when I rape her in The Anguish of the Archon,” the dwarf complained. “She likes it, and the pit does too. You have to please the pit.” That was one of Izembaro’s “wisdoms,” as he liked to call them. You have to please the pit. “I bet it would please the pit if I ripped off the dwarf’s cock and beat him about the head with it,” Mercy replied. “That’s something they won’t have seen before.” Always give them something they haven’t seen before was another of Izembaro’s “wisdoms” (IV. TWoW). Now, “wisdoms” of Hamlet and Izembaro are different yet share a core belief in performing, which has to do with pleasing the audience . Shakespeare, through Hamlet, warns actors against overplaying a part, or chewing up the scenery. Even though the “groundlings”, those who pay the least and are the most vocal in Elizabethan Theatre, may adore spit flying, wild gesturing, and an air of the melodramatic, good actors exercised self-control and focused on their craft, not on winning the most laughs or the loudest applause. Izembaro is an actor Shakespeare would have faulted for embodying the “HAM”. To illustrate, in “Mercy”, Izembaro gives the pit-attendants lots of overacting, and he stages popular themes starring a “king”. Elizabethan audiences enjoyed nothing better than to see one so great and powerful as a “king” fall in favor and die in a blood bath, often taking innocent victims with him. Izembaro satisfies his acting ego by casting himself as the king in the plays he chooses. Murder and rape are two events apparently enjoyed by The Gate lower-class regulars. The necessity of a dwarf is very much like one or a combination of Shakespeare’s many clowns. [i am writing a separate post that compares The Gate, the mummers, and the audience with the Elizabethan Theatre]. THE TEMPEST Tyrion Lannister, and now Bobono, remind me of a sympathetic character named Caliban who appears in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. [i have written elsewhere on The Tempest, comparing Ariel to Arya, so I am trying to be brief in this post – alas, I am never brief!] Caliban is “littered”, NOT BORN, of a witch and a devil, and his island home is overtaken by magician Prospero when his ship crashes upon the shore in a “tempest”, a storm at sea. Prospero treats the ugly creature Caliban well until Caliban attempts to rape Prospero’s daughter Miranda, an unforgiveable act for which the magician banishes Caliban from his home and continues to torment him, even enslaving him. Here are a few choice descriptions of Caliban from The Tempest: "Hag-born" "whelp," not "honoured with human shape." "Demi-devil." "Poor credulous monster." "Hag-seed." "Strange fish." These unkind epithets and phrases are but a few from the play, and they in word and content mirror words Martin has used to describe Tyrion – and in “Mercy”, Bobono’s speeches from The Bloody Hand bring to mind what I remembered of Shakespeare’s Caliban. “Bobono lowered his voice to a sinister croak. “The seven-faced god has cheated me,” he said. “My noble sire he made of purest gold, and gold he made my siblings, boy and girl. But I am formed of darker stuff, of bones and blood and clay, twisted into this rude shape you see before you.” AND “On stage, Bobono was bargaining with Marro’s sinister Stranger. . . “Give me the cup,” he told the Stranger, “for I shall drink deep. And if it tastes of gold and lion’s blood, so much the better. As I cannot be the hero, let me be the monster, and lesson them in fear in place of love.” Commonalities from “Mercy” and The Tempest are the references to “rape” and the words that describe the misunderstood monster Caliban, misshapen and parented by demons. Like words have been used to describe Tyrion and now Bobono’s role as Tyrion. Not unlike Caliban, Tyrion has been persecuted and maligned – the comparisons are more than I am crediting, and I apologize for not doing justice by expanding thoughts on this premise. But I am trying to end somewhere – and this post is already too long-winded. [but I am sure I will revisit Caliban and Tyrion, especially after recalling Caliban’s poetic language that makes him more human than a beast]. I am closing Part I with the lyrics to a Broadway song that plays in my head whenever I read and write about Arya performing her many, many roles. Fading silent-film star Norma Desmond sings of her glory days when she was loved and admired by those near and far. The fickle audiences welcomed talking films, and Norma did not transition well from silent to talking movies. But she remembers how good she was, reminding Miss Desmond boasts that she could/can “play any role”. In every line of verse, I see Arya Stark. But that’s just me. Maybe others will see Arya too. With One Look NORMA/ARYA With one look I can break your heart With one look I play every part I can make your sad heart sing With one look you'll know all you need to know With one smile I'm the girl next door Or the love that you've hungered for When I speak it's with my soul I can play any role No words can tell the stories my eyes tell Watch me when I frown, you can't write that down You know I'm right, it's there in black and white When I look your way, you'll hear what I say Yes, with one look I put words to shame Just one look sets the screen [sTAGE] aflame Silent music starts to play One tear in my eye makes the whole world cry With one look they'll forgive the past They'll rejoice I've returned at last To my people in the dark Still out there in the dark... Silent music starts to play With one look you'll know all you need to know With one look I'll ignite a blaze I'll return to my glory days They'll say, "Norma's [Arya’s] back at last!" This time I am staying, I'm staying for good I'll be back to where I was born to be With one look I'll be me! With One Look from the musical Sunset Boulevard [Norma Desmond] [http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/sunsetboulevard/withonelook.htm]

I do not think a thread can come to a consensus and declare their findings "canon", that is, Martin needs to authenticate the information. However, writers might assert that "Mercy" unwittingly plays "Shae" as a way to involve the dwarf' in the action. But without textual evidence that demonstrates Mercy's imitating Shae's behavior, her manners, and her speech, it is unlikely that it can be proved. Statements are best backed up by the text, by research sources, and by conscientious analysis.

Thanks, FEATHERCRYSTAL. That means a lot coming from a writer of your caliber!

ZACKER: Thank you very much. I have been working hard on my "Mercy" analyses.

