Characters

Announcements, Characters August 6, 2013

Game of Thrones Brazil Article, Lucrezia Borgia

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A wonderful article by Lidiany CS discussing some of the theories on this blog appeared on the Game of Thrones Brazil site (GameofThronesBR.com). Not only is the article extremely well written, the best part is it introduces a new idea I’d never thought of before: Lucrezia Borgia being an inspiration for Cersei Lannister! This is a fantastic interpretation. Lidiany does an excellent job of drawing a parallel between Lucrezia and Cersei. It fits very nicely. I’m including a rough English…

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Characters August 4, 2013

Does Sansa Suck?

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Recently, some of you put some great comments on the first post about Sansa Stark . One person wrote that it’s unfair to put Sansa down for not being assertive — after all she is a prisoner.  The comment writer also scolded me a bit for being sexist by equating femininity with passivity and denigrating them both. These are actually fair points. Some of you have argued that finding Sansa annoying is subjective. Sure, it’s subjective. You can’t measure “annoyingness” and not everyone…

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Characters, War of the Roses August 1, 2013

Sansa Stark and Elizabeth of York: A Shattered Childhood (Part 2)

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The rioters are raping her. Sansa awakens gasping and shaken only to discover her nightmare has been born to life. She’s “bled.” Fearing the queen will learn she is now a woman and she’ll be forced to consummate her betrothal with Joffrey, Sansa frantically tries to cut the stain out of the mattress. Sansa’s realities are harsh. Childhood is over and womanhood endangers her. Worse than the risk of dying in childbirth, Sansa’s betrothed, Joffrey, is a cruel cowardly boy…

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Characters, War of the Roses July 30, 2013

The Origin of Sansa May Lie in Elizabeth of York

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Sansa Stark is lovely: everything you’d imagine a medieval princess to be. Beautiful, poised, graceful, soft-spoken, and mannerly, Sansa studies the feminine arts and tries to stay composed. She isn’t the sort of girl who would upstage her prince. Instead, she would remain quietly waiting in the background, smiling sweetly, as she ties a favor to his lance or kisses his sword before battle. Yet, Sansa is quite possibly the most annoying character on Game of Thrones. Why is that? Through our twenty-first century eyes, the…

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Characters, War of the Roses July 7, 2013

Cersei and Margaret of Anjou (part 2)

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This post continues from Margaret of Anjou’s Influence on Cersei Lannister. Like Cersei after Robert’s death, Margaret had to unofficially function as the head of government. When Henry VI went “mad” and lapsed into an unresponsive state for nine months, Margaret tried to hold the various factions together to prevent other claimants from usurping Henry. In Cersei’s case, the Baratheon brothers and Robb Stark both threatened to oust the Lannisters from the throne.  In Margaret’s case, the disaffected Richard of York…

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Characters, War of the Roses July 7, 2013

Margaret of Anjou’s Influence on Cersei Lannister

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Cersei Lannister shares many personality traits (and some story lines or events) with Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI—the “Mad King” defeated in the first phase of the Wars of the Roses. Both women were good-looking, commanding, indomitable, and fiercely devoted to their children, regardless of their flaws. Rumors of infidelity plagued the two queens. Their subjects despised them and they had few loyal followers. In addition, both women had a permissive attitude towards their reputedly monstrous sons….

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Characters July 3, 2013

Rethinking Cersei Lannister

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George RR Martin may draw inspiration for Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones’ ruthless, cruel, vengeful, and manipulative queen, from two different queens in Wars of the Roses: Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret of Anjou. In Cersei Lannister: The Evil Queen We Love to Hate, I discussed the similarities between Cersei and Elizabeth Woodville. However, I’ve stubbornly resisted acknowledging any similarities between Cersei Lannister and Margaret of Anjou. However, I received quite a few great comments and emails on this topic—thank you very…

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Characters June 28, 2013

Walder Frey and Warwick

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Today, I realized I’d made an oversight about Walder Frey, the treacherous lecherous slayer of Robb Stark. I kind of had an “Oh no!” moment. Rather than returning to my series of posts about the “Second Sons,” I’m going to correct this right away. George RR Martin may have drawn inspiration for Lord Frey from Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (“Warwick the Kingmaker”).   As I’ve mentioned previously, George RR Martin likes to mix and match his “borrowings” from history….

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Characters, War of the Roses June 12, 2013

The Late Lord Walder Frey and Thomas Stanley (Part 2)

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House Tully called Lord Frey the “Late Lord Frey” because, during Robert’s Rebellion, he delayed arriving with troops until the outcome was clear. As far as I know, however, Ralph Neville was not known for failing to provide military support. For that aspect of Lord Frey’s reputation, George RR Martin may have taken a cue from the fence-sitting Thomas Stanley. This post is continued from Historical Basis of Lord Frey. The fourth husband of Margaret Beaufort (Henry VIII’s grandmother), Stanley was…

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Characters, Hundred Years' War June 10, 2013

Historical Basis of Lord Frey

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In yesterday’s season finale of Game of Thrones, we found Lord Walder Frey sitting in his great hall matter-of-factly eating and talking to Lord Bolton while old women scrubbed the Stark’s blood off the wood floors. Lord Frey is beginning to rival Joffrey as the most reviled character in the show. He’s abrasive, hostile, lecherous, egotistical, and completely indifferent to anyone’s needs but his own. During the Red Wedding, Lord Frey coolly tells Catelyn Stark to go ahead and kill his wife….

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