return to shrine
(this is currently unfinished.)
I think one of the great things about art is that, despite whatever meaning the original artist intended, it can be interpreted in many ways. Hollow Knight and its sequel, Silksong, are games filled with deep, rich lore told through NPC and dream nail dialogue, lore tablets, flavour text, and item and enemy descriptions. And while the base story can be found woven through these texts, many details are still up to theories and personal interpretations. This ramble, essay, whatever you want to call it, is my intepretation of Silksong, and the meanings I pulled out of it. I believe Silksong is a game about the female experience. A game about womanhood and motherhood, about living up to expectations and traversing a world that's against you.
Before I start: yes, I'm aware Team Cherry is made up of guys who have probably little to no firsthand experience of what it's like to be a woman. It's imossible to say for sure if any of the things I find were intentional or not. Second, the point of this ramble essay isn't really to make a point about anything, it's mostly just to share my interpretations of different aspects of the game and how I personally relate to them. I think some things can be viewed through a lot of different lenses, this is just how I chose to see it and what meaning I pulled out of it. Feel free to agree or disagree with any points I make.
I think a good place to begin is the Weavers and how they are treated in-game.
The Weavers are a species of spider-like bugs who have the ability to control silk. They use silk to heal, attack, mend, and even to weave magical runes. We even see silk used to possess and control bugs. Truly powerful abilities to wield. Another important note about Weavers as well is the fact that every Weaver is female. While I don't think this is something officially confirmed in-game, there's enough evidence to suggest it. Every named Weaver you meet throughout both games are female or have titles associated with women: Herrah, Midwife, Hornet, Widow, First Sinner. They refer to each other as sisters. It is said that Weavers can't have children, implying that possibly there's no male Weavers to mate with. And they were created in Grand Mother Silk's vision, also implying that she made them all women to match herself. Regardless, Weavers themselves have a large tie to womanhood.
Something else to note about Weavers is how they are treated in Silksong. In Pharloom, the Weavers were hunted, imprisoned, and quite possibly killed as well. Lore tablets in a room of cages talk about looking for and capturing Weavers. First Sinner was locked in an extremely guarded cage. Hornet arrived in Pharloom from being captured herself, and is continuously hunted and attacked throughout her journey, which is something I want to talk more on in a bit. But why? Why were the Weavers attacked and imprisoned? Was it for their silk, to be used and expiremented on by the Citadel? Were they seen as dangerous because of it?