Rand's Harem

[Paviel]

I am pretty sure that Elayne had no idea that her... dalliance... with Rand might get her pregnant with even one child, let alone two.

 

Considering how she acted in Rand's presence towards the beginning of tSR (i.e. asking him for a kiss on the spur of the moment, even though beforehand she decided NOT to be as forward as Berelain had been), I think it's safe to say that Rand's presence lowers her inhibitions and... um, clouds her judgment.

 

So I wouldn't accuse Elayne of exploiting Rand for political gains. She even kept it quiet that she was carrying his children.

[trakand_01]

She had no idea that she would become pregnant, and indeed no idea that she WAS pregnant, until Birgitte and Aviendha informed her so, of Min's viewings. For several days/weeks she thought there was only one child, until a Wise One (I forget her name) told her there were two.

 

She intentionally harbours the rumours that Doilin Mellar (Daved Hanlon) is the father, so as to avert interest from the Dragon's children, and save them (and her) being targets.

 

I wonder how Rand would react if he heard that Elayne was pregnant with a guardsman's babies...  ;D

 

Quite frankly i'm amazed Min hasnt told him. Imagine keeping that quiet.

[benr]

Well!  If Elayne had no idea that she would become pregnant with Rand, RJ should have written in some sex education classes.  Maybe Rand's Acadamies could handle that.

[Paviel]

Either that, or no amount of sex education would have helped Elayne. The evidence has led me to believe that Rand's presence addles her mind. Or maybe his ta'veren influence affects her particualrly badly, though that really amounts to the same thing.

 

And another thing: Elayne may well choose to name her son after her lover, but there is no evidence of that one way or the other. That is, it's a bit premature to say that she's pregnant with Rand. :)

[trakand_01]

Thing is, there were no 'precautions' in those days - the method was to drink heartsleaf tea in order, i believe, to slow the menstrual cycle (or stop it entirely) a little like the pill. I seem to remember some of Min's POV's discussing her drinking it in a morning. I think it is something which has to be done over a period of time (just as taking one pill will not cover you for any duration at all), and as Elayne made a snap decision when she discovered Rand was in the palace, she really didnt have any time to do that.

[anamul]

First of all, RJ hasn't written the trio as "Harem". It sounds like women are sub-human, kept in house for merely entertainment purpose.

 

Rand as Taveren has some issue with it. Mat always had a way with women, I guess him being Taveren come to it as well. So is Perrin.

 

Aiel's culture support polygamy. It is fictional. In real life, even among the Muslim, polygamy is considered disgusting.It is discouraged strongly.

You have to have first wife's consent to marry a second one...not to mention the consent of the second person whom you are going to marry as well.

The consent would have to be spontaneous...without social and other kind of coercing. Otherwise it is considered as one of the greatest sin.

 

So you see, if one follow the rule, there is a very little chance...less than little chance to marry more than one woman in Islam.

 

There is some polygamy in Islam, but most of them are illegal on Islamic point of view and thus the person engaged in such is or will burn in hell.(According to rules, so if one is a believer, one can't take advantage).

 

As it is, there is no problem if it is in fiction, but in real life I consider polygamy as a short road to disaster. There was a reason...a very good reason for banning it. And why would any woman want to share a man, that escapes me completly. Here is no Taveren here people.

 

Are women less jelous of their partner than male???

 

[trakand_01]

I personally, could not share a man, however I do understand how others can. I knew a family for a while where the parents were married, yet the father and mother both had other partners. They lived together as a conventional family in the week, and the father spent time with his girlfriend at the weekend, whilst the mother saw her boyfriend.

 

I do not believe that we are all born monogamous, some people simply do not have the ability to be so - just as some people are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual, so are some people simply heart and soul polygamists. This family had a good arrangement and they were happy - they both loved each other, but recognised that they both needed more than simply each other. They received enough attention from each other, and got some extra from elsewhere.

 

In the case of Elayne/Min/Aviendha, I think it's a case of 'share him or lose him' - they'd rather share him, than lose him entirely.

[Majsju]

It  might be worth keeping in mind that RJ pulled the concept of three women sharing one man directly from his own experience, and he claims that worked perfectly fine.

 

 

[sunshine + gasoline]

^ Thanks for the great image of RJ having sex. It's almost as bad as imgining my parents having sex for some reason. Gross! :-\

[Mr Ares]

^ Thanks for the great image of RJ having sex. It's almost as bad as imgining my parents having sex for some reason. Gross! :-\

Could be worse. You could imagine RJ having sex with your parents.

[anamul]

It  might be worth keeping in mind that RJ pulled the concept of three women sharing one man directly from his own experience, and he claims that worked perfectly fine.

 

 

Don't tell me Harriet was fine with RJ having affaire with other women? Blood and bloody ashesh...whats the world coming to. I never knew. Always assumed RJ loved only Harriet.

 

Well, according to my opinion, when a man can love other woman, while in love with one, he can fall in love with a lot of them, through out his life. That means he/she isn't going to be restricted to two or three.

 

bisexual and other stuff is one thing....but I don't believe polygamy as something people can be born with. It seems like an excuse.

 

Yeah, and perfect love is very very rare, so I guess, people tends to fall in with more than one or two in their life span.

 

Whate-ever polygamy is, I for one isn't going to condone it, we make peace with other thingy like bisexual, homosexual.....but this will devastate the civilization....again.So people no more than one wife ...please.

[aussie_ashaman123]

Polygamy came around in places that were extremely difficult to survive. The idea being a more powerful hunter/provider could feed a larger family and have more strong children to help the tribe/clan survive. Traditional polygamy was prevalent in Arabia, most of Africa, the Australian Aborigines, the tribes of the pacific, the Mongolians, pre-christian Scandanavians, in other words, where life was harsh and survival hard.

 

Which is why the Aiel probably follow it.

[argonath]

Even the Aes Sedai practice polygamy of a sort.

 

Cant remember the book, but when Moiraine was poking fun at Lan about his leash being passed onto Myrelle... there was a point made that Myrelle may have secretly MARRIED all of her Warders.

 

How many Aes Sedai get cozy with their warders without having to go through a marriage ceremony?  Is it any different to be intimate with your 3 warders that you have had with you day and night for decades?