“Tears aren’t a woman’s only weapon. The best one’s between her legs. Learn how to use it.”
In the following essay I will seek to establish the construction of feminine gender roles in ‘Game of Thrones’, the HBO television adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s series of novels ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, which is played out in the fictional kingdom of Westeros. Consequently I will analyse these feminine gender roles from a materialistic viewpoint and discuss how a number of characters, principally female (since we will see how patriarchy is the favoured practice in Westeros), both conform to and reject preconceived ideas of gender performance and representation. To begin with it is necessary to establish an understanding of what ‘gender’ is. “Gender is the range of physical, biological, mental and behavioral characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity. Depending on the context, the term may refer to biological sex (i.e. the state of being male, female or intersex), sex-based social structures (including gender roles and other social roles), or gender identity” (Urdy 1994). Martin himself acknowledges De Beauvoir’s (1973) suggestion that gender is unnatural, ‘a social construction’, “I regard men and women as all human- yes there are differences, but many of those differences are created by the culture that we live in, whether it is the medieval culture of Westeros, or 21st century western culture” (Salter 2013). The characters portrayed and developed in ‘Game of Thrones’ are no different in that they too are subject to the culture that has been created around them and the experiences by which they progress “as De Beauvoir puts it, consciousness exists one’s body, which, in the context of ...
... middle of paper ...
...e phallic ability, he is mocked and almost genderless by conforming to neither the male nor female expectations of King’s Landing. Smith (2004, p. 23) maintains that “when the body is conceived as a cultural locus of gender meanings, it becomes unclear what aspect of this body are natural or free of cultural imprint”. Varys is left almost genderless because he does not conform to the usual binary, anything that shies away from traditional gender roles in Westeros is not considered normative, it is a marginalized phenomenon.
While some fans maintain that ‘Game of Thrones’ is feminist, I doth protest; there is not a single female character who possesses or demonstrates a power that is not mitigated by their gender as females. “Gender may be “chosen” only from within the parameters of culturally available terms which always pre-exist the subject” (Smith 2004).
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story of Gilgamesh, a man who was two-thirds god that was saved by companionship. Gilgamesh was a cruel and careless king, who spent his time raping women, exhausting citizens, and conquering foes and foreign lands until he met, fought and was guided by his great friend and soul mate, Enkidu. With the help of Enkidu and his influence, he learned compassion as well as wisdom and integrity, and eventually Gilgamesh became a great and fair king. Though the story focuses mainly on Gilgamesh and his friendship with Enkidu, there are several roles played by women that help to make and move the story along. Without these important women who show great strength and feminine qualities despite being oppressed by the patriarchy, Gilgamesh would not have been the great king he was meant to be.
As the poems of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight show, women have always had power, yet not as overt a power as wielded by their masculine counterparts. The only dynamic of women’s power that has changed in the later centuries is that the confines and conditions in which women have wielded their power has become more lax, thus yielding to women more freedom in the expression of their power. The structure, imagery, and theme in the excerpts from Beowulf (lines 744-71) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (lines 2309-30) support the concept of more power in the later centuries, by contrasting the restriction of Wealhtheow and the power she practices in Beowulf with the Lady’s more direct assertion of power in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight five centuries later.
Changing Women's Roles in The Epic of Gilgamesh, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Canterbury Tales
For centuries women have been perceived as overshadowed figures who remain in a separate sphere from men. The term “separate spheres” refers to the distinct, conventional characteristics associated with gender differences. The public sphere of men is associated with commerce whereas the domestic sphere for women is linked with the household. However, there is more than just one perspective on feminism. The feminist view is influenced by three main voices: the French, American, and British. French feminists focus their attention on language; American feminists analyze the literary aspects; and British feminists examine the historical processes (Murfin 296-299). Using these perspectives, we can see the oppression of women conveyed in many different texts throughout literature and in history. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, for instance, exhibits not only a feminist view in the text, but also in society during Shelley’s time period as displayed by her negotiations with the separate spheres. Voltaire’s Candide also conveys powerful gender differences and reveals the oppression of women throughout the novel. Therefore, a correlation can be seen between the view of women in the two novels and how it reflects the culture and time period in which the novels were written.
“Culture does not make people. People make culture” said Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian writer and educator, in a presentation on feminism in a TedTalk. The culture in which Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written was misogynistic and it shows in the writing of the poem. Medieval cultural misogyny manifests itself in multiple ways in SGGK. This paper will examine the negative relationships between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and gender by discussing: the representation of female characters, gendered violence, and Christianity in the Middle Ages.
