In terms of popular television series, "Game of Thrones" is one of the most well received on any network. Now starting its sixth season, the newest episode aired on Sunday, April 24 and was a quick rebound into all of our hearts.
Despite the fact that the show is sexy, dangerous and features some serious eye-candy (RIP Rob Stark) there are some underlying motifs that help to give the series an extra touch of genius that separate it from all other shows.
One ongoing thing I have noticed in the show is the empowering, brave and strong female characters that are presented. For an era that supposedly denied women many rights and features them as sexual objects, all of the main heroes or rather, heroines, have extremely strong characters.
Obviously, Daenerys is one of the most loved characters on the series. She is strong, stubborn and continually is driven by her compassion and need for justice. She has proven beyond all odds that she needs no male counterpart to be her strongest self. In fact, her own awakening could arguably be made in the wake of her husband's death.
Opposingly, Cersei is a questionable character that is dichotomous to Deanerys's fair and more empathetic nature. However, Cersei is one of my favorite characters in the series. Again, another incredibly strong and driven woman. Despite her intentions, she is powerful and incredibly confident in what she wants. She is wounded and has been carved by her own guilt and troubles into an icy figure of power.
One of my favorite characters in the entire show is little Arya Stark. From the beginning, you knew she was one of the few characters that would actually survive this long. She was always fearless and despite her age and size, proved that cunning and bravery can come in the smallest of forms.
One of the best character developments over the series has been with Arya's older sister Sansa. I hate to admit this but I actually used to hate her (especially during the Geoffrey infatuation stage). She was incredibly irritating and immature (even more so than her tiny sword wielding sister) and her sniveling princess-y behavior drove me crazy. However, within the last season or two her maturity and understanding have expanded her into a front runner in the show. Her development and growth of awareness have proven that despite her character issues, she has grown to have an acute understanding of survival.
What do one thing all of these characters have in common? They are all women. Amazingly, this show features a fair amount of sexism (women as prostitutes and slaves etc) but also seems to focus a huge amount of energy on highlighting the strength of the feminine. Not only are the women featured regal and powerful but they are cunning, brave, just and compassionate. They show that women have a myriad of skills and characteristics that make them as powerful and influential as the men in the story.
So next time you catch an episode of GoT, make sure you pay special attention to the way girl power emanates from the gorgeous and strong women that highlight this show.
