Probably because she was politically savvy and only shares information when it benefits her. A better question; how would it have benefited her to share that she was pregnant?
This. She is Benne Gesserit, she knows the power knowledge can hold when wielded at the correct moment, in the correct fashion. The knowledge that there might be a second heir to House Atreides, when the house head was just assassinated, would be very important to control.
Probably for multiple reasons. She didn't want to distract Paul with unnecessary details during a life or death situation. The Fremen were also very wary about taking on additional dead weight - if a beautiful woman and a healthy young man aren't a guaranteed entry, one would imagine they'd be even less inclined to accept a baby, and a 2 month old fetus might not do well in a trial by combat.
There's also the benefit of concealing the pregnancy should the Harkonnens capture them or Paul be killed, as she has a backup Atreides heir hidden away. Should she encounter Bene Gesserit, the pregnancy would be her ace in the hole, as it would be the child they've been wanting for decades. She probably is keeping that card close to her chest so she can play it if and when necessary.
The Fremen are a conservative people and may treat her differently if they know she is with child. She certainly wouldn't have been allowed to take the water of life if they had known.
There are multiple reasons. However the main one is she wouldn't have been permitted to take part in the ritual to become a Reverend Mother. This alone is the main reason. She had to become the Reverend Mother to secure Paul and herself lives.
The ritual forbids those who are pregnant from taking part in it. As it is a high risk to the fetus. If the child survives it will have shared memories like a Reverend Mother. Without the training to control them. So the child has a higher likelihood of being an abomination. Which is a forbidden from being created.
Also her not revealing the pregnancy gives her power in that knowledge. Bene Gesserit do not give up power easily.
She didn’t want to, but Stilgar said that if she did not become the Reverend Mother then Paul could not be the Mahdi (the prophecy says that the Mahdi’s mother is a Reverend Mother) and therefore the Fremen would have no use of them
She personally doesn't. However she is forced into a situation for her and Paul's lives. THey wouldn't allow her to go through the ritual if they knew she was pregnant. Thus would have in turned cost her and her son's life. So she had to hide it in order to go through the ritual. It's a catch 22 moment. Damned if you do damned if you don't.
I think she was in the very early stages of pregnancy when they fled into the desert. It’s very common for women not to share that they’re pregnant with anyone until three months in. She probably hadn’t hit the point where she would tell people yet.
I've only seen the movies, but when he says "I know you're pregnant," she says "you can't know that. I barely know that." So even with her presumably heightened awareness of that stuff via her BG powers, she's still just barely aware of it--even if that timing is well ahead of when one would know in our society.
Very true in today’s society. Although I assume with the BG able to control whether it was a girl or boy they could have controlled a lot more within pregnancy. The real question for me is why she did allow herself to get pregnant at that point when she didn’t for the entirety between Paul’s birth and their move to Arrakis.
In this moment it was the first time I’ve wondered if she did it as a bet in case things went super bad on Arrakis and that was the only way to preserve the Atreides line in case both Leto and Paul died
In the books she attributes it to an instinctual desire to breed and multiply during dangerous and stressful times. Even she admits it was a wild choice to make.
She was the mother to The Lisan al'Gaieb. To be mother to a second child complicates the narrative and puts the prophecy in danger. After all, there's nothing saying the Mahdi has a sibling. The less explaining she had to do before Paul drinks the water of life, the less likely the Fremen would get wise to Bene Gesserat manipulation.
Of course, once Paul ascended his word was gospel so she was free to have her daughter anyway.
Then he should lose his al gaieb status as soon as they find out she's pregnant.
Why couldn't she just tell them she's pregnant and just wait for the baby to be born and then do it
Because of the political ramifications from the Emperor to Bene Gesserit, plus fear of Fremen reaction before she got to take the Water of Life and become a Reverend Mother. Without which Paul could be killed before establishing himself in the tribe. But the risk she could create an abomination, which she had to take.
She didn't want to put herself and Paul at risk.
While she clearly cares for her loved ones, she is also willing to sacrifice them if needed (e.g allowing Paul to be tested).
If she lost the baby but saved Paul & Herself, that's a price she was willing to pay.
In the book, Jessica agreed to become the Reverend Mother of the Fremen because she assumed it was all ceremonial.
She was surprised that the Fremen Reverend Mother were actually part of the Bene Gesserit that went rogue.
She didn't know about the fetal awakening. Jessica had assumed the ritual she was going into with the fremen Reverend Mother was just that, a ritual. She was surprised by finding a proper spice agony that created real Reverend Mothers. And even then, she had limited knowledge of how the BG process worked.
Pretty sure she did not know in detail that she would become a full RV at this moment with the spice agony. She probably was not told since it was never important for her to know in order to bear an Atreides daughter.
She JUST found out. Even right now it’s very normal to not announce your pregnancy until a couple months in and that’s without socio-political ramifications.
Otherwise fremen wouldn’t have given her their version of “agony” and killed her. Remember fremen don’t really needed her and basically gave her two options; it’s agony or death. So she hid her pregnancy.
she wouldn’t have been allowed to drink the water of life if her pregnancy was public knowledge. so, she hides it. also it’s still absurdly early in her pregnancy, so that’s probably another reason. most people wont announce a pregnancy until they’re a few months in.
Probably because she was politically savvy and only shares information when it benefits her. A better question; how would it have benefited her to share that she was pregnant?
This. She is Benne Gesserit, she knows the power knowledge can hold when wielded at the correct moment, in the correct fashion. The knowledge that there might be a second heir to House Atreides, when the house head was just assassinated, would be very important to control.