MERCY’S SMILE Martin SHOWS, he does not TELL, the progress of an internship embarked upon by an acolyte, a native of Westeros, who trains as a faceless assassin. Arya’s last POV in ADwD promises further education for Arya when the kindly man assesses that “No One” is ready for an internship with Izembaro, whose identity was much discussed on the forums. Predictably, the “Mercy” POV places Arya in the “role” of Mercy who seemingly functions as a stage manager with the King of the Mummers, Izembaro himself. It appears that Martin is familiar with various aspects of theatre arts and with styles of acting methodology; furthermore, Martin’s training for Arya is based upon a real approach to “becoming” a character. “Method actors are often characterized as immersing themselves in their characters, to the extent that they stay in character offstage or off-camera for the duration of a project” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_acting]. Arya’s face-changing and attire are only disguises. Now she must “become” a different person, and to accomplish this, Arya spends time with a theatre troupe. As an actress-in-training, Mercy proudly dons a mummer’s cloak when out-of-doors, a way to keep warm and to advertise the show. More importantly, the cloak is part of Arya Stark’s acting methodology as she “becomes” her character [and some serious actors do this for the run of a show or for the filming of a movie]. All the clothing she wears belong to “Mercy” – only Needle belongs to Arya Stark. On location at Izembaro’s theatre the Gate, the girl once called Arya Stark wears the face of “Mercy”, and while disguised, she absorbs the ins-and-outs of theatre. As a quick study with acute training in observation, Arya soon makes herself indispensable to the others in the mummers’ troupe. Arya humbly admits through Mercy’s dialogue, actions, and reactions that she IS “a pretty little empty head”. After some time with the Gate mummers, The Bloody Hand is the first show in which she has a few words; perhaps interns “work up to” being assigned a speaking part in a play. Or more likely, females expostulating on stage are unpopular fare and are tolerable only when they are being raped and murdered. Nevertheless, Arya proves a regular factotum backstage, behind the scenes. Arya is so convincing in her role that no one in the troupe suspects her identity is a lie. Because of her pleasing smile and cheerful nature, Mercy engages people only to disarm them when they are least prepared. Smiles and lies are on Arya’s agenda, and her time at THoB&W is spent practicing her craft. Martin’s language in “Mercy” is key: Mercy’s captivating smile and her lying expertise should sound familiar because they hark back to earlier “Arya” POV’s in the novels, and they echo the teachings of the kindly man and even Syrio Forel. Arya presses the kindly man to tell her how she can change her face with magic just like Jaqen H’ghar changed his face. The kindly man says, “’All sorcery comes at a cost, child. Years of prayer and sacrifice and study are required to work a proper glamor.” Not pleased, Arya asks with dismay, ‘Years?’ Even more frustrating is the kindly man’s insistence that she is a LIAR. “Who are you?” “No one.” “You lie” (AFfC 738)]. Arya asks the kindly man how he knows that she is lying: “Is it magic?” “A man does not need to be a wizard to know truth from falsehood, not if he has eyes. You need only learn to read a face. Look at the eyes. The mouth. The muscles . . . A false smile and a true one may look alike, but they are as different as dusk from dawn. Can you tell dusk from dawn? . . . Then you can learn to see a lie . . . and once you do, no secret will be safe from you” (AFfC 459). Arya responds, “Teach me.” Arya is “hungry” for the secrets of controlling magic, and her eagerness to move on the fast-track of her studies is part of the reason for her advancement. Even though Arya admits that she does not know any mummer’s tricks to help her LIE with skill and conviction, the kindly man offers specific pointers that involve lots of practice in front of a mirror, which is still a performance building theatre exercise for actors. “Then practice making faces. Beneath your skin are muscles. Learn to use them. It is your face. Your cheeks, your lips, your ears. Smiles and scowls should not come upon you like summer squalls. A smile should be a servant, and come only when you call it. Learn to rule your face.” “Show me how” (AFfC 463). The kindly man tells Arya to train before a Myrish mirror one hour every day. “Eyes, nostrils, cheeks, ears, lips, learn to rule them all.” So every morning and every night Arya sits before the mirror with a candle on each side of her, making faces. “Rule your face, she told herself, and you can lie” (FFC 463). The tasks the kindly man assigns for Arya demand daily drills. Since Arya is highly motivated, she applies herself completely, mastering her facial muscles, controlling her expressions, and building her skill-level. In her first POV in The Winds of Winter, Arya manipulates Mercy’s face by calling forth her SERVANT, her “sweet smile”, and with her always improving talents, Arya uses Mercy to lie convincingly. Mercy’s training as Stage Manager, the job that most fits Mercy’s discernable duties in her POV, has polished Arya’s rough edges. She does not chew her lip, she sings when she walks, and she has become graceful. As an SM, Mercy would have her hands in every job, including acting. She would “run the show” on and off stage and know about costumes, properties, staging, lighting, and much and more. As Martin illustrates, Mercy is at the cast members’ beck and call. No matter the pressure and challenges, Mercy keeps her cool, she treats other mummers with respect, and no job is too difficult or impossible for her. Obviously, Arya fools the troupe with her fine performance as giggly, good-hearted Mercy. No one suspects she is nobly born. They all genuinely like her. Arya creates an amiable, reliable, responsible, cheerful, and helpful character who is the polar opposite of Arya in many ways. Mercy frets about arriving tardy for Izembaro’s pre-performance lecture, and she implies that her winning smile usually appeases an angry Izembaro: “The envoy from Westeros was expected at the Gate this evening, and Izembaro would be in no mood to hear excuses, even if she served them up with a sweet smile” (TWoW). IV). Whereas Mercy can subdue Izembaro’s anger with a smile, on show night with dignitaries from Westeros attending, Mercy knows her winning smile will not suffice. Arya can “read” Izembaro, evident when she contemplates her fate should she arrive late to the Gate. Martin informs the readers that Mercy gets her room rental on the cheap in part because of her smile: “The handrail was splintery, the steps steep, and there were five flights, but that was why she’d gotten the room so cheap. That, and Mercy’s smile. She might be bald and skinny, but Mercy had a pretty smile, and a certain grace” (TWoW. IV). Mercy’s daily exercises pay off, and she deploys her smile to influence others. Moreover, Mercy can master her facial expressions so that others do not detect when she tells a “lie”, and Mercy can easily recognize when others are being untruthful. Mercy’s dissembling is as keen as her smile. She flirts with sailors at the docks while having no intentions of hooking up with any of them: “Sometimes she would smile back and tell them they could find her at the Gate if they had the coin”. Mercy lies to Daena when she pretends not to know what a siggle is. Mercy pretends that she finds the Westerosi guard standing behind the Black Pearl an attractive figure, although Daena says he is too old at around 30. Pretending that she does not recognize the Westerosi in Lannister garb, she shows no hesitation when she approaches him: Arya is confident in her disguise, in her target, and in her convictions. The memory of merciless Raff the Sweetling slaying Lommy Greenhands is etched in blood and fire on Arya’s brain. The actress playing Mercy woos Raff with her polarizing smile and her convincing lies. She acts helpless, feigning a language barrier. “I know your tongue, a little,” she lied, with Mercy’s sweetest smile. “You are lords of Westeros, my friend said.” Mercy flashes her “sweetest” smile [for the “sweetling”] and the actress wearing Mercy’s face flatters the guards by calling them “lords of Westeros”, even though Arya knows these men are no lords. She demonstrates her talent through using her feminine charms to arouse Lord Raff. Beneath her brown shift is the body of Arya Stark. Only Arya’s “face” is altered. Mercy entices her “mark”with a promise of sexual gratification. The Sweetling takes the bait, eager to take her against a wall or in the street; but Mercy persuades him to come to her lodgings, Arya’s staging area for murder. With deadly charm, Mercy informs Lord Raff that she could make a mummer of him. She says assuredly, “I could teach you to say a line. I could.” Lord Raff does not allow a girl to school him, and he replies, “Not me, girl” and “I’ll do the teaching”. “Mercy,” she said. “My name is Mercy. Can you say it?” “Mercy,” he said. Arya extracts from her victim the word that sweetens her intentions of an execution-style murder. As she draws Lord Raff’s blood, she delivers justice to a murderer of children. Arya possesses a wolf spirit. Arya’s remedy for dispensing justice with a “karmic” twist shows forethought. Arya executes Raff for the senseless murder of Lommy. Ned Stark punishes lawbreakers who commit crimes against the realm. In Bran I of AGoT, Ned Stark bestows the “King’s justice” on 20 lawbreakers, one a deserter from the NW, a fact not lost on Arya. She behaves as if she is qualified to pass judgment and execute the criminals. Arya dismisses Raff’s pleas for help as hot blood stains his leg and crotch. “Help me,” he pleaded, as the crotch of his breeches reddened. “Mother have mercy, girl. A healer… run and find a healer, quick now”. A man is bleeding to death, but Arya is spot on when she “reads his face”: “He doesn’t look so comely now, she thought. He just looks white and frightened”. Arya refuses to carry him to a healer. Arya sees the color leave his complexion and the fear fill his eyes, but she is unmoved. “Mercy” avenges Lommy on behalf of Arya Stark. In her rented room, Arya shortens her prayer list by one. Poetic justice is the theme of Arya’s melodramatic tragedy. With Needle in her bloody hand, Mercy bows to an audience lost and the dead. I think Arya’s merciless actions foreshadow how Bran will wield his greenseeing powers when he “visits” past events to learn what has happened to his family. As a matter-of-fact, his teachers may encourage Bran to seek the truth in the hopes that it will arouse in him a rage for which bloody vengeance is the only remedy.

