I’m well aware I promised to have posted on Monday, and that I should really be talking about politics, feminism and the atrocity in Orlando, but I also hope you will all understand that right now, I just can’t.
Instead I want to find solace in stories, and do a follow up to the post I made on inspiring female characters way back on International Women’s Day. Or rather, a spiritual successor rather than a direct follow up, which I promise I WILL do, once I’ve been able to whittle down my massive list of potential characters.
This week, after watching a surprising yet gratifying return to form with Game of Thrones last episode (S6E8 – No One), I want to focus on the feminist depictions of women in Game of Thrones, which is admittedly a contentious topic. The showrunners, and even George RR Martin, have come up against a lot of criticism in their handling of women, and rightly so. The show in particular makes a habit out of misogynistic violence and rape, and whereas sometimes it’s relevant to the plot and character development, often it is either gratuitous, contradictory to a character’s nature , insensitively handled, or simply unnecessary. I want to make it explicitly clear I do not and have never supported this, and I think the show in particular can and should do better, especially surrounding Sansa Stark.
On the other hand, many people have forgotten or overlook how radical and empowering some of these characters are, and not just the women I’ll mention in a second; how about Oberyn Martell, the bisexual lover and fighter prince of Dorne who had no shame about loving anyone, and loved all of his children whether they were born in or out of wedlock, a thing only too rare in Westeros?
But mostly, the women. These are some of my favourite characters in fiction, and I want to share with you my thoughts on them, and how they defy convention. For reference, I will be referring to them as they were written in both the show and the book series, and there will be mild spoilers, but only if you’re not caught up.
You may be familiar with the literary and mythic concept of the ‘Maiden, Mother, Crone’; the triple goddess archetype from Pagan religious traditions (predominately, although other faiths have a similar figure/s) who is seen to represent three aspects of femininity.
This is not my image, I’m afraid I can’t find the source, but this is a very typical representation of the Three
The Maiden is generally shown to represent innocence, naivety, potential, new ideas and beginnings. She is sometimes associated with child-likeness and virginity, but other times she is a sultry, seductive figure of budding sexuality.
The Mother is often associated with fertility, abundance and growth, an experienced maternal figure, connected to the Earth and nature. She often depicted pregnant.
The Crone is linked to wisdom, maturity, but also to the end of life, sharp witted and powerful although often physically weak, often coded as the stereotypical ‘wicked witch’.
(This is a very simplified summary of the coding of this archetype, and please read more academic and religious texts if you are interested in the Triple Goddess.)
The symbol of the Triple Goddess, representing the moon cycles
This archetype is found frequently in media and literature; Terry Pratchett’s Discworld witches use this trope, and if anyone remembers Hocus Pocus? Yeah…
Westeros itself invokes the triple goddess; three of the Seven are explicitly named the Maiden, Mother and Crone.
A lot of female characters in Game of Thrones can be ascribed to one of these three archetypes; Queen Margaery Tyrell is the beautiful, intelligent Maiden, hailed as still a virgin despite her three husbands; her grandmother Lady Olenna, the Queen of Thorns is the perfect, acid-tongued and razor-witted Crone you wouldn’t dare mess with.
But aside from the more traditional evocations of this archetype, I want to talk about how my three favourite characters form an unusual trio of a subverted Maiden, Mother, Crone.
MAIDEN
ARYA STARK
A girl is Arry Potter
A girl is no one
A girl is ARYA FREAKING STARK
Maiden may not be the first word to come to mind when you think of small, tough Arya, a child who decided to live as a boy as part of a fighting force, hang out with the Hound, catch a ship across the ocean (the most dynamic character, even so-called conqueror Dany hasn’t had that much initiative) and join a face-collecting cult of the Many Faced God of Death. But Arya is a girl growing into a young woman, we presume a virgin, and she is the face of a new generation in Westeros, full of (dark) potential, and who is building up a shield of/for herself to protect herself from the brutality of the world. She reflects the near impossibility of innocence in this brutish world, but never once is she a victim.
She is an absolute force to be reckoned with, and after witnessing the senseless murder of her family, she found the strength to not only carry on, but to equip herself with the tools to punish those that had harmed her and those she cared about. The righteous revenge narrative is rarely one given to women, let alone young girls. Those female characters that do become avengers tend to use their sensuality or ‘feminine wiles’ (whatever the heck those actually are) in order to enact revenge, and whereas that is fine, the proportion of female characters that use that technique compared to the number of male characters that just come in and heroically destroy the bad guys is somewhat skewed.
Arya is a refreshing character in that she is never associated with romantic love, she is never sexualised; she is someone on a mission, with a complete and singular focus and her gender is completely incidental and actually irrelevant to who she is and what she has to do.
