Susan Sto Helit is the daughter of Death’s apprentice Mort and Death’s adopted daughter Ysabel. Genetics on the Discworld being more than a matter of biology, she has inherited certain Deathlike characteristics, which turn out to be extremely useful in her occupations as a governess and as a schoolteacher in Ankh-Morpork.
Well, and good, but why is she a governess/schoolteacher? At the end of the events in Mort, Death arranges for Mort to become the Duke of Sto Helit – that’s regnant Duke, not just a title, but the hereditary ruler of an independent city-state. Mort and Ysabel are deceased by the time Susan is introduced as a character. And it is occasionally mentioned that Susan is a Duchess. Shouldn’t she be back in Sto Helit, running things? If the title has somehow been mediatized or something, shouldn’t she at least be independently wealthy?
Furthermore, Death makes clear to Mort that, now that he has replaced the evil old Duke of Sto Helit, it is Mort’s responsibility, and destiny, to do everything that ambitious Duke would have done to “unite the Plains” (and the Sto Plains include Ankh-Morpork, BTW) – so Mort ought to have become some sort of Emperor, before he died, leaving Susan as an Empress.
Susan is not my favorite character or anything but it is quite clear to me that working for a living is just so very her! Of course she would do so. She would think it was pish-posh to be some rich heiress living off her parents’ money and not doing anything Useful.
But the question remains - who is running things back in Sto Helit? Susan is still “officially” in charge, since she appears on the Sto Helit 5 Pence stamp, but who is actually dealing with the day to day stuff?
I don’t think Mort had to unite the whole plains into one kingdom, just stop the petty wars in the area, and help form a union of the city .The whole point is to bring peace to the area, not take it all over (and Ankh Morpork certainly has not been annexed by anyone- they would have noticed).
Anyway, that task was something Mort had to do, and it all seems to be a pretty peaceful area by the time Susan appears in Soul Music, so there’s probably not much for Susan to do by the time she comes to the Duchy, as the petty wars of Mort’s era are over.
As she became the duchess as a child, presumably someone else was acting as a regent then for whatever parts of the role are still required, (though I don’t recall that person ever being mentioned). She’s got no interest in taking power, and is probably just letting the Duchy slide into a more ceremonial role. Probably without the plumes.
Susan works as a governess/school teacher because she’s the sort of person who needs to be doing something useful in order to be happy, and her education and upbringing have only prepared her for two careers: raising small children, and reaping souls.
As for her duchy, firstly, Mort and Ysabelle’s instructions were to achieve the same end result as her wicked uncle, but not necessarily through the same means. I don’t think we’re meant to assume that Mort was sending out assassins and starting the odd brush war to consolidate power - rather, he was using diplomacy and the rule of law to turn the plains into a unified, largely peaceful political entity. I assume that a part of that process involved ceded a large amount of the political power of the dukedom to some other legislative body, such a council of burgers, or a bureaucracy, or something similar, probably to prevent another strong-man figure from taking power and undoing all their work. By the time Susan is starring in her own books, the title “Duchess of Sto Helit” is probably largely an empty position, aside from some rents she gets from property directly owned in her own name.
If people forget about her while she’s still in the room, maybe they all think she’s still there. They could be following all of the notes that they’ve made for themselves over the years, assuming she may be right there watching them.
Or maybe they forgot her as soon as her parents died.
Mort was a duke under the authority of Queen Keli of Sto Lat - he used diplomacy (and lots of travelling, this is referred to in Soul Music) to achieve those aims without the murderous machinations of Keli’s uncle. Keli continues to reign over the peace that Mort forged, so Susan has no practical role within the royal court.
So, being a practical girl, she got a job. And does anyone think that the Susan of Thief of Time bears a resemblance to Ms Frizzle of The Magic Schoolbus.
I think part of it is because she wants to be ordinary, but I think it’s because she has to do something. If she didn’t have a job what exactly would she do? Can you see her in Sto Lat high society, going to balls, wearing big poofy dresses, mingling? I can’t.
Also, I think her choice of careers reflects on her personality. We saw what she was like in Soul Music, how she thought that people as group were blind to reality & just plain stupid. She tried to change things when she was Death, outside the system with nearly infinite power, and it didn’t work out. So now, she’s trying to change things from within the system, first trying to bring up children properly as governess, and then trying to educate them as a teacher.
I think she’s kinda found her role, where she belongs. She’ll never completely fit in, she always stands at least somewhat on the outside looking in. She’s good at what she does, and actually seems to care.
Actually, I agree with this wholeheartedly. I think a lot of people on the Disc need this particular remedy but Susan is one of the highest contenders.