Valentina Maza Paper 1 Cersei Lannister is one of the main antagonists in the television series Game of Thrones, an adaptation of the fictional series: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Cersei Lannister is a member of one of the wealthiest and most powerful houses in the kingdom of Westeros, House Lannister. Cersei Lannister was the wife, now widow, of King Robert Baratheon. The marriage was arranged by Cersei’s father, who helped Robert Baratheon win the throne. Jaime Lannister, Cersei’s twin brother, is involved in an incestuous affair with his sister, also illegitimately fathering her three children. Following the death of King Robert Baratheon, the legitimacy of Cersei’s children was called into question, as the incestuous affair had been discovered by some. This is what sparked a series of events that has led to war amongst the seven kingdoms that make up Westeros, most of which are in open rebellion against Cersei’s claim to the throne. Cersei’s children throughout the course of seven season have all died tragic deaths. Throughout the course of the show, though Cersei expresses love for her children and Jaime, all of her decisions as a ruler, mother, or partner, have …show more content…
This is especially true with Jaime, who many a time has been manipulated by Cersei, or simply disregarded, whenever there is a plan he does not fit into, or an objective that has to be met at his expense. As for her children, it can be argued that if she truly loved her children and wanted the best for them, she would have completely removed them from the situation at the very beginning of the series, when their illegitimacy was first brought into question, yet their safety would have been ensured. However, that is not the way things played out. From the very beginning, Cersei has fought for her royal status and
With Cordelia declared as banished, Lear states, “With my two daughters’ dowers digest the third...Only we shall retain The name and all th’ addition to a king. The sway, revenue, execution of the rest, Beloved sons, be yours” (Shakespeare 17). Lear’s fault here is that he believes that he can divide up his kingdom to his daughters and still retain the title as king; he wants to retire his position and responsibilities as a king but still remain respected and treated as one. His flaw in wanting to be superior leads to his downfall, as he is so blinded by his greed that he decides to divide up his kingdom to his two daughters who are as hungry for power as he is. They only want to strip him of his position and respect to gain more influence. Lear, not realizing the impact of such an impulsive decision, descends into madness when his daughters force him out of his home. After being locked out of his only shelter by his daughters, he states, “Filial ingratitude!...In such a night To shut me out?...O Regan, Goneril, Your old kind father whose frank heart gave all! O that way madness lies. Let me shun that; No more of that” (Shakespeare 137). Lear becomes fully aware of the consequences of his actions. He realizes how ungrateful his daughters are and how they have treated him unfairly even though he has given them everything; much to his dismay, he is left with
The Deaths of Antigone and Creon Antigone and Creon are the main characters of the play Antigone written by Sophocles. Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus, who was a major figure in ancient Greek myth. Oedipus accidentally killed his father and married his mother. Because of that act, Oedipus ended up cursing his family and died a horrible death. After his death, his sons inherited his kingdom and in a power struggle ended up killing each other.
Cunegonda's brother, the baron, has a certain arrogance and shallowness about him. He respects Candide, however refuses to let him marry his sister because he is not of royal lineage. Even though he sees all that Candide has gone through for his love, Cunegonda, the baron sees only that his family's background is too good for Candide, who is not deserving of a noble hand in marriage.
After Antigone was found to be guilty of burying her brother Polyneices, Creon said “I suppose she’ll plead family ties, well, let her. If I permit my own family to rebel then how shall I earn the world’s obedience?” (III, 29-31) Creon was so egotistic and sententious that he would even look down on his own family. He really did not care at all that he was sentencing his own niece to death. by the end of the play Creon began to realize just how terribly he had treated his family so he said “Lead me away, I have been rash and foolish. I have killed my son and wife.” (Exodos, 134-135) Creon killed his son and wife because he chose to ignore the fact that he was single handedly tearing his family apart. He was conceited and too self-absorbed to notice just how much damage he had been causing. This proves that he was a bad father and husband and that he felt no obligation to his family as long as he was in charge of
In both Antigone and Medea, three leading characters—Creon of Thebes, Medea, and Jason—hold dominant authority in their own way. Jason, married to Megareus—daughter of another King Creon, receives a small recognition of power because of this marriage. He “is lying on a royal wedding bed.” (Medea 24). However, Creon of Thebes holds greater power as king. Born in Colchis, a “country of barbarians,” Medea’s power in no way compares to the power in a reigning, royal sense of King Creon (Medea 637). Her power lies in her wicked actions of selfishly doing whatever she wants, deceivingly poisoning Megareus and Creon, and angrily murdering her own children. Creon, newly reigning king of Thebes, immediately demonstrates his position of authority in his address to the people of his country. His opening speech to the people sets the tone for Creon’s character—powerful, pleasing to his people, and full of confidence. These qualities are...
In almost every society, since the beginning of written history, women were seen as secondary, and genetically inferior to men. Throughout history, no matter the time period or place, men have held the top ruling positions, with only a few exceptions. Women ruling in their own right usually only occurred due to the unavailability in their generation of any eligible male heir, and as a last resort. Nevertheless, these women managed to be the exceptional few. The most common way for a woman to influence politics, decision-making, and the ruling itself was by becoming the wife, mother, or mistress of a man in power and gaining his trust.
