How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
At other times, they made portraits of her dressed in the finest silks of the age, smiling behind a fan, or leaning on a pillar; and on another occasion, when she was sixteen, they drew her nude, for an engraving, with lines and letters that identified places upon her body. (1.2.6)
"They" happen to be the men of the house, and the woman here is Octavian's mom, Cassiopeia. This all sounds lovely doesn't it? Only if you read a little closer, the men are actually turning a nude drawing of Cassiopeia into one of those medical posters of the human body that you see in a doctor's office—you know, the ones with all the body parts pointed out. In this case, we're guessing they're using the poster to help them "understand" the black female. If this passage seems a little off and freaky to you, you're not wrong.
Quote #2
Increasingly, I was in awe of her majesty, and did not know what I might say to please her. I fear now that I failed to engage her; that I was too sallow a character. Indeed, as time went on and I reached my seventh, and then my eighth, year, I became aware of how dull my wit was when confronted with her beauty, how drab my bearing; and so, gradually, I came to stand in relation her as another admirer, seeking a few words, a kiss, a sign of favor. I vied for her attention only as one man of many. She smiled upon me to chasten the others, to spurn their envious glances at me when I was taken by her up to bed. (1.9.6)
Yes—that's his mother Octavian's talking about. And yes—the whole description of their relationship seems a little incestuous, but we're not going to dwell on that so much as the fact that Octavian clearly idolizes his mother like she's the Madonna (as in Virgin Mary, not the pop singer although—hey—that could work too).
We're not entirely sure why this is, though, since she doesn't seem to coddle him; in fact, she seems a little distant most of the time. But maybe that's why she's so appealing to Octavian and all the other men—she creates distance, which maybe makes her into more of an object than a person.
Quote #3
"This is no banter, sir. This is no game." I could hear the fury in her voice. "This is no jest, no frolic, no badinage. I was a princess, once; I am a princess still. Royal bloom will mix only with other royal blood. Otherwise, it demeans the line. Tell me what nation you offer me, what alliance, what regal house—or leave." (1.25.102)
It's clear here that Cassiopeia doesn't think of herself as a slave. But what's extra cool about this scene is how she upends our expectations. Prior to this scene, everyone goes to see an opera about a Spanish conquistador and the Incan princess he dominates. It seems like Anderson is setting us up to view Cassiopeia the way the Incan princess is portrayed: weak, submissive, impractical, foolish—too in love.
But Cassiopeia completely reverses the power dynamic between Lord Cheldthorpe and herself. She shows herself to be anything but a submissive princess, even if she has to rely on an elitist argument about her "royal blood" to stand up for herself.