She isn’t a sweet and innocent Maiden who needs protecting; she will protect herself, and will carry on the dark and dangerous path she has taken. She turns her weaknesses to her advantage; her lack of vanity or traditionally notable beauty like her sister allows her to become no one, her smallness allows her to gain access to places and lets others underestimate her threat, even when blinded she uses it to perfect her fighting skills.
She’s not afraid of the dark corners of the world, and even finds strength in the idea that all men must die. Valar Morghulis.
MOTHER
CERSEI LANNISTER
That belt means BUSINESS
I think that actress in Braavos captured this scene quite well
Short hair, don’t care
I’m not saying Cersei is a good mother, necessarily; her three children were born of incest with her twin brother, and her eldest son was a vile, sadistic monster, but you can’t deny that she loves her offspring. Cersei Lannister has two main motivations in her life; power, and protecting her children. As proven by her Walk of Shame, at the end of the day when it comes down to it, protecting her children takes precedence.
Despite her children being somewhat thankless; Joffrey ignored her and was rude to her face, Myrcella was sent to Dorne early on, and Tommen has been supporting the Faith at the detriment to his mother, Cersei remains determined to protect her children’s lives and (in her eyes) their birth right.
Reading and watching Cersei, it is clear that motherhood is at the core of her being, despite not fitting the traditional ‘doting mother’ type. She is beautiful, sexual, impeccably made-up, a woman of power, wealth and status (despite it being on the decline) who takes an active role in the lives of her children, and will not rest until the enemies of her family have been brought down.
She has an inner toughness that is present in a few Mother figures (Molly Weasley the key one that springs to mind), but she is also scheming, wily and all too willing to resort to violence; unpleasant traits yet somewhat admirable in their justification, and certainly refreshing in a usually benevolent Mother figure.
She also seems to have claimed power in regards to motherhood, through only having Jaime’s children; she chose not to be impregnated by her husband Robert, but instead thinks to herself ‘whilst you snored, I would lick your sons off my face and fingers, one by one, all those pale, sticky princes. You claimed your rights, my lord, but in the darkness I would eat your heirs.’ I know, creepy.
Interestingly she is also clearly coded as feminine, but frequently thinks of herself as the Lannister son and heir her brothers failed to be.
Cersei must be admired, despite her many flaws, as a lioness fiercely protecting her cubs to the last, whilst knowing deep down that the whole pride is doomed.
CRONE
BRIENNE OF TARTH
She’s just the best, what can I say
Bad-ass knight skills
Happy to rip this shamelessly out of context
First things first, I adore Brienne, and I am not calling her a crone as an insult. In fact, crone is only insulting if you buy into some pretty awful patriarchal and kyriarchal ideas about a woman’s value being tied to her beauty, youth and physical ability. Secondly, when I use Crone in the context of Brienne, what I really mean is spinster; a mature (read, post 20 in the world of Westeros) woman who is single, unmarried and independent.
Brienne is described as having thick shoulders and neck, ‘broad and coarse features’ and generally not fitting the narrow standard of feminine beauty in this world. Ironically though her manner is often far more demure and lady-like than other noblewomen, and she is certainly of greater honour. Although in the show she is played by the stunning Gwendoline Christie, they don’t try and feminise her armour or gait or fighting style. In this sense she fits the Crone trope in that she is not conventionally attractive/sexually appealing.
However, how many Crones are muscled, armour clad and able to hold their own in a fair fight against some of the toughest warriors in Westeros? Brienne subverts the idea that this type of woman has to be weak and defenceless, or that they must use guile and cunning to defeat enemies.
What is also refreshing is how she is supportive and protective of other, often younger, women such as Sansa, yet never presumptuously over-protective or patronising. It is a sadly rare thing to see an older female character who is coded as ‘unattractive’ and single having a friendship with a young beautiful woman that isn’t based in envy and spite.
She has a clear sense of honour, more so than perhaps any other (living) character in Westeros, but she can be pragmatic with it, yet never compromising her ideals or duty. This challenges the idea of the Crone as being wise yet underhand, as she has clearly both a good idea of battle strategy, and the sense of honour to do the right thing.
She is the dealer out of death, yet she is fair and just, using wisdom to judge who is deserving of death.
Many Crones are characterised as bitter at their lot, but for someone so solid in their beliefs of right and wrong, Brienne has shown understanding and forgiveness of those that have wronged her, and her understanding of Jaime has done what no other character has been able; helped a Lannister seek to do the right thing. Brienne is so good and generous, she can see the possibility of redemption in a murderous, incestuous kingslayer and that inspires him to try and be half the knight she is.
Brienne best have a long and happy life, despite being too perfect for this ugly, brutal world.
Let me know what you think of my character assessments, and watch out for a brief Weekly Bites post on Thursday!
shrewishthoughts 