Antigone asks her sister to help her bury her brother. Ismene refuses and tells her sister that she is crazy. However, once Creon finds out about Antigone’s actions, he orders that they both be put to death. Antigone argues that her sister should not have the honor of death when she has not done anything to help bury her brother. Antigone wants it to be known that she has done this all on her own, and she wants the glory for it. Creon also wants a lot of glory. Creon has many people in the village scared of him because he does radical things when he commands orders. Creon is “power hungry.” Both Antigone and Creon are willing to do whatever they have to do to get what they want, glory or otherwise. Antigone’s love is Creon’s son; Creon is willing to stone his son’s love, Antigone, just so he can show that when he says something he means it. Antigone is willing to break the law and the orders of Creon to bury her brother, even if it means being stoned to death in
In the awe-inspiring play of Antigone, Sophocles introduces two remarkable characters, Antigone and Creon. A conflict between these two obstinate characters leads to fatal consequences for themselves and their kindred. The firm stances of Creon and Antigone stem from two great imperatives: his loyalty to the state and her dedication to her family, her religion but most of all her conscience. The identity of the tragic hero of this play is still heavily debated. This tragedy could have been prevented if it had not been for Creon's pitiful mistakes.
This is a good example so you understand, "Perkin Tells everyone in the Village 'not the Black one and certainly not the grey one.' and William the Steward of course tells my father and come to rent day my father insists on the black one or the gray one" (7). Her father is a real mean person if he hears one thing and does it just to make the person mad or sad. Luckily though, in this case Perkin does this just to outsmart Catharines horrible Father by having him take the 2 worst goats.Catherine is treated unfairly by her father, just read this for an example, "Dowry! He wants a Dowry of me? Pay the pig to wed my jewel, my tears are my only daughter" (7). Her Father is also a despicable person by selling away his daughter to a awful man just because he has money and will pay a lot for her. It is one thing if at least he is a decent man and a good person that you could learn to love, but this guy is not suitable. Catherine shows a great deal of courage to go and stand up for herself to her Father all the time even if it ends in her being slapped and sent to her
Queen Elizabeth I, also known as the “Iron Queen”, was a remarkable woman of her time, she ruled with great power and longevity. She was one of the greatest feminist of time. Coming to the throne in 1558, she took the place of her father, Henry VIII. She was given one of the most difficult jobs fit for a man or King, ruling England. At the time women were second class citizens, they could not vote nor own properties and such. Surprising England with her intelligence and fierce rulings, she changed herself to make better decisions. She proved through her rulings, to everyone that females were strong and could rule just as well as a king. She refused to marry, giving a feeling of “I don’t need a man for anything.” The Queen was responsible for giving females a voice in literature and it is shown through Shakespeare’s writings.
On the popular television series Game of Thrones, Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen (Queen of the Dothraki clan) proclaimed, “I will do what queens do. I will rule” (Game of Thrones Season 4 Quote). That was particulary so during 16th and 17th century Europe, which was the time of rule by Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland and Queen Elizabeth I. Both queens brought forth a time of political and religious change to the United Kingdom, which aided in the increase and influence of each family’s powers atop the English, Scottish and French throne. Though both women were of the same Tudor family, they were drastically different in their attitudes towards their ruling their countries.
Throughout the historical literary periods, many writers underrepresented and undervalued the role of women in society, even more, they did not choose to yield the benefits of the numerous uses of the female character concerning the roles which women could accomplish as plot devices and literary tools. William Shakespeare was one playwright who found several uses for female characters in his works. Despite the fact that in Shakespeare's history play, Richard II, he did not use women in order to implement the facts regarding the historical events. Instead, he focused the use of women roles by making it clear that female characters significantly enriched the literary and theatrical facets of his work. Furthermore in Shakespeare’s history play, King Richard II, many critics have debated the role that women play, especially the queen. One of the arguments is that Shakespeare uses the queen’s role as every women’s role to show domestic life and emotion. Jo McMurtry explains the role of all women in his book, Understanding Shakespeare’s England A Companion for the American Reader, he states, “Women were seen, legally and socially, as wives. Marriage was a permanent state” (5). McMurtry argues that every woman’s role in the Elizabethan society is understood to be a legal permanent state that is socially correct as wives and mothers. Other critics believe that the role of the queen was to soften King Richard II’s personality for the nobles and commoners opinion of him. Shakespeare gives the queen only a few speaking scenes with limited lines in Acts two, four, and five through-out the play. Also, she is mentioned only a few times by several other of the characters of the play and is in multiple scenes wit...
Antigone, the protagonist of the play, has what is seemingly the most powerful female role. From the very beginning of the plot she foreshadows her demise but expresses it through her stubbornness and inability to realize the great power of man. It is possible that she was aware of Creon’s capabilities as a leader, but nonetheless, she fights back by going t...
Well, you have to understand that she IS my wife and she wanted the best for me it seemed. But now I realize that I never should have listened to her. I should have left it to fate and been content with the position of Thane of Cawdor for the time. The witches also were only playing with my mind and making me believe that I had to kill to become king when it would have happened eventually. The witches wanted all of this to happen, because they wanted to create havoc and misery. By telling me I was to be king, it set off a whole chain of events that resulted in my life being destroyed.
In the beginning of the play the reader learns that Lear is ready to give up his kingdom and retire from a conversation that two noblemen, Gloucester and Kent, are having. He asks his three daughters; Cordelia, Goneril, and Regan to express their love for him to help him make his decision as to who would inherit his kingdom. Cordelia has always been his “favorite” daughter and when asked how much she loved her father she does not lie to him and tells him “I am sure my love’s more ponderous than my tongue” (1363). Rather than being grateful for such love and honesty, Lear banishes her to France and divides his kingdom to his two other daughters. Kent does not agree with Lear’s decision and Lear banishes him too.