To respond to your first point, I see the socially inept Cordelia of the past that Cordelia describes to Aral on Sergyar as one end of a long arc of personal development that culminates in the end of Barrayar to produce the centered Cordellia we see in all the books published after Barrayar was written.
This tale is one of repeatedly learning A) not to let others define you and B) to assert herself -- Cordellia first realizes the mistake she made in stepping aside to let her then-lover become Betan Survey Ship Captain and seizes her chance to become Captain on the next time around.
Cordellia is able to function well reasonably well as Captain (in Shards), although her crew clearly is willing to ignore her authority (although this may say more about them than about Cordellia! ;-). Later, Cordellia is still somewhat socially awkward in not being able to assert herself when she returns as "hero" to Beta Colony. Nor is she able to assert herself versus her mother when the Beta psychologists try to "treat" her -- her mother and her are clearly unable to communicate with each other (at that point in Cordellia's life). Her flight to Barrayar is Cordellia's next step in learning to assert herself (and not define herself as a "good, obedient Betan citizen").
Cordellia then tentatively starts to explore what her role may be in Barrayar's society when events intervene. Ultimately, this results in her defying Aral and asserting the primacy of her own needs and duties as mother in rescuing Miles-to-be. From that point onward, Cordellia is consistently portrayed as being completely centered in who she is.
Mark, at one point in A Civil Campaign, muses about Cordellia as a model for Kareen and thinks about the fact that Cordellia doesn't brook any nonsense from anyone but "had to walk barefoot through fire" in order to obtain this quality. I always have taken as a reference to the events in the book Barrayar.
Woman who must learn to travel this "arc of assertion" is a recurring theme for LMB. It crops up with Elena, who eventually grows beyond Barrayar's definition that "real people" are soliders, and then decides to quit the military and have a child. It shows up with Ekaterin, who in A Civil Campaign self-describes herself as having difficulty in even asking strangers for directions (and is completely clueless as to how one might engage in a love affair) but, ultimately, by the end of Diplomatic Immunity is, as Lady Vorkosigan, treating with the Cetegandan Empire. That's a considerable arc of developing self-assertion (and, unfortunately for us readers, it mostly happens off-stage).
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-09-06 12:41 pm (UTC)This tale is one of repeatedly learning A) not to let others define you and B) to assert herself -- Cordellia first realizes the mistake she made in stepping aside to let her then-lover become Betan Survey Ship Captain and seizes her chance to become Captain on the next time around.
Cordellia is able to function well reasonably well as Captain (in Shards), although her crew clearly is willing to ignore her authority (although this may say more about them than about Cordellia! ;-). Later, Cordellia is still somewhat socially awkward in not being able to assert herself when she returns as "hero" to Beta Colony. Nor is she able to assert herself versus her mother when the Beta psychologists try to "treat" her -- her mother and her are clearly unable to communicate with each other (at that point in Cordellia's life). Her flight to Barrayar is Cordellia's next step in learning to assert herself (and not define herself as a "good, obedient Betan citizen").
Cordellia then tentatively starts to explore what her role may be in Barrayar's society when events intervene. Ultimately, this results in her defying Aral and asserting the primacy of her own needs and duties as mother in rescuing Miles-to-be. From that point onward, Cordellia is consistently portrayed as being completely centered in who she is.
Mark, at one point in A Civil Campaign, muses about Cordellia as a model for Kareen and thinks about the fact that Cordellia doesn't brook any nonsense from anyone but "had to walk barefoot through fire" in order to obtain this quality. I always have taken as a reference to the events in the book Barrayar.
Woman who must learn to travel this "arc of assertion" is a recurring theme for LMB. It crops up with Elena, who eventually grows beyond Barrayar's definition that "real people" are soliders, and then decides to quit the military and have a child. It shows up with Ekaterin, who in A Civil Campaign self-describes herself as having difficulty in even asking strangers for directions (and is completely clueless as to how one might engage in a love affair) but, ultimately, by the end of Diplomatic Immunity is, as Lady Vorkosigan, treating with the Cetegandan Empire. That's a considerable arc of developing self-assertion (and, unfortunately for us readers, it mostly happens off-stage).