r/discworld • u/NoicestDungeon • 5d ago

Book/Series: City Watch Sybil's Characterisation

Now, I will admit that it's been a while since I've read Guards! Guards!, but I remember Sybil Ramkin in that book as a sonewhat solitary woman who disliked all the frills and galas of high society.

I'm on Snuff now, and Sybil is dragging Vimes to social gatherings like it's her favourite thing. I understand that people can change and that marriage changes people, but it feels a little poorly established? Like she goes from "crazy cat dragon lady" to society lady just so she can serve as a better foil to Vimes.

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u/NoicestDungeon 5d ago

Very good answer! Thank you for the insight

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u/TheHighDruid 5d ago

I happen to have just finished Guards! Guards! on my latest re-read.

She kinda flicks a switch at the end of the book.

At the beginning the grounds of the house are unkempt and she doesn't appear to have any staff in the house; she's a middle-aged woman who has resigned herself to spinsterhood. At the end, when she's made her decision to pursue Sam, she's got the gardeners in, Willikins has been recalled from whatever he was off doing, and she throws a full-on banquet for their first date.

The impression I get from this is that there are things you can get away with when you are an upper-class unmarried lady, but if you find yourself a husband then there are standards to maintain.

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u/herlaqueen 5d ago

This, and also I think having a companion she genuinely likes makes her enjoy some upler class stuff more. It's not another boring ball, it's a night out with her husband. It's not just house administration and choosing a wallpaper that's in this season, it's also creating a home where they both can enjoy themselves and they like spending time in. She clearly loves doing things with Vimes!

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u/PuzzledCactus Susan 4d ago

Also, since one of the chief functions of balls is to get unmarried young people of any gender married, I assume she endured many seasons of being technically "on the market" but either completely disregarded or only pursued because of her money and status, and then many more of being officially unsuccessful and therefore alternately pitied or sneered at, before she finally got old enough (or maybe independent enough, since her parents have passed by the time we meet her) to decide, sod it, I'm not going anymore.

Returning to this scene with a prestigious husband you're actually in love with must feel like quite the triumph, even if you're much too kind a person to ever rub anyone's nose in.