WOW! These episodes are so quickly revealing answers to many discussions argued on the Forum, and tonight it is confirmed that Craster’s sons are White Walkers.

MEANING IN MARTIN’S “MERCY” PART I: THE THEATRE ARTS MOTIF: ALLUSIONS to SHAKESPEARE’S POETIC PLAYS The generous George R. R. Martin has once again blessed his loyal fans with a sneak peek from The Winds of Winter: “Mercy” is the fourth POV in his highly anticipated fifth novel of the series The Song of Ice and Fire, currently unfinished and unpublished. I have now spent a year in a close reading of AGoT that focuses on the significant motifs Martin introduces at the onset of the series ASoIaF. As I inched past the halfway point of the first novel, my initial list of ten topics had grown exponentially, even though I had narrowed my scope before ever beginning my copious documentation of evidences. Even more frustrating was my own impatience to hurry the process of organization and sanity in order to trace the reappearances of Martin’s motifs in the novels that follow AGoT. The temptations to establish connections and to advance my literary assumptions with analytical commentary proved too great for me to resist, and I am ignoring the voice of reason that cautioned me against working out-of-order from the texts. I am plunging willy-nilly into the “connections” between and among the novels in the series and what literary assumptions are appealing to me after studying “Mercy” specifically. [Actually, through careful analysis and following Martin’s language patterns throughout the novels, I was able to predict Arya’s internship with the mummers, the identity of Izembaro, the value of theatrical training, and Arya’s death scene on stage in 2012, which I published in several Arya-related threads.] Martin’s “Mercy” POV dramatizes the complexity of a child who has been devastated as the result of man’s inhumanity to man. Mercy’s journey parallels aspects of those set on by her siblings and others featured in the series, albeit at different times; hence, as an early chapter in The Winds of Winter, readers may look to “Mercy” for hints of what may come. Arya’s “crooked stitches” introduce her to readers for the first time in the first sentence of her first POV in AGoT. Now, “crooked” is a modifier Martin employs to describe Arya’s environment in The Winds of Winter: “Braavos was a crooked city. The streets were crooked, the alleys were crookeder, and the canals were crookedest of all.” Martin’s word choices are deliberate and emphasize the dark path “No One” has found herself taking. Arya Horse Face’s “stitches” are a metaphor symbolizing a “path”, but the predicate adjective “crooked” defining “stitches” foretells a twisted and corrupt passage that leads to the city of “masks and whispers” with its “crooked” terrain. She walks “crooked” streets and alleys, and she disposes of her kills in “canals”, “crookedest of all”. The comparative and superlative forms of “crooked” - crookeder and crookedest, respectively – are, to a purist grammarian, “ill-done”, and in the name of fluidity – it is more correct to use “More” crooked and “most” crooked rather than encumbering the root word with a heavy suffix. BUT – that is Martin’s genius. He wants his language to “sing” discord with awkward pronunciations because Arya/No One is not in a good place. She is becoming more “crooked” and soon she may prove the most “crooked” when she kills someone else without mercy – and the act will be unforgiveable and perhaps beyond redemption. Contemplating the futures of the heroes whom readers initially find appealing and sympathetic is painful, and Martin excels in exposing each layer of grey corruption in his faltering personalities who are as vulnerable to the forces of evil as are his villains. Characters who readers loved and celebrated metamorphose into the very monsters Martin encourages his readers to despise. Martin’s brilliance extends to realizing the contrary as well when he exposes an antagonist’s view in such a way as to evocate his readers’ sympathy. The Stark ward Theon Greyjoy is as complex as Arya, yet Martin guides readers to distrust Theon, and later despise him for his taking Winterfell and betraying his foster brothers. Theon is but one of several Martin characters who do despicable, hateful acts that somehow Martin coaxes some readers to forgive, like me – at least, I have deemed Theon worthy of forgiveness because Bran forgives him. After Theon’s mystical communication with Bran in the heart tree of Winterfell’s godswood during ADwD, Bran expresses his forgiveness by saying Theon’s name – and in this last event Bran has moved past using the wind and the leaves to speak. Now, there is no wind when Bran voices “Theon”. The bloody, hand-shaped leaf from the weirwood falls from the tree to brush against Theon’s forehead. [No wind, remember.] This is Bran flexing his muscles as a greenseer through his WF network. So, if Bran can forgive Theon, I determined I could as well. Sadly, “No One” is becoming a “monster” herself, and her behavior foreshadows how the new greenseer Bran may use and abuse his powers and his training to deliver vengeance in the name of “justice”. THE THEATRE ARTS MOTIF One motif Martin enlists early on in AGoT is the theatre arts motif wherein he engages language that evokes elements associated with drama and performance. For example, Bran narrates that his father changes his face when he takes upon duties related to Winterfell: Bran calls it “his lord’s face”, and he later notices Robb wears a mask as well when he takes on the duties of a lord in his father’s absence. Likewise, the weirwood in the godswood wears a face – a mask – carved by the Children of the Forest so that their greenseers can look through the trees. In Arya’s first POV, Martin describes her twice as making a face: “Arya made a face and hugged her wolfling tight” and “Arya made a face at him [Jon] (AGoT 71). Arya’s making faces foreshadows her daily “face” exercises performed in front of her Myrish mirror during her training at the HoB&W. The Kindly Man advises her to learn to control her facial muscles in order to lie with great success and to command her smile. When she and Jon Snow watch the sword play in the yard from a window, Martin calls the sparring area a “scene”, and Jon announces “The show is done” (75). These are “small” ways in which Martin calls upon language related to the theatre to tell his story from the onset of his novel A Game of Thrones. JULIUS CAESAR A bigger way Martin enlists theatre involves his many allusions to Shakespeare’s plays, most obviously Julius Caesar. The assassination of Robb Stark at the Red Wedding and the attempted assassination of Jon Snow in the Ides of Marsh debacle are among the stronger associations Martin draws from the bard’s tragedy. However, Martin alludes to Julius Caesar in Arya’s Braavos as well: The Titan of Braavos mirrors the Colossus of Rhodes, a huge statue of a Titan that straddled the Harbor of Rhodes with room enough for ships to travel through his legs. It is this “wonder of the ancient world” that Cassius uses to demonstrate for Brutus Caesar’s growing power. Cassius says of Caesar: Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves. (Julius Caesar. 