Thanks gmw.
I understand what you've written but what I still don't get, which is on LeGuin/me not you, is how this is all supposed to suddenly make sense once the key word "shadow" is dropped in the mix. Or as you say, seeing Estraven as woman either.
Also, in the passage in 18, the issue arises because Estraven suddenly goes quiet and Genly decides to tackle it explicitly, saying he thinks it's because of shifgrethor which he acknowledges he doesn't get. AFICS it's never really resolved what Estraven's silence was about.
Unless it's as crass as:
- Estraven goes silent
- Genly thinks, "something's up", asks "what's up?"
- Genly "sees" Estraven as having a female aspect (apparently for the first time)
- Genly thinks "oh I get it, women do this (go silent for no reason) and Estraven sometimes acts like a woman"
surely it's not that?
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