Desperation.
With the ascension of a new sultan, the wives of his predecessor, along with their entourages, were sent to the Old Palace, known as the Palace of the Unwanted Ones or the House of Tears. Their apartments in the Seraglio were torn down, and new ones erected and decorated for the new occupants. Not that the new occupants were always satisfied with their accomodations, no matter how luxurious:
Dearest Kalfa,
I have heard from someone that she will be moving to the apartment which should be mine. No! As the earth is old, so do I want that apartment myself. I cannot bear a younger woman occupying such a spacious place, and if our mighty master heard my plea he wouldn't object. Please, convey this to the valide sultana with my deepest respects. Why should she move there and I stay where I am? I must insist on my seniority priviledges. If this cannot be changed, I will simply not move to the Seraglio, I swear. But if she refuses to, that's a whole other affair. I will die rather than to let her have that beautiful apartment.
Letter from Behice Sultana to the kalfa (mistress of the house) (1839)
Eunuchs.
Because they were privy to the most intimate secrets of the harem and also had access to the outer world, the eunuchs became the most corrupt element in palace society. Surrounded by women trained to arouse passion in men, they spent their lives forever confronted by the loss of sexual capability. Many became skillful intriguers, translating their resentment into vengeance. We find such a creature in Montesquieu's Persian Letters:
The Seraglio is my Empire; and my ambition, the only passion left me, finds
no small gratification. I mark with pleasure that my presence is required at all
times; I willingly incur the hatred of all these women, because it establishes
me more firmly in my post. And they do not hate me for nothing, I can tell you:
I interfere with their most innocent pleasures; I am always in the way, an
insurmountable obstacle; before they know where they are, they find their
schemes frustrated.
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