Game of Thrones is a fantasy piece, set during the medieval times, which takes place in a country called Westeros. Although it is set in a different time and place than where we are today, the show still has the same constructs, and built by the same fabrics that define our gender roles here in America. This show is a great example of gender roles, and what happens when people follow these rules or stray from them. Taking an in depth view of the season one opener, “Winter is Coming” helps reveal many of the social constructs not typically thought of that build our daily lives. This episode also portrays that gender roles are not just dependent on sex, but on social class, and physical characteristics.
Perspectives on gender roles throughout history majorly favor the male over the female; her abilities are underestimated by society thus her role is belittled and objectified. The ancient Mesopotamian epic, Gilgamesh, follows this norm of males being in the lead. However in truth, the women play a small but significant role as their drive. The females provide the wisdom and balance the main characters need to endure their journey. Men worship the opposite sex, relying on the power of their love to the point where they are ultimately exposed to a new way of life.
Just as this genre exemplifies the masculine ideal, it also promotes the feminine ideal, largely by casting female characters who do not meet this ideal in an antagonistic light, and thus maintains the male-dominant system of the societies which produced these works. This paper therefore argues that female characters in epic poetry, namely The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer’s Odyssey, and Vergil’s Aeneid, play the role of an antagonistic “Other” group by employing their agency to act beyond the established gender roles of their societies, thereby disrupting the social order and creating obstacles for the male protagonists.
While neither Machiavelli’s The Prince nor Shakespeare’s Henry V focus explicitly on gender roles, they both make assumptions and implications sufficient to illustrate their opinions about the nature and place of women in relation to men. In Machiavelli’s The Prince, men and women are depicted in traditional gender roles with women as tricky and unreliable, but ultimately yielding to men who are portrayed as tough and immovable. Shakespeare’s Henry V acknowledges these ideas, but also portrays women as able to influence events within the small domain they are given.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender plays a very significant role. While women were not the most powerful gods nor the strongest or wisest of humans, they still had tremendous influence. Though the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are male, women did not play a necessarily minor role. With all the women that play a role in the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender is a topic worthy of discussion.
The roles of women in Beowulf are varied and non-stereotyped; some are peaceful and one at least is a killer, is warlike. The women of royal blood have considerable freedom of choice, range of activity, and room for personal growth and development.
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
“Even if the boy does live, he’ll be a cripple. Worse than a cripple. A grotesque. Give me a good clean death.” The “instead” that follows Jaime’s statement in the first book of the A Song of Ice and Fire series is silent, but strongly implied. His younger brother Tyrion, the dwarf, disagrees: “Speaking for the grotesques [...] I beg to differ. Death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities.” Within these two lines, multiple issues arise, most importantly as far as this text is concerned, the links between the construction of masculine identity and the idea of bodily wholeness. From the very start of the series, Martin calls upon a fairly traditional binary of embodied masculine identities. On the one side, the strong and
Social factors have always encouraged the idea that men embody masculinity and women embody femininity and, thus, certain gender-norms are expected accordingly. In the past, such expectations were traditional and to go against them was frowned upon by the general public. Contemporarily speaking, there is more freedom to avail oneself of today than there was once upon a time. Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont’s fairytale adaptation of ‘Beauty and The Beast’ was published in 1740. During this time, men and women were compelled by the social conventions associated with their gender. When analyzing the literary work, the reader can grasp what gender roles are eminent in the characters identity and motives. By exploring the choice of language being
There is an unnaturalness where gender and generational roles are subverted. In the context relating to the death of Henry Tudor and the incest and witchcraft tainting Elizabeth’s birth and duality as a Virgin Queen. Overall in King Lear the issues surrounding gender are associated with unnaturalness, a deviation from the laws of nature, from the authority of God and the misuse of power. Gender and its treatment is the cause of the fall of Lear’s reign. The incest and adultery are a curse on the land and the royalty, the wind battles against the evil natures of the characters men. The restoration of the patriarchy and order in society is linked to the chastisement undergone by Edgar, and the result being the victory of his noble and chivalrous character over that of the false Edmund. The darkness and shame of the relationship to the female gender and sexuality are brought to life, and rage throughout, what was hidden or kept in the darkness is brought out. In relation to the context the issue being the challenge to patriarchal culture and the tragedy of the reversal of gender roles resulting from the hamartia or fall of grace of the noble