To be honest, when I was leafing through the books I had just purchased for the semester and I saw the book Imperial Harem I laughed a little bit. My family and I, (mainly my mom and myself) referred to our neighbor's home as The Harem mainly because they had 6 daughters and frequently you could hear parties coming from the house. Now obviously this is not a harem but nonetheless it was how I have associated with the term for quite sometime. Pretty naive for a history major I think.
In reading this book, I came to understand not only the origin and the history of harems but their larger purpose as well. I find it fairly easy to generalize the nature of such things like this and find it even more convenient to fantasize as to the nature of the many women living there, much as the Europeans of the 17th and 18th centuries had done. In reality these women wielded a stick of immense power, holding influence in an empire that stretched throughout the Middle East. These women came from having a slave's background and then through beauty, cunningness, and a little bit of fate were able to infiltrate into the good graces of the Sultan (the ruler of the Ottomans) In competing for the heart of the Sultan, they were holed up in Kafes, which could have been mistaken for a large jail cell, with its metal bars enclosing the ladies.
In the event that the women were able to win the heart of the Sultan their power would become immense. Not unlike many of the Victorian Era rulers that dominated Europe during the same time period, the women that would become the Queen Mother (mother to the sultan) would have say in policy, the schooling of her children, and lest we forget how one can influence one in their own bed chambers. Overall, the book Imperial Harem had good substance, but was a dry read, making it the opposite of a page turner. As a history major, it appealed to me but i doubt that the general public would be so enamored with this publication.
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I agree completely with the statements that Ben has made. I think it's funny and somewhat ironic that Ben could connect his next door neighbors to this. I think its funny that we make the strangest connections to things that date back do far, not necessarly obvious connects but connections none the less. I also agree what Ben said about the book being a dry read, as a Communications major this was a hard one but still somewhat interesting. The lifestyles these women would leed were somewhat extrodinary. You begin your life as a slave and if the sultan chooses you, the power and all that comes with it soon follow.
ReplyDeleteBen's correlation between a Harem and his neighbors is really a direct result of the misunderstanding by Western civilization about the Harems. I agree with Ben and Marisa when they say that the strangest connections can be made between history and everyday life. In the class discussion it was mentioned that when Harems are mentioned now, this vision appears that clearly has nothing to do with the actual meaning of the position. I also agree with both of them about the consistency of the book. Although there was good information, and was at times interesting, overall it was not an easy read, almost painstaking at times (not to be dramatic).
ReplyDeleteI hate to repeat, but I agree that the typical idea of the harem in U.S. and Europe is ridiculous and often far from the truth- when I was in Poland there was an old house that was Middle Eastern in still (I think it had a dome) and when the man built it everyone was terrified of what was going on in there, they thought he had two wives and was morally corrupt. It was just funny, somewhat related.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it also seemed similar to Europe as proximity to the ruler gave power and many people would then vie for silly little, even degrading jobs that would bring them closer to him. In this way, the social set up is somewhat similar to what some European monarchs built around themselves (like Louis XIV, the "Sun King").
It is truly amazing how much power to Valide Sultan could gain throughout the history of the Ottoman Empire. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the Mother of the Sultan and I also hate to repeat, but completely agree with what everyone has said about the book. It had some great information in it and at times was very interesting...But the majority of the read was quite slow and painful...
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