This project examines the relationship between femininity and empowerment in George R. R. Martin's fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. It combines medieval historical context, psychological and sociological research, and feminist theory to construct a framework through which to discuss how power functions in Martin's fictional world of Westeros. With six key characters, I argue that femininity operates as a kind of natural resource anyone can use to access empowerment, regardless of how one personally identifies; further, I illustrate how these routes to power are ultimately more successful than others. Sansa Stark, Cersei Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen are the most prominent figures I discuss at length, but Lord Varys, Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish, and Tyrion Lannister also serve as successful examples who additionally demonstrate the feminine as separated from sex and gender. Overall, I aim to illuminate how power is not exclusively accessed or utilized through masculinity or the rejection of the feminine, specifically by analyzing these six characters' empowerment. / Master of Arts / The heroes and heroines of fantasy fiction often access power by adopting masculine traits and rejecting femininity. But in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, characters who exhibit feminine traits and behaviors are more successful in accessing and maintaining power than those who do not. This project examines the characters of Sansa Stark, Cersei Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen—and also Lord Varys, Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish, and Tyrion Lannister—through the lens of medieval history and feminist theory to show how those characters succeed by using femininity as a means of empowerment.

In George R. R. Martin's magnum opus, A Song of Ice and Fire, the fragmentation of the land mirrors a fragmentation of the self as many of Martin's characters lose their grips on their sense of identity due to the chaos caused by the ongoing civil war in Westeros and ultimately undergo an identity crisis. This thesis seeks to explore the ways in which George R. R. Martin utilizes the identity crisis as an instrument for obtaining a sense of agency and autonomy over oneself, particularly through the lens of trauma.

This study examines four women in George RR Martin’s A song of Ice and Fire and the TV-series Game of Thrones that is based on Martin’s novels. The women who are discussed are: Sansa Stark, Cersei Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen and Brienne of Tarth. The portraying of the women is examined through close-reading and studying of key scenes in the novels and in the adaptation.                The main goal of the study is to examine how women are portrayed in the novels and in the TV-series, and to see what differences that can be found. It is also interesting to further analyze why these differences have occurred and how they impact the way the women are perceived. The analysis is based on adaptation theory. Since women are the focus of the study gender theory is also central for the essay. There are several differences between the medias. A lot of the differences occur due to the nature of the media, for example the fact that it is not possible to convey thoughts in the visual media. These types of changes mostly effect the way the woman in question is perceived in that particular scene or situation. However, there are also some significant differences that are more radical, both in the way they are made, and in the effects they have on how the audience views the woman. Those kinds of changes mostly affect Daenerys and Brienne, the two women who more radically challenge gender roles in the novels, and who are, through the changes that have been made, forced into more stereotypical roles in the TV-production, which is aiming at a bigger and broader audience than the novels.

The prophecies in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series are unclear and often appear to have multiple possible fulfillments, or none at all. In addition, some of these prophesied events occur before they are introduced, which further contributes to the lack of clarity in interpreting them. My thesis will discuss the methods by which Martin offers readers clues to a prophecy’s fulfillment and argue that Martin’s use of these imprecise prophecies challenges high fantasy tropes about prophecies.

Song of Ice and Fire is unarguably one of the most popular fantasy series of all time. Notwithstanding its success, the series has only recently begun to be analyzed critically. George R.R. Martin’s books are often celebrated for breaking many of the tropes common in fantasy literature. Despite this, the series is nonetheless a product of a genre that has been shaped by white, male authors. Using such prominent postcolonial scholars as Edward Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Homi Bhabha, and Albert Memmi, I analyze the five published books of Martin’s series. I argue that although Martin seems to be aware of the theoretical background of postcolonial studies and attempts to present a story sensitive to issues of colonization, the book series fails to present a Western representation of the East outside of orientalist stereotypes and narratives that reinforce imperialism. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Creators of popular culture, especially in the Fantasy- and Science Fiction-genres, has oftenused religious inspiration in the form of symbolism of the divine to form their own religioussystems and beliefs. The gods in these works ranges from actual physical beings to lofty ideasof transcendent powers in the sky. Readers have consumed these aspects of divinity, that doesn’tstray that far from their own world’s deities, and many of them have probably done so withouta thought on if this affects their own view of the divine. The first step towards this realizationrequires some form of analysis over how popular culture has depicted gods and religion. Thefollowing study treats how one of the world’s most well-known Fantasy series, George R.R. Martins A Song of Ice and Fire, portrays divine agency in three of its religions. The religionsin question are The Seven-Pointed Star, the Drowned God, and The Lord of Light. Thetheoretical approach has been built upon Pierre Machereys thesis on how to reveal a textsideological project to accomplish this goal. The study has shown that the religions with a clearinspiration from western religions, such as Christianity, are portrayed with a weaker divineagency than those religions based on religions without an apparent western inspiration. Thestudy concludes that this implies that the ideological project of A Song of Ice and Fire can beseen as a critique on how religious people use the divine and construct it for their own gains.

