Concerning Isadora Quagmire

[Mysteck]

While studying the dreadful, melancholy, and calamitous books of Lemony Snicket, often late at night and without a convenient light source, some details have come to my attention concerning the Quagmire triplets, particularly Isadora.

From Book the Fifth:

"He [Duncan] sat down next to a girl who looked absolutely identical to the boy She looked about the same age, and also had very dark hair, very wide eyes, and a notebook tucked into the pocket of her thick wool sweater. The only difference seemed to be that the girl's notebook was pitch black. Seeing two people who looked so much alike is a little bit eerie, but it was better than looking at Carmelita Spats, so the Baudelaires sat down across from them and introduced themselves."

I initially found it odd that Mr. Snicket would put so much emphasis on the similarities between the two triplets. If they were born different genders, then surely they are fraternal siblings, and therefore cannot look entirely identical. So why does this paragraph tell us otherwise?

When we meet Quigley in Book the Tenth, we are given this description:

"...there was no mistaking Quigley, even though the Baudelaires had never seen him before. He looked so much like Duncan and Isadora that he could only be the third Quagmire triplet."

Now, here is the interesting thing about tripets. There are three ways in which they can form:

1. The triplets each began as their own egg, making them fraternal. This seems unlikely due to the emphasis put on the triplet's similar physical appearance.

2. The triplets began as fraternal twins, but one embryo split, so they became a pair of identical twins and a fraternal sibling. This seems the most likely: Duncan and Quigley are identical, so Isadora must be their fraternal sister. However, if that were the case, why does Mr. Snicket include that Quigley also looks identical to Isadora? Which leaves us with the third option:

3. The triplets were born from one initial egg, making them all identical. They were all born as genetically male. Therefore, Isadora Quagmire is transgender.

This is still a theory in progress, and I will keep you updated as more evidence comes my way.

-LM

[A comet crashing into Earth]

This is a pretty good theory. It's been explored before by a few people before, and seems to be gaining popularity with the anticipation of the Quagmires' portrayal in the Netflix show. Though even if we've heard this theory before, I still want to applaud you for connecting all the clues and listing the possible conclusions, I certainly didn't think of this myself. I don't personally believe Handler was trying to imply anything about Isadora's gender identity, but I like to think the implication is nevertheless there.

There's also the allusion Sunny makes to Sappho when she's introduced to Isadora. Which technically connects her to a cisgendered bisexual woman rather than a trans woman, but the reference nudges the mind in the general direction of queer identities.

[Dante]

It seems likely that Handler simply didn't know how identical siblings work when he was writing the series - there are a number of points people have complained about where his description of a real-world phenomenon seems inaccurate, and I'm sure it's not the first example of identical fraternal siblings I've seen in fiction - so I don't personally read anything into it. The least radical fix would be to suggest that they're non-identical but nonetheless are relatively similar in appearance and, significantly, have chosen to emphasise that similarity in their personal styling - which incidentally strikes me as a plausible reaction for Duncan and Isadora, at least, to their loss. Others are free to embrace alternative explanations as headcanon.

[justsylvia]

It is possible for siblings to look very much like each other even as different sexes, especially if they are the same age. Though it could very well be that Handler didn't care or just embraced and ran with the absurdity of fraternal triplets looking identical. He did it again with the Denoument Triplets- even though they were all male, it's highly improbable (though granted, not impossible) for triplets to all be identical.

Anyway, it's no more absurd than anything else in this series. But if Isadora being transgender makes you happy, by all means go for it

[gliquey]

That's really interesting; I didn't know that about triplets. I think the only thoughts I have echo what has already been said - fraternal siblings can look remarkably alike, appearance is partially a matter of choice and we know that Duncan and Isadora choose to dress similarly, which must contribute to people thinking they look identical, and it seems unlikely Handler considered the scientific basis for the characters.

[E.F.]

I personally love this theory. Whether or not it was Handler's initial intention to write Isadora as trans, the evidence is nevertheless there within the canon of the story, and it is the only logical - indeed, the only possible - conclusion to be made at this point. And I don't think one can argue any more that the triplets are only meant to be similar in appearance, since the Netflix series chose to cast the same actor to portray both Duncan and Quigley: in this case, the two are undeniably, literally identical.

[doetwin]

3 an excellent theory, but I doubt it TBH. I always thought DH's statement of Duncan and Isadora looking exactly alike was merely an implication that Isadora looked as much like Duncan as a girl could. I mean, there's no way you would be able to tell that 2 people were different genders if they looked exactly alike. IMO, all 3 triplets are fraternal from each other. I addressed this under a discussion called in the "atrocious adaptions" category called "minor disappointments". In TSS, when Quigley reveals himself, Violet and Klaus can tell instantly that it's him. But here's the thing. If he had looked exactly Duncan, they would jumped to the conclusion that the scout was Duncan. Later, when he reveals himself to Count Olaf, Olaf can also tell that it's him, and not Duncan.

[E.F.]

That's very true, I had forgotten about that! Except now you've got me wondering why the Netflix series chose to cast the same actor as both Duncan and Quigley... Convenience, I guess? Since Quigley does not officially appear until TSS, I suppose it makes some sense that they might hold off casting him until they actually begin production for Season 3.

[Hermes]

My headcanon is that all three are fraternal. The series makes D and Q identical, but we know some aspects of it are fictionalised. In the books Quigley is not said to be identical to Duncan, only very similar; and as doetwin says, even if Isadora were trans she couldn't look absolutely identical to Duncan while presenting as a girl.

There's a long tradition of showing twins of opposite sexes as looking alike. I've mentioned this before, but David Lodge in Changing Places has identical twins of opposite sexes, and then in the sequel, Small World, has a character, a father of twins, say 'I read a book which has identical twins of opposite sexes - how ridiculous!'. Snicket does something similar with the Cosy twins in File Under 13.