Baths

[Morsker]

The reason is that Elayne does not take frequent onscreen baths. I was going to point that out in another thread, and then I realized that I didn't feel like looking for all the bath scenes so I could show how few there really were. So I asked here, to make the point. I get sick of hearing people whine about baths.

Is "frequent baths" an old complaint, or did it follow in the wake of CoT complaints that included Elayne's bath? In the latter case, I'd view it as a rumor that distorts in the telling. CoT made a lot of people feel betrayed or outraged, and that's not the best state of mind for keeping facts straight.

[David Selig]

Clearly it's the CoT bath scene which led to the notoriety of the Elayne's bath scenes in general. It was too long and it also became a kind of a symbol of what people complained about in CoT - no plot movement and too much scenes of character doing mundane things described in extreme detail.

[FarShainMael]

@FarShainMael Its probably just me, but I found that post ridiculously entertaining, to the point of tears :P

 

I think I know what you mean...

[Terez]

Clearly it's the CoT bath scene which led to the notoriety of the Elayne's bath scenes in general. It was too long and it also became a kind of a symbol of what people complained about in CoT - no plot movement and too much scenes of character doing mundane things described in extreme detail.

That's completely ignoring the fact that some very important things happened during that bath. It wasn't just a bath scene described in great detail to no purpose at all.

[David Selig]

That's completely ignoring the fact that some very important things happened during that bath. It wasn't just a bath scene described in great detail to no purpose at all.

"Very important" is stretching it a lot IMO, but yes, there was plot development there, and IMO there are quite a few much more bloated and pointless scenes in the books 7-11, which makes the hate for this one a bit puzzling. But I guess the reason for this is the usual Elayne hate among the WoT fandom, and the Sea Folk behaving in tan even more arrogant and condescending manner than usual throughout this scene didn't help matters either.

[Morsker]

Inaccurate complaints about CoT are sufficiently explained as satire. They aren't trying to be accurate, but they aren't trying to be dishonest either; satire is something else. I think Brandon Sanderson has the best analysis of why middle books, especially CoT, upset some people; there are simply too many characters. But what people dislike, and how they satire it, are two different things; satire has to be funny after all. So we see satire of bath scenes and clothing descriptions, because it makes the point and is funny, even if it's not the highest quality analysis people would put forth if truth were their only goal.

[WhiskyJack]

Commoners looked like pirates back then and nobility simply used Perfume.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

back when?

[WhiskyJack]

back when?

 

When we had nobility . Well atleast for most humans. Some still do have them.

[b3arz3rg3r]

back when?

 

When we had nobility . Well atleast for most humans. Some still do have them.

 

 

While the western civilisation, meaning europe and it's offshots in the america and australia, was rather backwards in comparison to the other civilised people when it came to hygiene since the fall of the roman empire and the rise of the smelly germanic peoples until the 18th/19th century, what you describe only holds true for europe in the time of absolutism between 1600 and 1800, when they thought bathing was unhealthy. Apart from that phase baths were usually quite popular if you could afford them.

[FarShainMael]

Commoners looked like pirates back then and nobility simply used Perfume.

 

IIRC, the Sea Folk use scent boxes!

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i thought that was to cover the scent of non-seafolk.

[Terez]

I always figured it was some salt water or something. Like smelling salts? The best cure for fainting ladies.

[b3arz3rg3r]

I always figured it was some salt water or something. Like smelling salts? The best cure for fainting ladies.

 

Nah, the Seafolk remedy for fainting ladies has been a good dunking in the sea for over 2,000 years.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i thought the scent boxes were like the things we put fragrant herbs in on shabbas and say a blessing over. i think priests do something similar? smelling salts are salts of ammonia, and you wouldn't keep them around your neck for long. i kind of likened the use of scent boxes among seafolk to the scented handkerchief bit the nobles do when they're afraid of smelling commoners.

 

i think to cover their own scent they'd use the scented wax in the hair, or slather the cologne as someone said.

 

we're going to need a seance with RJ one of these days to straighten some things out.