1, 2. 136–38). On her passage to Braavos, Arya travels beneath the legs of the Titan, and the formidable entrance to Braavos is mentioned again in “Mercy”: “What hour?” Mercy called down to the man who stood by the snake’s uplifted tail, pushing her onward with his pole. The waterman gazed up, searching for the voice. “Four, by the Titan’s roar” (IV TWoW). THE MERCHANT OF VENICE Now, in “Mercy”, the play The Merchant’s Lusty Lady is one of several that Izembarro’s mumming troupe have performed in the past, which echoes the title of a Shakespearean comedy The Merchant of Venice, and within the title is the location of “Venice”, which Westeros.org scholars have asserted is the model for Martin’s Braavos. Not only do the titles of the two “Merchant” plays share similarities, but the heroine Portia in the Shakespeare comedy pretends to be Balthazar, a male “doctor of law”, who delivers a moving speech about the “Quality of Mercy”, arguably one of the bard’s most famous speeches, as an appeal to the Merchant Shylock’s desire to take his “pound of flesh” as restitution for an unpaid loan. Even when Antonio offers to pay double what he owes Shylock, the merchant is determined to excise his pound of flesh as bound by contract. Similarly, Arya, like Portia, pretends to play a male and she “performs” regularly when she takes a new face as a Faceless Men. Arya also shares Shylock’s determination to exact vengeance, although in Arya’s case, she owns a “prayer list” of victims who deserve no mercy. “Mercy” is a quality that Arya has not often seen in people she has met along her journey. Moreover, Martin choosing “Mercy” as a new face for “No One” is ironic as she takes her “pound of flesh” when skewering Raff the Sweetling. Now, Martin explores the theme of “mercy” in all the novels within his Series ASoIaF. Through characters displaying a lack of mercy Martin defines what it is to be “merciful”. For instance, Arya witnesses Joffrey’s “mercy” when her father is beheaded [during a “live” performance for the masses] even after he confesses his treason. But this is but one of many “mercy-related” examples specific to Arya in the novels. “Mercy, mercy, mercy” is a mantra Reek is quite fond of saying as well in ADwD. Below is Portia’s “Quality of Mercy” speech from The Merchant of Venice. I believe Martin has already and will continue to “play on” some of the logic in Portia’s appeal through his characters and conflicts in TWoW and beyond. The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. . . Though justice be thy plea, consider this, That, in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. TITUS ANDRONICUS But back to Shakespeare and further possible allusions I have noted that reappear in “Mercy”, such as The Bloody Hand, the name of the evening performance in honor of Westerosi visitors. Of course, the title echoes many themes throughout the series thus far, but in the tragedy of Titus Andronacus, Titus has his own hand hacked off and delivered as payment for the “safe” return of his sons taken prisoner by his enemy. Titus mutilates himself on behalf of his sons, who he never sees alive again. Instead, the two heads of his children are delivered to Titus, along with his bloody hand. Titus’ sorrow is replaced with a black rage that leads him to vow vengeance. The revenge of Titus is not unlike Arya’s sense of vengeance, yes? The severed hand relates to the Kingslayer as well as Tyrion’s time as hand to the king. The “bloody hand” also symbolizes the blood on Arya’s hands as she continues to dispense her brand of “justice” to those on her hit list, to those she deems worthy of receiving death, and to those victims assigned to her as a Faceless Assassin. Now – I am simplifying the complex tragedy – but aside from sharing themes, the revenge Titus delivers speaks to events Martin narrates through his POV characters. Titus prepares for his enemy their children baked inside a pie, which he serves to the unsuspecting diners, waiting until the queen has taken a bite before revealing the horrific truth. This “pie” is reminiscent of the cautionary story Bran tells of the Rat Cook and of the literary assumption that Manderly delivers a Frey Pie to Red Wedding participants at table. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Martin’s delightful descriptions in “Mercy” of the mummer’s troupe and their antics reminds me of an acting troupe that appears in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; they are a motley crew Shakespeare calls “Mechanicals”, and their names, professions, and “parts” speak to their characters and are meant to be funny. For example, Snout the tinker plays “the Wall” and Nick Bottom the weaver volunteers to play every role, but ends up as the hero. The Mechanicals aspire to impress their honorary guests in the audience, the Fairy King Oberon and the Fairy Queen Titania. Likewise, the mummers hope to win the approval of Westerosi’s in the house. The Mechanicals rehearse their play Pyramus and Thisbe in the woods, and the troubles they have are laughable –[ I often used this little play within a play with teen actors intimidated by Shakespeare’s language and austerity. It is fun to “play” any of the actors, and the skit is hilarious and a crowd pleaser for an audience not whetted on Shakespeare’s work.] To illustrate, the actor playing the Wall has a fun costume wherein he wears paper mache bricks and mortar on either shoulder similar to shoulder-pads worn by football players. I usually had the Wall wear a construction worker’s hat topped with additional brick work, Carhardt’s, and work boots. But the Wall has no dialogue and just stands on stage with his hand outstretched, his fingers making a “peace sign”. This “signal” represents the “chink” in the Wall through which the young lovers speak secretly to one another. The Moon actor stands on a ladder holding a flashlight over the couple at the Wall, and his costume features white Christmas lights wrapped around him; needless to say, the Moon does not have a good sense of balance on his ladder, which adds to the fiascos in rehearsal and during the actual performance for the King and Queen of the Fairies. Aside from the “spirit” of the actors in AMSND and the mummers of “Mercy”, I have no hard evidence that Martin bases his mummers on the Mechanicals. However, if Mercy continues her internship with the mummers, or if she reflects upon her time with the mummers in a POV that occurs later in the text, maybe Martin will be more direct in purposing comparisons to AMSND. [The appearance of a Wall, a Moon, and a Lion are characters featured in Pyramus and Thisbe that align themselves in content to elements in Martin’s ASoIaF Series.] HAMLET Shakespeare’s “melancholic” Prince Hamlet from a tragedy that bears his name advises a traveling troupe of actors who visit Elsinore on the fundamentals of good acting. Shakespeare scholars tend to believe this oft-quoted