Arts and Majesty
| Arts and Majesty | |
|---|---|
| Type | Treatise |
| World of Origin | Roshar |
| Universe | Cosmere |
Arts and Majesty is an ancient work of Rosharan literature that has come to define the Vorin ideas of masculine and feminine arts.[1][2] It defines certain topics and practices as feminine or masculine; the feminine arts are generally those that can be practiced with a single hand, while the masculine arts involve both hands, associating delicacy with women and brute force with men.[3] The idea of the safehand comes from this distinction between one-handed and two-handed arts.[2]
History[edit]
“A woman wanting to come to the battlefield was like … well, like a man wanting to read. Unnatural. ”
—Dalinar[4]
Arts and Majesty was written by a female artist[2][3] well before the Day of Recreance.[5] It may not have had much influence on culture before the Recreance; soon afterward, however, some men in power came across it and began emphasizing it to justify keeping Shardblades and Shardplate away from women.[6][7] As retaliation, a movement of women ensured that writing and literacy moved fully into the domain of women.[2] Hoid jokingly observed that the female author of the treatise made sure to categorize "fun" activities as feminine, while leaving more dangerous activities to the men.[8]
The division between masculine and feminine arts became part of Vorin culture over the next few decades[5] and remained solidly in place thousands of years later, with the safehand and the femininity of writing being especially prominent in day-to-day life. Arts and Majesty itself also stayed well-known despite its age, at least among upper-class lighteyes.[1] The division in duties was among the reasons that the Alethi set up large warcamps on the Shattered Plains where families could live, as women were in charge of various essential household functions.[9]
In modern Vorin culture, practices that were explicitly mentioned in Arts and Majesty could be considered "prime" or "major" arts.[2] The gender division of these arts was strictly adhered to, and even simple interest in an art of the opposite gender was thought of as "unnatural".[4] In some cases, the distinction between the arts moved beyond a mere cultural norm and gained religious overtones; men who could write, for example, could actually be seen as blasphemous and not just strange.[10] Ardents were considered genderless and could technically pursue the arts of either gender.[11] However, cultural norms still influenced ardents; for example, it was rare for a female ardent to practice swordsmanship.[12]
Practices that were not categorized by Arts and Majesty could generally be performed by anyone.[1] Arts that combine a masculine and feminine discipline—such as carving, which has elements of both carpentry and art—could be practiced by men, women, or a team of both depending on their personal faith and interpretation of the doctrine.[13] If a new art was developed, church leaders and traditionalists would likely have discussions about how to categorize it.[14]
The re-emergence of female Knights Radiant who capably wield Shardblades has challenged Vorin notions of female propriety.[15] Some lighteyes have proved that they can quickly adapt to the notion of a female military commander.[16]
Arts[edit]
Feminine[edit]
- reading and writing[17]
- painting and drawing[18]
- science[17] (e.g., zoology, botany, and natural history)[19]
- logic[17]
- playing musical instruments[20]
Masculine[edit]
Unspecified/Neutral[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- The idea of the safehand and the division between one-handed and two-handed arts arose from Brandon's fascination with different taboos across real-life cultures.[6]
- Brandon acknowledges that it is relatively easy to find examples wherein maintaining the one-handed limitation of the feminine arts would be illogical for everyday life; however, he notes that real-life cultural norms can also be impractical.[14]
- LEGO building would probably be considered a feminine art; since it is difficult to do one-handed, though it might end up being mostly done with two hands behind the scenes anyway.[14]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ a b c d Words of Radiance chapter 25#
- ↑ a b c d e Words of Radiance Seattle signing
— Arcanum - 2014-03-08# - ↑ a b Goodreads WoK Fantasy Book Club Q&A
— Arcanum - 2010-12-01# - ↑ a b c The Way of Kings chapter 26#
- ↑ a b Firefight Phoenix signing
— Arcanum - 2015-01-21# - ↑ a b Arcanum Unbounded Seattle signing
— Arcanum - 2016-12-01# - ↑ FanX Spring 2019
— Arcanum - 2019-04-19# - ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 55#
- ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 28#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 12#
- ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 33#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 44#
- ↑ YouTube Livestream 6
— Arcanum - 2020-04-23# - ↑ a b c General Reddit 2019
— Arcanum - 2019-10-11# - ↑ Oathbringer chapter 9#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 73#
- ↑ a b c The Way of Kings chapter 3#
- ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 5#
- ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 7#
- ↑ a b The Way of Kings chapter 57#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 39#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 65#
- ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 31#
- ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 8#
- ↑ Calamity Chicago signing
— Arcanum - 2016-02-22# - ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 76#