The fool - man or woman?

[greylin]

I can't make my mind up. Can you?

 

[Talysia]

I voted for can't decide. Besides, I'm not sure I want to find out. That's an integral part of the Fool's mystery!

 

[nixie]

Can't decide, its part of the Appeal.If I'd only read Farseer I'd have said male but after Liveship I'm not sure

 

[Scriven]

I can't decide - thanks to Farseer I think I'll always imagine him as being as man, but I doubt we'll ever know. It's probably best kept that way.

 

[Serin]

I really can't decide on this. As Talysia said, it is part of the mystery.

 

[Kitera]

There have been a lot of debates on this matter. To me, the Fool had always been a man. I think reading the Faseer then the Tawny man and concluding it with the Liveship had influenced me in this matter.

Anyhow, the Fool is always the Fool and he (or she) will always be one of the most mysterious and best characters that was ever created.

 

[ScottSF]

Acts like a female expecting Fitz to read her mind and understand her feelings without her saying or explaining anything. Shows the Tatoo on her back and covers her chest while doing it. Amber is a female. Beloved is a female. Lord Golden acts very feminine. The fool is the only character that seems a bit male but she could be going through a tomboy stage.

 

[Kitera]

Damn it Scott, you got a point there, but maybe the Fool is just shy and wanted to cover his chest.

 

[ScottSF]

Actually I'm thinkin' this one is best unexplained. A lot of people would be sad to find out Fool was a female whatever it is. I would be sickened at the thought of a Male Amber. Hobb really was messing w/ us though. In Tawney man Beloved was always showing up outside the room fully clothed so I really thought a female fool was where the story was going.

 

[Kitera]

Actually I'm thinkin' this one is best unexplained. A lot of people would be sad to find out Fool was a female whatever it is. I would be sickened at the thought of a Male Amber. Hobb really was messing w/ us though. In Tawney man Beloved was always showing up outside the room fully clothed so I really thought a female fool was where the story was going.

Why would Amber being male sicken you Scott? I think, from my memories; Amber was described as rather manly.

 

[ScottSF]

Why would Amber being male sicken you Scott? I think, from my memories; Amber was described as rather manly.

all descriptions point to androgony. Dunno, I've always found men in drag disturbing with the exception of Kids in the Hall and Monty Python for comic effect. But a dude putting on a dress full time to fool people I find icky. That's not to say I wouldn't defend someones right to do that. I live in San Francisco and see it every once in a while but seeing disturbing things once in a while is a small price to pay for living here. Women trying to pass as young men is slightly less disturbing. Anyway, a woman all along or a more alien sexuality was where I thought the story was going.

 

[Talysia]

I must admit, as I read the Liveship Traders first, before the Farseer/Tawny Man trilogies, I thought Amber was a woman. I know differently, now, however!

 

[Teir]

Voted Male cos thats how I will always see him, but as already said...it's part of his mystery

 

[SpaceShip]

I think there has already been a thread on this one somewhere, as I know I've commented on it before! Anyway - as in previous thread - hope you come to some conclusion or other.

 

[Koopa]

Voted Male, for most cause the Pale Woman was everything he was supposedly not

 

[HappyHippo]

I didn't vote, becasue there wasn't a 'neither' option. I've only read the Farseer books so far, but I get the impression the Fool's androgynous. Maybe hermaphrodite would be more correct, coz androgynous is more 'neither one nor the other', whereas hermaphrodite woudl be 'can work as either'. Possibly ...

 

[sassy1]

i really can't decide... I (stupidly) read the 3rd trilogy first, then the 1st & 2nd, so until I had read the Liveship Traders I thought the fool was just a really feminine man, but once I'd read the middle ones, I wasnt so sure...

In one way I want to know, to stop the curiosity, but I think, once I knew, it would spoil the whole thing, it would strip the fool of a whole lot of mystery

One bit that made me almost convinced that the fool was a woman was when it was her who taught Althea how to dress like a man.... how would she know if she wasn't a woman dressing as a man?

 

[the_faery_queen]

there's too much evidence to say he's male.
the fact that the white prophetess woman knew him as a child, when she had him tatooed, and called him male, would imply that she knew what he was.
the fact he covered himself up when revealling the tatoo doesn't say much. the fool was always very tidy, very clean and very priate, i can't imagine he would flash his bits at anyone, male or female. he would always keep himself covered as much as he could.
there were more reasons why i thought he was male, but i can't remember what they are now *shrug* i prefer to think he's male. i prefer the idea of a gay relationship between him and fitz

and perhaps dressing as a girl, when he's a man, would give him an idea of how to pass off being the opposite gender enough to understand how althea could do it in reverse?

 

[Kania]

i've always thought of the Fool as male. If he wasn't, why wouldnt he try to make a move on Fitz? If he was a girl he would've. And, as said, the White Woman always called him male; they were supposed to be opposites.

I dont know. What ever you reckon. I think hes male. My mum cant stand him though

 

[the_faery_queen]

being male wouldn't stop him making a move on fitz. the fool never cared about biilogy when it came to sex. i just don't think he was that type of person. but i guess maybe you mean that if he was a girl, he would know that fitz wouldn't say no, so he would make a move