speech contains Shakespeare’s personal views on the acting process and performance. Relatedly, Izembaro advises his troupe of mummers prior to their show. Even though the views Hamlet and Izembaro share are more different than similar, Hamlet’s sharp criticisms of scene stealing and over-emoting to curry favor with the audience are not Izembaro’s concerns for his troupe. As a matter of fact, Izembaro appears to be guilty of melodramatic performances himself, and the dwarf as a clown wears a costume meant to exaggerate his phallus, which is probably a crowd-pleaser for those in the pit and other bawdy theatre fans in attendance. Hamlet says to the players: “Oh, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noise. I would have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant. It out-Herods Herod. Pray you, avoid it” (3.2). Mercy and Bobono reveal Izembaro’s “wisdoms”: “I always give Wendeyne’s titties a nice squeeze when I rape her in The Anguish of the Archon,” the dwarf complained. “She likes it, and the pit does too. You have to please the pit.” That was one of Izembaro’s “wisdoms,” as he liked to call them. You have to please the pit. “I bet it would please the pit if I ripped off the dwarf’s cock and beat him about the head with it,” Mercy replied. “That’s something they won’t have seen before.” Always give them something they haven’t seen before was another of Izembaro’s “wisdoms” (IV. TWoW). Now, “wisdoms” of Hamlet and Izembaro are different yet share a core belief in performing, which has to do with pleasing the audience . Shakespeare, through Hamlet, warns actors against overplaying a part, or chewing up the scenery. Even though the “groundlings”, those who pay the least and are the most vocal in Elizabethan Theatre, may adore spit flying, wild gesturing, and an air of the melodramatic, good actors exercised self-control and focused on their craft, not on winning the most laughs or the loudest applause. Izembaro is an actor Shakespeare would have faulted for embodying the “HAM”. To illustrate, in “Mercy”, Izembaro gives the pit-attendants lots of overacting, and he stages popular themes starring a “king”. Elizabethan audiences enjoyed nothing better than to see one so great and powerful as a “king” fall in favor and die in a blood bath, often taking innocent victims with him. Izembaro satisfies his acting ego by casting himself as the king in the plays he chooses. Murder and rape are two events apparently enjoyed by The Gate lower-class regulars. The necessity of a dwarf is very much like one or a combination of Shakespeare’s many clowns. [i am writing a separate post that compares The Gate, the mummers, and the audience with the Elizabethan Theatre]. THE TEMPEST Tyrion Lannister, and now Bobono, remind me of a sympathetic character named Caliban who appears in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. [i have written elsewhere on The Tempest, comparing Ariel to Arya, so I am trying to be brief in this post – alas, I am never brief!] Caliban is “littered”, NOT BORN, of a witch and a devil, and his island home is overtaken by magician Prospero when his ship crashes upon the shore in a “tempest”, a storm at sea. Prospero treats the ugly creature Caliban well until Caliban attempts to rape Prospero’s daughter Miranda, an unforgiveable act for which the magician banishes Caliban from his home and continues to torment him, even enslaving him. Here are a few choice descriptions of Caliban from The Tempest: "Hag-born" "whelp," not "honoured with human shape." "Demi-devil." "Poor credulous monster." "Hag-seed." "Strange fish." These unkind epithets and phrases are but a few from the play, and they in word and content mirror words Martin has used to describe Tyrion – and in “Mercy”, Bobono’s speeches from The Bloody Hand bring to mind what I remembered of Shakespeare’s Caliban. “Bobono lowered his voice to a sinister croak. “The seven-faced god has cheated me,” he said. “My noble sire he made of purest gold, and gold he made my siblings, boy and girl. But I am formed of darker stuff, of bones and blood and clay, twisted into this rude shape you see before you.” AND “On stage, Bobono was bargaining with Marro’s sinister Stranger. . . “Give me the cup,” he told the Stranger, “for I shall drink deep. And if it tastes of gold and lion’s blood, so much the better. As I cannot be the hero, let me be the monster, and lesson them in fear in place of love.” Commonalities from “Mercy” and The Tempest are the references to “rape” and the words that describe the misunderstood monster Caliban, misshapen and parented by demons. Like words have been used to describe Tyrion and now Bobono’s role as Tyrion. Not unlike Caliban, Tyrion has been persecuted and maligned – the comparisons are more than I am crediting, and I apologize for not doing justice by expanding thoughts on this premise. But I am trying to end somewhere – and this post is already too long-winded. [but I am sure I will revisit Caliban and Tyrion, especially after recalling Caliban’s poetic language that makes him more human than a beast]. I am closing Part I with the lyrics to a Broadway song that plays in my head whenever I read and write about Arya performing her many, many roles. Fading silent-film star Norma Desmond sings of her glory days when she was loved and admired by those near and far. The fickle audiences welcomed talking films, and Norma did not transition well from silent to talking movies. But she remembers how good she was, reminding Miss Desmond boasts that she could/can “play any role”. In every line of verse, I see Arya Stark. But that’s just me. Maybe others will see Arya too. With One Look NORMA/ARYA With one look I can break your heart With one look I play every part I can make your sad heart sing With one look you'll know all you need to know With one smile I'm the girl next door Or the love that you've hungered for When I speak it's with my soul I can play any role No words can tell the stories my eyes tell Watch me when I frown, you can't write that down You know I'm right, it's there in black and white When I look your way, you'll hear what I say Yes, with one look I put words to shame Just one look sets the screen [sTAGE] aflame Silent music starts to play One tear in my eye makes the whole world cry With one look they'll forgive the past They'll rejoice I've returned at last To my people in the dark Still out there in the dark... Silent music starts to play With one look you'll know all you need to know With one look I'll ignite a blaze I'll return to my glory days They'll say, "Norma's [Arya’s] back at last!" This time I am staying, I'm staying for good I'll be back to where I was born to be With one look I'll be me! With One Look from the musical Sunset Boulevard [Norma Desmond] [http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/sunsetboulevard/withonelook.htm] TO COME: PART 2: THE ELIZABETHAN THEATRE IN “MERCY” PART 3: THE RECURRING “GREY” MISTS / FOGS as STAGING ELEMENTS and as INDICATORS of BRAN’S PRESENCE PART 4: THE WINDOW/DOOR MOTIFS and their RECURRENCE in “MERCY”

