tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453345467999579885.post5873929736543393388..comments2023-12-18T07:25:38.583-05:00Comments on Burning My Study: Scotland, trenches, and RushdieBeatricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09532912919556200160noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453345467999579885.post-38889293988758851932013-02-04T10:47:59.677-05:002013-02-04T10:47:59.677-05:00The whole "origin story" is told via a s...<i>The whole "origin story" is told via a song sung by drunken Athos, where there is a repeating line "in the count's estate there is a black pond, lilies bloom there" and then the big reveal is that there is Milady's naked shoulder and "a lily blooms there" and then Athos sketches the brand lily shape on the wall with charcoal and SHOOTS it.</i><br /><br />That is awesome. <br />Beatricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09532912919556200160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453345467999579885.post-64385608455969218842013-02-02T06:15:01.759-05:002013-02-02T06:15:01.759-05:00yeah, I think I also figured that out when I re-re...yeah, I think I also figured that out when I re-read it in my early twenties, but the question of why it took the hunt to reveal the lily that triggered the other revelations remained. I actually think the lily brand was burned (haha) in my brain because that's the thing that is focused on in the Soviet movie-musical of Three Musketeers that was incredibly popular and on TV often, and that I saw many times as a child. The whole "origin story" is told via a song sung by drunken Athos, where there is a repeating line "in the count's estate there is a black pond, lilies bloom there" and then the big reveal is that there is Milady's naked shoulder and "a lily blooms there" and then Athos sketches the brand lily shape on the wall with charcoal and SHOOTS it. <br /><br /><i>Actually, someone who has that reaction is probably the type of guy who wanted the lights out and the nightshirt on during sex.</i><br /><br />good call!!apopheniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659604950967400955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453345467999579885.post-27277260748479172782013-02-01T13:19:33.862-05:002013-02-01T13:19:33.862-05:00Yes, I always wondered about why Athos hadn't ...Yes, I always wondered about why Athos hadn't seen her shoulder before too! And then D'Artagnan has sex with her and doesn't see the brand until afterwards, and it's explicitly stated later in the scene that he is bare-ass naked. So why wasn't Milady? Seventeenth-century lingerie? Who knows? <br /><br />It seems, as an adult reader, that the real betrayal as far as Athos is concerned is not that she is a convicted criminal but that her "brother" was actually her lover, and so she didn't come to him (Athos) a virgin. So naturally he strings her up on the nearest tree, because what else are you going to do with a sexually confident woman? Actually, someone who has that reaction is probably the type of guy who wanted the lights out and the nightshirt on during sex. Beatricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09532912919556200160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453345467999579885.post-19634635548491169012013-02-01T13:19:06.855-05:002013-02-01T13:19:06.855-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Beatricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09532912919556200160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453345467999579885.post-27460348628592970132013-02-01T12:37:14.665-05:002013-02-01T12:37:14.665-05:00and sorry, that was Nica, forgot to sign. and sorry, that was Nica, forgot to sign. apopheniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659604950967400955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453345467999579885.post-53368887467351171312013-02-01T12:36:31.993-05:002013-02-01T12:36:31.993-05:00I loved Three Musketeers when younger and still do...I loved Three Musketeers when younger and still do in some ways although like with many other books (hello Thomas Hardy) the misogyny of them became clear to me only when I re-read them as an adult (apropos of your earlier post). For me the misogyny in the whole Milady story was at the utmost whoa in the "origin story" of how Athos treated her when he discovered she was branded (also when I was younger I kept wondering why it took a horseback riding accident for him to see her naked shoulder--didn't they get naked when they had s-e-x?). 20 Years After I found kinda boring for the first part but really engrossing in the second part (probably because I liked the dynamic of the four of them reuniting for a common goal). apopheniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659604950967400955noreply@blogger.com