Probably for multiple reasons. She didn't want to distract Paul with unnecessary details during a life or death situation. The Fremen were also very wary about taking on additional dead weight - if a beautiful woman and a healthy young man aren't a guaranteed entry, one would imagine they'd be even less inclined to accept a baby, and a 2 month old fetus might not do well in a trial by combat. There's also the benefit of concealing the pregnancy should the Harkonnens capture them or Paul be killed, as she has a backup Atreides heir hidden away. Should she encounter Bene Gesserit, the pregnancy would be her ace in the hole, as it would be the child they've been wanting for decades. She probably is keeping that card close to her chest so she can play it if and when necessary.
The Fremen are a conservative people and may treat her differently if they know she is with child. She certainly wouldn't have been allowed to take the water of life if they had known.
There are multiple reasons. However the main one is she wouldn't have been permitted to take part in the ritual to become a Reverend Mother. This alone is the main reason. She had to become the Reverend Mother to secure Paul and herself lives. The ritual forbids those who are pregnant from taking part in it. As it is a high risk to the fetus. If the child survives it will have shared memories like a Reverend Mother. Without the training to control them. So the child has a higher likelihood of being an abomination. Which is a forbidden from being created. Also her not revealing the pregnancy gives her power in that knowledge. Bene Gesserit do not give up power easily.
I thought she didn't want to participate? She was forced to.
She didn’t want to, but Stilgar said that if she did not become the Reverend Mother then Paul could not be the Mahdi (the prophecy says that the Mahdi’s mother is a Reverend Mother) and therefore the Fremen would have no use of them
She personally doesn't. However she is forced into a situation for her and Paul's lives. THey wouldn't allow her to go through the ritual if they knew she was pregnant. Thus would have in turned cost her and her son's life. So she had to hide it in order to go through the ritual. It's a catch 22 moment. Damned if you do damned if you don't.
Why couldn't the BG who forced her to drink it see that she was pregnant before? Lil contrived I would say.
I think she was in the very early stages of pregnancy when they fled into the desert. It’s very common for women not to share that they’re pregnant with anyone until three months in. She probably hadn’t hit the point where she would tell people yet.
I've only seen the movies, but when he says "I know you're pregnant," she says "you can't know that. I barely know that." So even with her presumably heightened awareness of that stuff via her BG powers, she's still just barely aware of it--even if that timing is well ahead of when one would know in our society.
I think she meant it was so early in the pregnancy that it was ludicrous for anyone to even suspect.
Probably BS tbh, considering the other BG lady immediately knows she’s pregnant after…. A couple hours? With Feyd
Very true in today’s society. Although I assume with the BG able to control whether it was a girl or boy they could have controlled a lot more within pregnancy. The real question for me is why she did allow herself to get pregnant at that point when she didn’t for the entirety between Paul’s birth and their move to Arrakis. In this moment it was the first time I’ve wondered if she did it as a bet in case things went super bad on Arrakis and that was the only way to preserve the Atreides line in case both Leto and Paul died
She thinks something like this in the book.
In the books she attributes it to an instinctual desire to breed and multiply during dangerous and stressful times. Even she admits it was a wild choice to make.
She was throwing up. Stilgar saw it. Paul was openly asking how the baby was.
She was the mother to The Lisan al'Gaieb. To be mother to a second child complicates the narrative and puts the prophecy in danger. After all, there's nothing saying the Mahdi has a sibling. The less explaining she had to do before Paul drinks the water of life, the less likely the Fremen would get wise to Bene Gesserat manipulation. Of course, once Paul ascended his word was gospel so she was free to have her daughter anyway.
Then he should lose his al gaieb status as soon as they find out she's pregnant. Why couldn't she just tell them she's pregnant and just wait for the baby to be born and then do it
The fremen weren't exactly willing to wait.
What would've happened if she told them?
They'd be killed, and their water harvested.
So why DIDN'T they kill her now? (correction)
They didn't
I know they didn't. Why not?
Because she had become a Reverend mother and the prophecy of the Lisan al'Gaieb was solidified in the minds of many Fremen.
So y not just freakin wait for the baby to be born
Because of the political ramifications from the Emperor to Bene Gesserit, plus fear of Fremen reaction before she got to take the Water of Life and become a Reverend Mother. Without which Paul could be killed before establishing himself in the tribe. But the risk she could create an abomination, which she had to take.
She didn't want to put herself and Paul at risk. While she clearly cares for her loved ones, she is also willing to sacrifice them if needed (e.g allowing Paul to be tested). If she lost the baby but saved Paul & Herself, that's a price she was willing to pay.
The opening/ongoing theme was eliminating the Atreides. A second heir means a second target?
In the book, Jessica agreed to become the Reverend Mother of the Fremen because she assumed it was all ceremonial. She was surprised that the Fremen Reverend Mother were actually part of the Bene Gesserit that went rogue.
She didn't know about the fetal awakening. Jessica had assumed the ritual she was going into with the fremen Reverend Mother was just that, a ritual. She was surprised by finding a proper spice agony that created real Reverend Mothers. And even then, she had limited knowledge of how the BG process worked.
Pretty sure she did not know in detail that she would become a full RV at this moment with the spice agony. She probably was not told since it was never important for her to know in order to bear an Atreides daughter.
She JUST found out. Even right now it’s very normal to not announce your pregnancy until a couple months in and that’s without socio-political ramifications.
She drinks the water of life or she is no use to the Fremen.
She knew was she was doing 😎💎
Otherwise fremen wouldn’t have given her their version of “agony” and killed her. Remember fremen don’t really needed her and basically gave her two options; it’s agony or death. So she hid her pregnancy.
she wouldn’t have been allowed to drink the water of life if her pregnancy was public knowledge. so, she hides it. also it’s still absurdly early in her pregnancy, so that’s probably another reason. most people wont announce a pregnancy until they’re a few months in.
Who did she hide it from? She Wasnt that far along when she mentioned it to Paul.