In an interview with Hy Bender, Neil Gaiman states, "We have the right, and the obligation, to tell old stories in our own ways, because they are our stories." While fantasy stands apart from other types of fiction, it still provides a particular kind of commentary on the culture/time it is being created in, often by toying with older themes and conventions. Stories of the quest for kingship tend to fall by the wayside in favor of the "unlikely hero" tale. While the king's story is not always vastly different from that of the hero, there are some key points that need to be taken into consideration. Unlike many heroes, especially in the modern sense, kings (whether recognized at first or not) are born for the duty they must eventually fulfill. A hero may be unaware of the problem at first or later reluctant to engage it; more often than not in tales of kingship there is a deep awareness of the problem and the knowledge of their potential in solving it. There is always a sense of inherent purpose and destiny: they must undertake quests in order to legitimize themselves and their power — their right to rule. These stories bear a similar structure and shared themes that can be found in medieval sources as well as earlier myths. Tales of kingship in modern fiction, specifically in the work of Neil Gaiman (The Sandman) and George R. R. Martin (A Game of Thrones), are similar to the medieval models, as kingship and the requirements of kingship were popular themes in medieval texts, including Beowulf and King Horn. The role of the king in epic tales varies from hero to villain, at times even occupying both roles depending on the story. In the tales explored herein and in much of the medieval source material that inspired the fantasy tradition, the king also takes on the role of healer. The interwoven plots of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series revolve around the struggle for the rightful rule over seven kingdoms, and while the protagonist in The Sandman is in many ways vastly different from Tolkien's Aragorn, the character still exists with a sense of purpose, responsibility, and duty; a regal bearing that does not necessarily occur in the majority of typical heroes. The influence of Tolkien's work both as a scholar and an author is apparent in Gaiman's use of mythology and Martin's style of world creation; both authors have admitted their creative debt to and continuing admiration of Tolkien's style of fantasy. It is impossible to discuss modern fantasy without acknowledging Tolkien as an influence to these two more recent authors. This paper will discuss The Lord of the Rings as a bridge between modern fantasy and medieval/mythological sources. In each of these modern fantasy tales of kingship, healing and reunion become major themes, tied into the right/duty of a ruler. The patterns established by medieval tales are used by modern authors to create fantasy kings, giving their narratives legitimacy that may have been difficult to establish without these patterns and links back to the medieval tradition. / Master of Arts

This diploma thesis deals with the fantasy saga A Song of Ice and Fire written by American author G. R. R. Martin and the analysis of its fictional world. It explores saga's genre classification and focuses on elements that depart from its genre and which enrich it. Through the narratological analysis of the work, it focuses on the main principles of the construction of the fictional world and its specific characteristics. The basic theoretical framework for the analysis of the saga consists of contemporary fictional worlds that are not called fictional in the sense that they would form a fictional narrative but create a new narrative universe. It is designed to help construct further sequels or narrative turns. The diploma thesis also refers to the phenomenon of transmediality, thanks to which the narrative universe continues to expand and the fictional world becomes more realistic.

The point of this essay was to conduct research on the market and the consumers influence over the cultural industry in regard to adaptations. The paper analyses some of the changes that can be done by the producers in order to please the consumer, and therefore increase the popularity among the viewers. The analyse has studied how the adapted works; The Walking Dead, A Game of Thrones/ A Song of Ice and Fire, Legend of the Seeker/ Sword of Truth, has implemented changes when it comes to three matters; motherhood, looks and character development. Furthermore, the paper analyses how these changes may affect the plot, and how the viewers have reacted to this. The thesis is based on Pascal Lefèvre’s adaptation research and John Fiske’s popular culture study. The consumer’s opinions regarding the TV-shows and what changes they wish to see in movies and TV-shows are expressed through comments on YouTube and Reddit. / <p>Slutgiltigt godkännandedatum: 2022-06-10</p>