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Raistlin Unveiled Not tested on animals Disclaimer: The Author of the article assumes no responsibility for being political incorrect nor that he in any way harms small furry creatures or does perverted things to his frozen dinner. This is piece is a shortened form and some of the theory may be missing. Please read it twice, first read it liberally and try to be open-minded if it is at all possible. Then read it thoroughly and comment eventually on flaws and weak points (some inserted for the sake of argument ;) to make this theory better. Fistandantilus, Crysania-part excluded to prevent the discussion of Raist being gay or not till later. Raistlin is in many ways the personification of humankind, with his (or as we will see: hers) great potential to be good or evil. Raistlin's choices are choices most of us luckily won't face, and his or her tormented life is far beyond the scope of John Doe's (excluding John Doe in the great movie Seven) life. When someone in Raistlin's undying fan-club managed to tell the world that Raistlin was the epitome of masculinity, I stopped in my tracks, and looked around for something strong to drink in an attempt to quell my contempt for the poor use of free speech. No tequila was nearby, and I felt that I had to write a small piece about Raistlin, and why I felt that she(!) was one of the most feminine characters in Krynnish history, and that she could easily have been female (really logical) and not necessarily what she appears in the novels. This document and article (this is actually a rewritten piece as the original article is lost in time and cyberspace) was written long before Raist showed her matronly side in Dragons of Summer Flame, and one got stronger evidence for Raistlin actually being a woman or at least having an excess of female qualities and characteristics. And yes, this is also a tribute to all of womankind who fight for their rights :) To put the conclusion up first; Raistlin was and is a woman. As we all know, medieval society was a male-dominated society where women were suppressed and were never able to fulfill their lives in the ways men did. When the men went to Israel in mighty Crusades, the women stayed home. When men learnt to write, learnt history, taught theology, studied philosophy and science, the women were stuck home with embroidery and knitting. Raistlin was ambitious, and there's nothing wrong with ambition, but as she was born weak, woman, and ugly she could in normal circumstances never be a warrior, magician, nor be married to a rich noble. Yes, there were women among the magicians, like Ladonna, Jenna (Justarius' daughter), and maybe some elves, but it is a fact (from statistical studies of old records) that there were only 1 female for every 23 male in the Order, and for a poor country girl with no high-up and mighty friends like Ladonna and Jenna, she had a slim (if not non-existing) chance of becoming a mage. Raist knew from the start that if she was ever to succeed she'd have to pretend she was male. Ha!, you say, you forget about the Test, they'd know it there. Yes, you may be right, but as it is known the Leader of the Conclave (Par-Salian) is the one who makes the final decision, and the one who is given the information from the magical test. Par-Salian is a well known liberal, who bed with black robes, is ordered around by senile geriatric mages (read: Fizban), and was at some point a marble pillar (kinky if you ask me :). Par-Salian saw Paladine's new sword in Raistlin's extreme will for magic and power, a will which drove her to cross-dressing (Yikes). Grumble, you might say, and laugh a bit, and then figure out that some must have known. Well, honestly I think some knew. Caramon did of course know of Raistlin's cross-dressing (if you call a robe women's clothing), but he was always Raistlin's petty slave, cook, servant, compatriot, friend, etc. Raist's biggest problem was her sister Kitiara, who through the strength of her arm and good looks could flaunt her sex, and make shish kebab of people who wanted to take advantage of her, and of what I've heard she never failed to do so (Tanis excluded, of course). Kitiara was there when Raist was born and fought for her from the early beginning. Kitiara and Raistlin had a special understanding and a bond Caramon never understood nor could be part of. Kitiara fought for Raist's life, and always wanted the best for her little sister, but Raist hated her for 'knowing' it all, in the same way she hated her stronger brother. Kitiara was always the pain in the arse, and with her bodyguard Lord Soth she was extremely hard to kill without a wand of lightning (which Dalamar used with great success). Raist's upbringing was a tough one, and that we may all agree on. For Raist's luck it is difficult to tell boys and girls apart at that age, and already when very young he attended the small school a local mage had. The mage who ran the school, could not turn away such a great talent, despite the fact that Raist was from a poor family and a girl. The mage hated his order and the society for not respecting and treating women and men alike. He had seen so many talented females been turned away, been sexually abused by older mages, been used as guinea pigs in experiments beyond imagination and many other things unheard of in our western and liberal society. The old mage wanted to give one girl a real chance to fight back, and equal opportunities as boys from rich families. Raist went to the school and proved the old mage's hunch of Raist's talent. To help Raist survive while not at school, the mage had a spell on her that made her look like a young boy more than a girl. Needless to say, the old mage fulfilled his last dream, but his deed was misunderstood by at least 99% of the readers. Hey!, you shout loudly, 'Raist had a child'. And then you think of the tale with the irda. As is well known for most of the educated, the Staff of Magius had a 'change self' spell, which Raist constantly used, and when we think of irdas we sure know how those change their shapes in every possible direction. It is extremely likely that an irda may change sex, and if the tale is true Raist may have become pregnant and given the child to an elderly childless couple in a small rural village, or if the irda became pregnant we all know the story. (DoSF support this theory, as a side comment you have a line in DoSF p.91 "At least she'd discovered that Raistlin was a "he", something she hadn't been certain about." which of course shows that rumours may make people _certain_ :) Hmmpf, I hear you say. You probably can't see why a slender person with delicate fingers (Yum!) and wheezing voice may be female. I can't see why a long-haired and slender person with delicate features cannot be a woman. Is it masculinity to care for gully dwarves, or care for the weak in our society. Is Mother Theresa male when she cares for lepers in India? Naahh.. those are generally considered feminine traits. Is ambition, being manipulative and will to rule a strictly male trait, and should Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, and Margaret Thatcher (!) be males? I think not. There is more feminine characteristics with Raist, but you never thought of it that way, eh? Hey, why does Margaret and Tracy write of Raist as 'him' then? Valid point, but we all know that Mr.Holmes' "Dr. Watson" was a woman, and Margaret and Tracy (Hi, to you two) may have found a most devious way of expressing support for the weak in our society. As Tracy said, Raist started out meant as a man, but this might have evolved as the book continued, and new sides to Raistlin were discovered. Raistlin was and is a woman! quod erat demonstrandum Please, do not see this as an attempt to ruin Raist's honour or value, rather the opposite. See Raist as a woman struggling against the society as a whole to show the world that women could climb to the top of the peek. Raist's tribute at the end of the Legends where she sacrifices herself to prove that women are not fighting a man's game and by their rules but her own and with rules as women. The Dark Queen are playing a male game where winning is only measured in what one conquers. Raist let the Dark Queen win, and thereby removing all trace of victoryfeeling the Dark Queen may have had. Raist had won by the male rules but to show that she really did not care, she stepped down instead of grabbing the victory, thereby being the real winner. (Of course nobody told the Dark Queen this, but the other gods made a mental note, except for Gilean who was reading his books for the 24,256,986,321th time :) Judge Raist by her deeds and not her sex. And if you judge her by her sex you'll see that succeeding by male terms is even tougher if you're female. And for you morons and otherwise totally unintelligent scumbags with the wits of an average lorry tire who now wants to flame me or send me nice incarnating mails, your mail will go straight to /dev/null (for non-unix people, it is the eq. of a black hole) "Raistlin Unveiled" © Stig Erik Sandoe |
