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lady-corrine · 3 months ago

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"Through looking at Princess Rhaenyra and her historical counterpart Empress Matilda, I will argue that both these female characters are seen as having similar ambitions, weaknesses and characteristics as the men in their societies, however, because they are women these traits are represented as being undesirable.

Alicent’s ‘Green Council’ uses Rhaenyra’s gender as being the fundamental reason that she should not be Queen. The council notes how a trueborn son should always take precedence over a daughter. Further, Ser Otto states that Prince Daemon, as the husband of Rhaenyra will have the ultimate authority suggesting that, “we all know that one’s nature. Make no mistake, should Rhaenyra ever sit the Iron Throne, it will be Daemon who rules us, a king consort as cruel and unforgiving as Maegor ever was.” The way that the council is depicting Rhaenyra’s renders her incompetent due to her gender, suggesting that if she becomes Queen, she will be unable to make sound decisions and will be under the control of her husband. Although we see that is untrue throughout the rest of Princess and the Queen and her biography in A World in Ice and Fire, Alicent, Ser Otto and their council ultimately succeed in providing Aegon the support he needs.

[...]

Rhaenyra, though technically the rightful heir to the throne, is ostracized due to her gender and ultimately has few advantages in the war. It is noted in The Princess and the Queen that:

"Some older lords might yet recall the oaths they had swarn when she was made Princess of Dragonstone and named her father’s heir. There had been a time when she had been well loved by highborn and commons alike, when they had cheered her as the Realm’s Delight. Many a young lord and noble knight had sought her favor then…though how many would still fight for her now that she was a woman wed, her body aged and thickened by six childbirths, was a question that none could answer."

Through painting Princess Rhaenyra in this way, it can be seen as an attempt to appeal to the inherently patriarchal social structure they are situated in. Rhaenyra, despite a valiant effort, ultimately fails to access the power and agency she set forth to attain because it is suggested that this world of politics and level of power is ultimately a man’s domain. What is interesting however, is that Alicent succeeds in her effort to crown Aegon as king. As Valerie Estelle Frankie notes, Alicent “operates behind the scenes” and manipulates those around her into seeing Rhaenyra as the villain as she continuously degrades her as a “whore,” “bitch” and other derogatory terms. Alicent’s efforts can, in many ways be seen as more successful than Rhaenyra’s because rather than trying to usurp a male-sphere, she manipulates her way within it and through such, is able to find agency without disrupting social order.

Princess Rhaenyra has been referenced as directly paralleling the 12th century Empress Matilda. Matilda, much like Rhaenyra faced the problem of being a woman seek political agency in an inherently misogynistic society. [...] Like Rhaenyra who was in labour in Dragonstone when Aegon captured the throne, Matilda was in Anjou ‘pregnant and ill’ when her father suddenly died.

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However, since gender renders women unequal, they are seen as significantly more problematic when trying to access power since they are essentially problematizing gender expectations. Matilda, performing as an ‘alternate monarch’ to many of her followers, was criticized by her contemporaries for subverting such gender structures. Frankel notes that, “As Matilda displayed to her subjects her ability to be as ruthless and forceful as her father… [Matilda’s contemporaries” could accept imperious behaviour from a king, but not from a woman, even one taking a king’s role.” Matilda, ultimately wanted to be a king, a position that was previously occupied by men, but as Frankel notes, England was “not ready for a reigning queen.” Therefore, her behaviours. though accepted when performed by a man, are rendered as being “insufferable”. Rhaenyra, similarily gets relegated to being insufferable and as it notes in the text,

“The girl that they once cheered as the Realm’s Delight had grown into a grasping and vindictive woman, men said, a queen as cruel as any king before her. One wit banned Rhaenyra “King Maegor with teats.”

Demonstrating how society has rendered her more monstrous as she has attempted to gain ‘male’ power.

What makes Rhaenyra such an interesting character is how her character is entirely a reflection of the cultural context she is situated in. Like Matilda, she has been given the duty to rule a Kingdom in a society that inherently discourages women to have any kind of personal or social agency. As a result, these women are forced to subvert gender roles and be relegated as cruel, evil and monstrous in their attempts to find agency."

Robin Daprato - Feminism and Misogyny in George R.R. Martin’s ‘The Princess and the Queen, or, The Blacks and the Greens’

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rogers-attic · 6 months ago

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