Nebraska Dave News and Reviews

I haven't exactly been counting, but it seems like most posts about Jester's mom make her out to be just a very expensive prostitute. I'm a little annoyed by this, as Laura has specifically stated and described the Ruby as more of a Venetian courtesan.

Courtesans =/= prostitutes. Any commoner could be a prostitute. It takes a certain amount of skill and a certain personality to become a good courtesan.

I mean, obviously, like prostitutes, sex was usually part of the deal between courtesans and their suitors, but historically high-ranking courtesans were actually somewhat savvy, influential, educated women. It would take YEARS of training and political maneuvering/backstabbing in order to become as famous and well-known a courtesan as the Ruby seems to be. (I'm thinking very specifically of Memoirs of a Geisha, since I think Venetian courtesans and geishas held pretty similar social positions in their respective cultures.)

Good courtesans were smart, not just beautiful or trained in the art of sexual pleasure. Noblemen didn't just pay them boatloads of money to get into their puffy skirts. They paid boatloads of money because the courtesan was good company. She would often know a lot about things that noblemen wanted to talk about. Politics. War. Art. Culture. Science. Some of these things would be taught to her as she was training, and other things she might learn through the company she kept with other noble people. Courtesans also did a lot of reading/musical training, since part of her skillset would have to be in entertaining her suitor and his guests (through the recitation of poetry, or the playing of instruments, or dance, etc.).

I'm rambling, but anyways… My point is that I think we do the Ruby a bit of a disservice by primarily thinking of her as 'the best lay ever'. She's very likely to be a powerful player in the political structure of the Menagerie Coast. If the Nein ever make their way out there, I hope Matt and Laura do her justice. 🙂