I am back on the forum after an absence - and I skimmed through several parts to this thread. Are we only allowed to post commentary on "Mercy" in this thread? Are we not allowed to use "Mercy" in the title of the topic? I have many ideas to contribute and maybe my ideas are suited for a separate thread. But I do not want to disobey any rules by starting a thread on "Mercy" as a "close reading". Has the connection to Elizabethan theatre audiences and Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" been discussed? [And all that it entails, including Portia's "Quality of Mercy" speech, her cross dressing, Shylock demanding his pound of flesh, and Shylock's delightful speech about life's inequities.] I believe I read here or in a topic title on the Forum an interest in the grey mists and fogs. I have traced this grey mist/fog since Bran's 3EC dream wherein Bran is shrouded and protected by the grey mist until the 3EC delivers him to his bed, after which the mist dissipates. Seven times does Martin mention the mist in this Bran POV alone. The grey mists are present during the blasphemous marriage beneath the heart tree in WF's godswood - and in several other POV's. The significance of this - which I have written about in other threads - the grey mist "can" suggest Bran's presence. We know he is visiting her dreams - she comes across a watchful tree in her wolf dream. {I have more - but I do not want to repeat what others have already said - or steal anyone's thunder! Thanks. I did not want to address a topic I may have inadvertently missed.

:bowdown: :bowdown: WOLFMAID7 and OTHERS: THANKS! I just found this thread! I will be reading as well. :cheers:

