Ladies & Gentlemen,

I am currently drafting down some notes for an essay regarding "The Women in the Prose of CAS". Inspired by Ben Indick's essay on HPL's women, I'd very much like to explore this angle/theme in Smith's works. I was wondering if anyone out there, who is more well read on CAS than I, would be able to gently push me in the right direction as to where I might start looking? Have any articles attempted to assemble a list of Smith's female characters, or is my idea the first to be attempted in the field of Smith studies? I have already made a list of names and titles of Smith's works that involve a mythological female or include "woman/women/female" in the title, but I was hoping that someone may be able to shine some light on this large topic. It is something I would very much like to write.

Thank you in advance;

Cheers & God Bless
Benjamin S.


Co-editor of Fritz Leiber & H. P. Lovecraft: Writers of the Dark -
(published through Wildside Press with S. T. Joshi)
Editor of Robert E. Howard: Power of the Writing Mind
(published through Mythos Books)
Editor of the new fantasy journal, entitled "Studies in Fantasy Literature"
(published through Seele Brennt)

Ben,

are you intent on looking at the women in general, or rather in focusing on one or more specifc aspects about them in CAS' work? How much would you be reliant on the already existant theoretical work in gender studies? From what I've read in the past, there's an embarrassment of riches, given that CAS was less averse to having female characters than Lovecraft.

At the very least, I can suggest "The death of Ilalotha", "Morthylla", and "The black abbot of Puthuum" to start with. You've not given indication, but at the risk of repeating knowledge, "Mother of toads" is another place to start.

I may have missed a few, but I hope to have caught at least the crucial ones - women are sometimes catalysts (often posthumously), sometimes inspirations, sometimes major characters, and sometimes merely decorative victims or playthings:

"The Charnel God"
"The Dark Eidolon"
"Necromancy in Naat"
"The Witchcraft of Ula"
"The Garden of Adompha"
"The Black Abbot of Puthuum"
"Morthylla"
"A Night in Malneant"
"The Disinterment of Venus"
"The Satyr"
"The Maker of Gargoyles"
"The Enchantress of Sylaire"
"Mother of Toads"
"The Mandrakes"
"The Holiness of Azederac"
"The Last Incantation"
"The White Sybil"
"The Theft of Thirty-Nine Girdles"
"The Maze of Maal Dweb"
"The Flower-Women"
"The Planet of the Dead"
"The Chain of Aforgomon"
"The Third Episode of Vathek"
"The Demon of the Flower"
"The Venus of Azombeii"
"Sadastor"
"The Willow Landscape"
"Genius Loci"
"The Ninth Skeleton"
"Symposium of the Gorgon"
"The Dark Age"
"The Ghoul"


Jim

I forgot to mention the little minx in "The Isle of the Torturers".

Jim

The first one that comes to mind is Sadastor, but I see that it has already been mentioned.

On a rather pedestrian note - Clark was a "boob" man rather
than a "leg" man - a good busty Lamia, to him, beats a
broad, leggy, small breasted Raphael any day.
Dr. F

Gentlemen,

Thank you all for your help. Married with the information I have already collected, it would seem that I have enough to begin drafting my essay.

Much appreciated...

Cheers
Benjamin S.

One example of the Eternal Feminine that nobody mentioned is that of the alien princess in "The Monster of the Prophecy," which is itself parodied by the "National Mother" to whom Eibon and the Inquisitor are almost wed (and fed) to in "The Door to Saturn." Another are the titular beings of "The Flower Women," a title with nicely Freudian overtones, especially with the many mentions of orchids in the Smith oeuvre.
In discussing CAS' women, you might check out Steve Behrend's article on the idea of loss in Smith's work. Another would be the discussion of the types of women that Northrup Frye has in ANATOMY OF CRITICISM, as well as Jung on the Anima archetype. There is a certain degree of Whore Versus Madonna in Smith's work, for instance Ilvaa in "The Isle of the Torturers," but often times there is a blurring of the lines. Nycea in "The End of the Story," "The Enchantress of Sylaire," "The Holiness of Azederac:" all have enchantresses whose carnality is not explicitly condemned by Smith.
Best,
Scott

In addition, don't miss the letter to Donald Wandrei in the Selected Letters dated June 24, 1935. In it, CAS offers rather rakish fatherly advice about how to handle women, in general (and one, in particular). While it is not a fictional or poetic treatment of the theme, the letter offers a rare glimpse into CAS's personal views and perspectives on the subject. It also quite funny, and will serve as a salutary corrective to those who might glean from CAS's poetry or fiction the notion that, like other "Romantics", he had cloudy eyes when it came to women and romance.

Hej!

While we're on the subject on additional, non-CAsian reading, you could have a closer look at some classics of gender studies, or, at the very least The second sex.

Dr. Farmer wrote,

"On a rather pedestrian note - Clark was a "boob" man rather
than a "leg" man - a good busty Lamia, to him, beats a
broad, leggy, small breasted Raphael any day."

This kind of "down and (not so) dirty" information is a kick to hear about. I have no reason to doubt Dr. F's report, but my question is whether this particullar CAS preference is evident in any of the stories and poems?

Of course, just read the poems, and almost any description of a lamia - note also the exquisite little poem dated 1928 in "Sword" - Of course, any photos of the Sully girls, or Carol, would also give some indication of his predilection for pendulous
pulchritude.
dr f (mine too)