Sansa Stark, Victimization and Sexual Violence in Game of Thrones (Part I)

Note: This is a multi-part revision of a previous essay of the same title. Each part is linked below
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V

Trigger Warning: This contains frequent discussion of sexual assault, particularly rape


          I watched the controversial sixth episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones’ fifth season, “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” in the wake of George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road. This was unfortunate. I still consider that episode my least favorite in the season (and possibly entire show) so far. I am still disappointed over the way the Dorne plot, particularly the inept Sand Snakes, are being handled this season and in that episode in particular. But initially my primary reason for being upset over that episode was the ending: the rape of Sansa Stark on his wedding night to Ramsay Bolton as Theon Greyjoy, her pseudo-brother, was forced to watch on in abject horror.

          Continual criticism such has been laid upon this scene and at first much of it resonated with me. It appeared to be another example of casual sexual violence visited upon a female character without narrative necessity. It has been over two weeks since I watched that episode and I have spent that time thinking about the critiques written about it. I have come to the conclusion that the majority of said criticism misunderstands both the purpose of the show and the person of Sansa.  Far more problematic however, is the revelation that the most apparently feminist criticisms of that scene internalize the very thing they speak against: a patronizing perspective towards female victims of sexual violence.  Although such criticisms appear concerned for Sansa, they presuppose reducing her personality into an explicit character-function of a predefined narrative to give “meaning” to her humiliating rape.  In what follows I will outline the common criticisms of that scene and investigate their unsettling and contradictory consequences. Several articles have already led the ground-work for this critique, such as Daniel Finkle on Patheos , Amanda Marcotte on Raw Story, or Kate Polak at The Hooded Utilitarian, each of which I strongly recommend you read independently and in their entirety.  

Game of Thrones, like the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin upon which it is based, subverts and critiques the tropes that have defined and confined the fantasy fiction genre.  In a more generic fantasy narrative, one would expect the noble Stark house to not only survive but to triumph over their foes.  The family patriarch, Ned Stark, should be ensured victory by his traditional virtues of loyalty, chivalry and honor.  Instead, his virtuousity results in not only his death but the death of his avenging eldest son, Robb Stark, who follows the same code of honor as his father.  This is a realist critique of the fantasy genre and the violent patriarchal societies routinely romanticized within its canon.  It ruthlessly exposes the self-destructive tendency of patriarchy and the hypocrisy of chivalry where men slaughter one another for the honor of their House and then rape women in order to ensure the lineage of the House, so the cycle of violence can sustain itself.

Fans of traditional fantasy fiction have come to expect from the narratives that their heroes will be triumphant in the face of adversity. They are confident that the damsel in distress will be rescued at the last minute by the daring hero.  This is not only a genre cliché but it is an escape into wish-fulfillment. Game of Thrones is an explicitly anti-escapist fantasy.  Through realistic, it offers the critical subversion of the wish-fulfilling tendencies of the fantasy.  Since fantasy fiction has a tendency towards romantic depictions of medieval feudal patriarchies, the realism of Game of Thrones requires that the violence, especially the sexism, of such a societies to be represented.  The token dragons, giants and magic of the fantasy genre appear within the series but there do not exist within a world free from the moral, political or economical conflicts which define our real experiences. The series is a reminder to the fantasy genre audience that one can never truly escape from the historical problems of reality since fantasy worlds are derived from our very history; if we want to take the fantasy world seriously, we need to seriously consider the ethical problems of that world which parallel our own.  Fantasy is not simply an escape from history into fiction but also provides a confrontation with history through fiction. In respect to this essay, the history of interest is of patriarchal sexual violence.