Since Gatsby has been mentioned, I just saw the trailer for the movie The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay and a host of amazing actors. They show Gatsby coming out of the “rain” – dripping – to reestablish a relationship with Daisy – but I didn’t see him knock the clock from the mantle. ( These are details other movie versions don’t include. Lots of other super scenes in the trailer: the party sequences, wow!) Since we have Gatsby fans, here’s the link for the trailer on YouTube: It is filmed in Three-D and looks visually magical. Now, which to see on Christmas day? – Les Miz? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1enONASZ4A or Gatsby? When will there be time for family, presents, and dinner? :drool: Also, since many in this thread are mentioning motifs from Gatsby similar to those in the reread POV’s, I thought I would offer up (from memory) a list I used to give to my students “regarding” their analytical papers on Gatsby; some of these motifs may evoke similar motifs in Martin. (I mention many of the motifs, but not all, I am sure, with briefly noted illustrations from the book, and forgive my memory. I may have misspelled names and misquoted). BTW – I never even considered the Gatsby Concordance until making this editing note! (I think the GC helps more in finding quotes – although I haven’t been there in years, honest). Magic – (now presenting the magician the ‘great’ Gatsby; floating cocktails, “seizes a cocktail out of air”; Gatsby vanishes at docks and “appears” at party – Nick doesn’t even know he is talking to his host, etc.) Detective Story/Crime/Spy/eavesdropping – (all the mystery around Gatsby; he killed a man; ) Alcohol – (Prohibition, sneaking liquor into hotel in NYC, etc.} Games – (“old sport”, Tom moves Nick around “like checker piece to another square”) Carnival / Circus /Performance- (balancing acts, literal and figurative; Daisy’s voice playing tricks in her throat, and more; partiers behave like people at “amusement park”; Belasco; “ticket of admission”; connects to Illusion versus Reality Motif below) America and American Dream- (Gatsby’s pursuit and downfall; connect Trimalchio; Nick’s butler named “Finn” – Huck, etc.) Roses, flowers, and gardens (rose colored glasses, Gatsby’s blue gardens, Daisy’s name; “she blossomed for him [Gatsby] like a flower”, Myrtle’s name, etc.) Cars -(Gatsby’s Vehicle; vehicle accidents, i.e., wheel off car at G’s party and Myrtle getting hit; transportation as status symbols – apply motif to horses in Martin, Mandrely’s litter, etc.) Money and the Color of Money- (Gold/Silver/Green, etc.; Daisy’s voice sounding like money, Gatsby wears a silver shirt and gold tie to meet Daisy, etc.) Cheating - (World Series fixed, Jordan cheats at golf, Tom cheating Gatsby; Gatsby cheats, or breaks the law, bootlegging to earn his wealth, etc.) Books -(Gatsby’s uncut books, Tom’s scientific books, Nick’s box of books and bond books, etc.) Colors- lavender, rose, red, white, and blue (lawns), gray, Gatsby’s white card, and more. Eyes- (TJ Eckleberg, Myrtle’s mascara smudged eyes, etc.) Fertility- (East and West Egg, Egg picture, Carraway seed, etc.) Unreliable Narrator -(Nick – gets hammered and sleeps with Mr. McKee? And other occasions when we ? our narrator, etc.) Jazz Age -(documents the history of a period) Dogs/Bitches (Myrtle, Tom buys Daisy a dog from a John D. Rockefeller look-alike, police dogs, etc.) Police (Upholders of justice who are, ironically, blind; Myrtle says “Call a policeman”; etc.) Nautical Motif -(Daisy and Jordan adrift on wine-dark carpet in Buchanan’s home; currents; ending line: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”– underlined ‘borne’ for it also goes with fertility motif ) Time (Trying to repeat the past, stopping time, clocks, railroad timetable, Myrtle looks for time on the ceiling, etc.) Christ-Figure- (Gatsby – crucified on his floatation device by George –Jay is stopped or trips three times while carrying it to pool? I can’t remember) Illusion Vs. Reality - (Gatsby believes in the “green light” – he seeks his illusion of Daisy; he is an illusion himself; this motif also connects with magic/carnival tricks) Search for Holy Grail and Knight Errant (Gatsby’s search for Daisy; Nick’s quest for order. etc.) Catholic Mass- (Chapter 3) the host, whisperings, brass rail, communion recipients like partiers, etc. (This is Ser Gatsby’s chapter, so I say nothing.) Patriotism -(Nick’s POV - “the republic” etc.) Military- (world at formal attention, uniforms, used in verbs as well, etc.) Bridges - (Brooklyn bridge, broken bridge of Myrtle’s nose) Ash/Dust/Aging (Valley of Ashes, George looks like a ghost and is already dead, etc.) Names (The people attending Gatsby’s parties & the significance of their names – the rotten crowd – represent corruption – “Rot-Gut’ Ferret, Leeches, Hornbeams, Edgar Beaver, Ulysses Swett, etc. ) Father/Son Motif (Nick quotes dad, Gatsby’s dad arrives too late) Morality (moral disorder – people breaking the law, drinking, hit and run, etc.) Fairies (Daisy Fey, an empty headed fool who flits about; ties in with illusion versus reality and Grail, etc.) Green (Green light [GO], green card, etc.) Telephone messages (think ravens – Tom’s mistress calls during Nick’s visit; Gatsby receives mysterious calls, etc.) Noses – (Myrtle’s broken nose, Meyer Wolfsheim’s nose and hairs; Brewer’s shot off nose,sticking nose in another's business, etc.) I recall Windows and Founding Fathers/Founding a Nation, but I cannot recall examples. Yikes! And it’s almost time for DWS. I hope this helps anyone comparing – or thinking of – drawing comparisons between Fitzgerald’s work and Martin’s. I am sure I also missed motifs, so add them in later posts, if you like. The motifs are ones that I myself can think of ASoIaF similarities; however, I am a 'details' person - I often miss the "whole" picture, if you know what I mean. I can find lots of evidence, but putting things all together as well as you people do, :bowdown: there I am limited, like Elphaba. :crying: I sure put my mind to use for once. Now to corrupt it with Maxim, Derrick, and Val. :devil:

Me too - our prof did the breakthrough work in FW, even wrote the Cliff Notes and lots of other analytical books. I should reread Joyce, for my great prof died a few months ago - so in his honor -

Good call on Joyce - what context is it used? :thumbsup: I haven't read FW for a while, but Joyce wrote with meticulous meanness, and he carefully places words in sentences to mean more than four things+- including his punctuation; i.e. Molly Bloom's menestration takes up an entire page with a PERIOD. :read:

Martin’s TEICHOSKOPIA, OR VIEW FROM THE WALL in DWD Perhaps this similarity between Martin’s VIEW FROM THE WALL in DWD and Homer’s TEICHOSKOPIA in the Iliad (lines 121-244) has already been addressed – I had noted it a while back, but never took time to write it up. In Homer’s Iliad, Book 3, Helen joins King Priam of Troy on his Trojan Wall to identify the Argive heroes as they pass; i.e., Odysseus, Menelaos, etc. Likewise, when Tormund Thunderfist meets Jon Snow at the Wall to lead the wildlings through the gate, the Hornblower identifies the various groups as they pass: hostages [men of renowned], men from Frozen Shore, warriors, etc. Both Helen and Tormund, through their authors, reveal more about the appearances and personalities of other characters in their works. Furthermore, Martin makes a ‘literary nod’ with irony and humor to Homer with his play on “A View from THE WALL”.

