Hi again! Your theory about Widdershins and Theodora makes a lot of sense. It got me thinking about the age of another character: On TGG, Esme says that she was a close friend of Fiona's mother and that they went to school together. It can be a lie, of course, but I don't see any reason for it (besides, we know that Widdershins family was divided by the schism, and the death of Widdershins' wife is never clearly explained so we don't know if she joined the fire-started side of the schism). (1/2)
I’ve copied the second part of your question below:
(2/2) That would mean that Esme is older than Widdershins’ generation (that would explain a lot, including why Beatrice only met her later and not during her apprendiceship), but I’ve often seen Esme described as being younger than Olaf (although I can’t recall anything about that in the books). Is there any indication of her age that I’m missing? (Seems like my questions always end up relating with characters’ ages, for some reason..) Again thank you for running this wonderful blog!
I always appreciate your analyses, volunteer! Thanks!
And good catch on that reference! I’ve copied the quote you’re referencing below:
“I think the ruby ring is very in,” Esmé purred. “It would look wonderful with my flame-imitating dress.”“That was my mother’s,” Fiona said quietly.“She would have wanted me to have it,” Esmé said quickly. “We were close friends at school.”[The Grim Grotto, Chapter Thirteen]
This would, indeed, support the idea of Esme being slightly older than Olaf’s and Lemony’s generation of volunteers. However it’s pretty clear Esme is lying in this passage. She probably went to the same school as Fiona’s mother, but i doubt they ever were close friends. Furthermore schools can include a very wide age range. Just because Esme and Fiona’s mom attended the same school as the same time doesn’t mean they are the exact same age.
It’s true that Esme is often theorized as younger than Olaf because of this passage:
“I wouldn’t say you were O.K.” Esmé’s voicecalled down to them from the top of the passageway. Her voice echoed off the walls of the passageway, but thechildren could still hear every cruel word. “You’re alive, but you’re definitely not O.K. Assoon as the auction is over and the Quagmires are on their way out of the city, Gunther will come and getyou, and I can guarantee that you three orphans will never be O.K. again. What a wonderful andprofitable day! My former acting teacher will finally get his hands on not one but two enormous fortunes!”[The Erastz Elevator, Chapter Ten]
However this could simply mean that Esme began to study acting later in life, when Olaf was already an adult. He could be the younger of the two for all we know…
As to the other volunteers, Esme could have met them at any time. The only volunteer she seems to have met quite lately on is Beatrice Baudelaire:
And I would hop like nobody has ever hopped before, if I could somehowgo back to that terrible Thursday, and stop Beatrice from attending that afternoon tea whereshe met Esmé Squalor for the first time.[The Hostile Hospital, Chapter Two]
I don’t think the fact they never met during their apprenticeship necessarily means there’s a significant age difference. We know Josephine and Olaf are about the same age (from “The Beatrice Letters” & “Shouldn’t You Be In School?”) but they don’t seem to have met before “The Wide Window”. There are a lot of volunteers running around: you can’t expect all of them to know each other.
