Dorcas' ID and Importance

[Theorycraft]

Ok, so I'm in the process of re-reading Gene Wolfe's New Sun series. And I have some questions for debate. There will be SPOILERS below, so beware.


*************SPOILERS*****************

Dorcas.

I have to admit that Dorcas has always confused me. When we first meet her, and she is pulled from the lake, we are to assume that she was dead, correct? And that she was revived by coming into contact with the Claw while nuderwater, and in turn saving Severian's life. Now I have always assumed that Father Inire's Gardens (with the description of their mirrored exterior, etc.) were permanent gates into different times/worlds. When you enter the gate you are actually transported to that other world/time, and these may have very real consequences. So Dorcas is found in one of these worlds and brought back into the real Urth's time and place by Severian (well the one that he inhabits anyway).

So later, before the encounter at the Sanguinary Fields, when they are staying at the Inn, is she recognized as being someone's mother come again? Maybe I'm being really dense here, but she was only supposed to be 17 at the time of her death. The length of time which she was preserved post mortem in the lake seems immaterial, since any child she had borne would have been too young to recognize her. So what is the significance to the story here. Who was Dorcas, really? What is her importance to the story at this point, or is there none at all. Does this incident only serve to demonstrate Severian's questionable skills of recollection and add to the mystery of his identity(and which of these memories are his, and which are the product of the countless personalities he consumed/gained when he became the Autarch)?

Any ideas?

 

[just_like_powell]

Alledgedly it comes across that Dorcas is Severian's grandmother, though not confirmed. She is the mother of a man at the inn, who is believed to be Severian's uncle/father. The man has a locket with an old picture of his mother (Dorcas), who died when he was very young. This man looks strikingly like an older Severian. That was my interpretation anyway don't quote as gospel. Nearly all is explained in The Citadel of the Autarch though, sorry my memory is a little fuzzy.