Iron Queen

[mikebailey at speakeasy.net]

about that iron queen, 

tortuous
1) if a person had read V (creating within themself an idea of the woman made of inaminate parts, or a sort of "iron queen") then the actions and ideas in GR would be a subjection to gravity (falling) of that image

tangential
2) initials of iron queen are "IQ" - hence, the fall of an IQ, into mindless pleasures

historical
3) Bismarck was an "iron chancellor", so Elizabeth might be an "iron queen" -- 

Shakespearean
4) laughingly as the nurse said in Romeo and Juliet, the iron queen would "fall backwards" 

Reichian
5) in which case the "body armor" of the iron queen would be relaxed and resolved through orgasm and overcome fascism



> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Carvill John 
> > Subject: Iron Queen
> > 
> > Someone asked about the 'iron queen' at the start of GRGR. Before the recent 
> > abortive attempt at a GR Group Read breathed its last, I submitted my one 
> > and only post containing some notes on the first section. Amidst the noise 
> > generated around such old chestnuts as whether or not Pynchon deals with the 
> > holocaust in GR, my post generated a grand total of zero responses (sniff). 
> > Here's the bit about iron queens, metal, etc.:
> > 
> > .
> > .
> > 
> > 2. Girders
> > 
> > Again, the iron queen has been much discussed, compelling suggestions
> > including Queen Victoria and thus Victoria Station. Notice 'queen' is
> > not capitalised, neither is 'iron' for that matter. This strikes me as
> > being a typically impressionistic fragment of a dream, where you get a
> > very strong sense of something that would be difficult or impossible to
> > relate clearly to someone else.  This sort of potent, allusive imagery
> > is also characteristic of the experience generated by psychedelic drugs
> > such as certain types of mushrooms - those 'pharmaceutical plants'. In
> > addition to the queen, there is a lot of metal in the opening pages,
> > iron, lead, rust, etc. Then Pirate wakes up and his skull feels
> > metallic. Later of course there's that metallic Tchitcherine, and that
> > other sleigh-carriage, with its multiple levels and its "velvet
> > saloons".
> > 
> > http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0510&msg=98698
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
>