****Arya’s “no one”. Ancient Greek warrior and King Odysseus, known for his ‘brain not his brawn” is an epic hero who winkles his way out of difficult situations by using his mind. When Odysseus and his men are trapped in the cyclops’ cave, the giant one eyed Polyphemus grabbed a few men and dashed their heads against the wall, spilling out their brains. He then eats as Odysseus and his men weep. Wily Odysseus gets Polyphemous drunk on undiluted wine, during which Polyphemous asks Odysseus what his name is. Odysseus replies, “No One.” Polyphemous promises as his ‘guest gift’ he will eat “No One” last. Later, when Odysseus outwits the cyclops, blinding him, and the hero escapes Polyphemous’ Cave beneath the monster’s sheep, Polyphemous screams for his brother cyclopes to help him. They ask, “Who is hurting you?” Polyphemous says, “No one is trying to kill me!” His brothers roll their eyes and leave him. The Giant Wun Wun pulls apart Ser Patrick Florent in DWD in a fashion that echoes Homer’s description of Polyphemous killing members of King Odysseus’ crew. In Book Six of his epic The Odyssey. “Devoid of pity, he [Polyphemous] was silent in response, but leaping up laid hands on my crew. Two he seized and dashed to the ground like whelps, and their brains ran out and stained the earth. He tore them limb from limb for his supper, eating the flesh and entrails, bone and marrow, like a mountain lion, leaving nothing. Helplessly we watched these cruel acts, raising our hands to heaven and weeping.” Fortunately, Wun Wun is not a cannibal like Polyphemous.

In The Great Gatsby, Nick Caraway, the first person point of view narrator, warns Jay Gatsby: “You can’t repeat the past." "Can’t repeat the past?" he [Gatsby] cried incredulously. "Why of course you can!" (Gatsby 6) These words are similar to in DWD, Bloodraven tells Bran, “The past remains the past. We learn from it, but we can’t change it” (DWD 458). Similarly, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” also has a sunless sea: “Through caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea.” Leaf warns Bran and others[ Jojen and Meera] not to explore “The river you hear is swift and black, and flows down and down to a sunless sea (453).

In ASOIF Martin weaves within his prose references to classic literature: thus, plot elements in DWD mirror those in Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar. This is deliberate on Martin’s part for he even borrows direct quotes, such as, "Cowards die many times before their deaths, / The valiant never taste of death but once" Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37). Check out Jojen Reed’s analogy of Bran’s greenseer abilities after they are “Martinized”: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . . The man who never reads lives only one”. Jon Snow parallels Julius Caesar, whose friend Marcus Brutus [black brother Bowen Marsh] joins, then heads, a conspiracy to stop Caesar’s growing power by assassinating him in the Capital. Likewise, Lord Commander Jon Snow is betrayed by his sworn brothers of the Night’s Watch, stabbed in the presence of shocked onlookers. [A theme in JC is the “mob” mentality – how easily they switch sides and how vulnerable they are to manipulation ]. Shakespeare sets up his characterization of JC by making him arrogant, dismissing all the many, many warnings he receives in advance of his death. A Soothsayer bids him “Beware the Ides of March,” much like Melisandre warns Jon Snow of her fire visions – ‘daggers in the dark’. A ‘Night Watch’ reports to JC of strange events in Rome – a lioness hath whelped in the middle of the street. Compare this to Ghost and Mormont’s raven behaving strangely, seemingly aware of some danger their master is ill-equipped to perceive himself. [Lots of really weird stuff happened in Rome ‘supposedly’ the night before JC’s death – I just picked one; for instance, the graves also opened to yield their dead, which parallels ASOIF and the white walkers] Caesar meets with several conspirators before the deed just as JS meets with Bowen Marsh. It is Brutus’ stab that is the “unkindest cut of all” and prompts “Et tu, Brute. Then fall Caesar”, after which Caesar collapses at the foot of Pompey’s Statue. Similarly, Bowen Marsh stabs JS, after which JS drops to his knees, whispers ‘Ghost’, grunts, and falls face first in the snow. On the other hand, many, many marked differences exist between JC and JS (For instance, JC is stabbed 33 times, JS only four ‘that we know of’.). These intimations I noted are fun literary quizzes, and I think Martin likes to mix it up with artistic nods to the classics in his work. Dolores Ed describes Septon Cellador, Othell Yarwyk, and Bowen Marsh as follows: “They have a hungry look about them . . . “ (517), which echoes Julius Caesar’s remarks to Marc Antony regarding the head conspirator Caius Cassius: “Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look, / He thinks too much; such men are dangerous” (Julius Caesar Act 1, scene 2, 190–195). Moreover, in Jon Connington’s POV, Varys tells him: “Those who die heroic deaths are long remembered, thieves and drunks and cravens soon forgot” (311). From Antony’s funeral oration come these similar words: “The evil that men do lives after them; / The good is oft interred with their bones (Julius Caesar Act 1II, scene 2). Note the twist in meaning between the two quotes – a sign that Martin is having some fun? In Julius Caesar, Cassius compares Caesar to a Colossus, which mirrors Martin’s the Titan of Braavos from AFFC. CASSIUS says to Brutus: Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonourable graves. (Act 1. Scene II) The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the seven wonders of the world, an enormous statue that straddled the Harbor of Rhodes, and sailors had to sail beneath its feet. From Wiki: “The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes on the Greek island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.” On AFFC, Arya sails beneath the Titan’s legs: “the Titan towered with his eyes blazing and his long green hair blowing in the wind. . . His legs bestrode the gap, one foot planted on each mountain . . .” (128). Martin even calls him Titan. Shakespeare also borrowed his info from Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans.