How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
They would assume she was a boy because in her plain trousers and hood she looked like one, and because when people were attacked it never occurred to anyone that it might have been a girl. (1.17)
Which, we suppose, is kind of a good thing, right? For girls at least. It's not so good for boys though, since it implies that it's easy for people to imagine a boy attacking someone, and that doesn't seem to place boys in the most favorable light. Then again, maybe the point here is that people don't think girls are physically strong or agile enough to stage an attack, in which case this comment becomes a slight to girls and a nod to boys for their physical superiority. Tough choice. What do you think?
Quote #2
She wasn't normal. A girl Graced with killing, a royal thug? A girl who didn't want the husbands Randa pushed on her, perfectly handsome and thoughtful men, a girl who panicked at the thought of a baby at her breast, or clinging to her ankles. (3.49)
Because of the way her society defines womanhood and femininity, Katsa draws the conclusion that she is not normal because she doesn't want a husband or children and she's stronger than most men. Do you think things are vastly different in the world today? What does modern society make of a woman who doesn't want a husband or children? How about a woman who is very physically strong?
Quote #3
When the king wished her to dress for dinner, it meant she was to wear a dress and arrange her hair and wear jewels in her ears and around her neck. It meant the king planned to sit her next to some underlord who wished a wife, though she was probably not the wife he had in mind. (6.29)
We're guessing there were plenty of women in Randa's court who would have loved to take Katsa's place at those dinners, just as there are many women out here in the real world who would relish the chance to get dressed up, have their hair done, throw on some jewels, and be seated next to an eligible bachelor or two. But these are exactly all of the things Katsa hates rolled into dinner. Nightly. Which must make it very difficult for her to continue to rebel against society's traditional expectations of women.