The Problems of Sansa Stark
The
Problems of Sansa Stark
If one character from Game
of Thrones deserves hate, that character would definitely be Sansa Stark.
So far, we have seen Sansa living a life that is full of making questionable
decisions. I mean the girl would not even tell a lie to protect her younger
sister in a room full of important people due to her devotion to Joffrey at the
time. Sansa deserves every bit of hate she has received from audiences due to
her early obsession with Joffrey, her world views, and her questionable
decisions.
From the beginning of George R.R. Martins, A Game of Thrones, Sansa begins to
idealize a life married to Joffrey Baratheon. Her early love for Joffrey begins
when he “rescued” Sansa from Ser Ilyn and the Hound. In the novel, Sansa “gazes
at Joffrey worshipfully” and thinks that her rescue was just like the songs she
had heard as a girl. In the show in Season 1 Episode 1, Sansa discusses her
marriage to Joffrey with her mother before the feast and then tries her best to
catch Joffrey’s attention. Even though it was common at the time for it to be
decided by the parents of pre-teens who they will be married to and when, Sansa
was still so young, which definitely contributed to her to being automatically
infatuated with Joffrey- the girl had probably just outgrown being told songs
of princes and princesses less than a year before. Even though Sansa was young,
her age had nothing to do with how she neglects her family, especially Arya,
when she is around Joffrey.
So sure, Sansa thinks all of her decisions are the right
one because it is what Joffrey would want her to do, but the way she neglects
her family in those times is what drives the audience to throw so much more hate
her way. In the novel when Sansa and Joffrey stumble upon Arya and Mycah play
fighting in the woods, Joffrey tries proving a point by going after Mycah. In
turn, and as expected, Arya loses her cool and begins to attack Joffrey. Once
the scuffle is over, Sansa proceeds to scream at Arya to leave Joffrey alone
and then just tends to her “prince”. Arya takes off into the woods and Sansa
does not seem the least bit concerned about it. Sansa is so caught up with
Joffrey and everything about him, she has forgotten that he just attacked a
young butcher’s boy who was just playing in the woods with her sister. Sansa
gave no thought to the feelings Arya would have from this and really just ignores
her all together once she realizes poor Joffrey is hurt. In a situation like
this, Sansa should have prioritized her sister and made sure she was okay, but
she just completely avoided that situation because Joffrey was beginning to
become more important to Sansa than her own family. Being Ned’s daughter, I
thought Sansa would value her family in times like this more than she actually
does, but Joffrey really caused a change in her from the first day they met.
Outside of Sansa’s obsession with Joffrey early on in the novel, Sansa’s world
views are another aspect of her that caused so much hate to come her way from
the audience.
From the very first episode of Season one of Game of Thrones, Sansa Stark stands out
as a very feminine character compared to her sister Arya. According to Ross,
“Sansa Stark is also one of the most classically feminine characters on the
show. She possesses both a kindness and mental fortitude that puts others in
Westeros society to shame, but she also has a penchant for romance, castles and
pretty dresses (which is understandable, given that her head has been filled
with chivalrous tales of lords and ladies for her entire life).” Sansa is also
described by Pierre
as “naïve, lost in dreams of perfect princes, and undeniably spoiled”. In the
novel, Sansa refers to her songs, or fairytales, when talking about Joffrey and
seems to have much more interest in those types of things than Arya. While
Sansa’s femininity is not a bad thing, it is not something that is as important
in today’s society as it was then and it is something that causes her to have
different world views from other characters, like her sister Arya.
Due to Sansa’s more feminine character and her adoration
of fairytales, she has spent most of her pre-teen life looking forward to the
day when she would get to marry her prince and when she would get to live out
her life as a princess. Her beliefs and world views cause her to put Joffrey
first in her life and she now does whatever he says. At the time, Sansa’s view
on this was normal, but for more modern audiences, her ways and views cause the
audience to like her less and less the more her views can be seen. Modern
audiences want to see a strong female character who will stand up for something
that she knows is wrong, not a character who will listen to her prince’s last
word and do what he says even though she knows something different would be
better. Sansa’s character does give audiences a glimmer of hope when she starts
to see all the wrong Joffrey had done to her and her family.
That glimmer of hope only lasts for a small amount of
time in Season 1 Episode 10, where audiences can see Sansa fall out of her
traditional role to Joffrey when the two are crossing over a bridge in the
castle. For just a short second, everyone thought Sansa was going to push him
off that bridge. While we all wish she would have, she did not, but she did
stand up to him for herself after he made her stare at her father’s head on a
stick. Even though Sansa was punished with a slap in the face for what she
said, she took it like a champ and definitely gained back a little bit of my
respect for her. Viewers start to realize here that Sansa, according to Baugher,
“has had to watch almost everyone she’s ever loved die- from her direwolf to
her septa to her own father”. Even though Sansa gained back some of my respect
in this scene, it definitely does not make me forget all of the questionable
decisions she made early on that had big effects on her and her family.
It is no secret that readers really started to hate Sansa
Stark when she takes Joffrey’s side in the courtroom. The decision of hers to
take his side over her sister’s really sent me more to the side of hating her
character. Sansa had hardly known Joffrey any time at all, but since they are
going to get married one day, she decided to side with him. Sansa didn’t know
at the time, but her decision to side with him would have many negative
consequences. To start with, both Sansa’s and Arya’s direwolves would be killed.
To some people that might not seem like a big deal, but to the people who have
a love for animals like me, this made me really upset at Sansa for causing
their deaths. Although I hate it, Sansa deserved it in a way, and I think it
served as a lesson for her. From the day in courtroom, there are many different
events that make me think back to Sansa in a negative way. As Sansa devotes more
and more of herself to Joffrey through the novel and show, I think of the two
of them together, so when Ned Stark was beheaded because of an order of
Joffrey’s, I not only think back to Joffrey, but also to Sansa. Overall, Sansa
made some really bad decisions that had a negative effect on her and her
family, so that makes it hard for audiences to like her.
Sansa has definitely caught a lot of hate for many things
that she did early the Game of Thrones novel
and show. Audiences get to see and read about a young girl who makes many bad
decisions that lead to her being a very heated character. Even though Sansa was
young at the time, that was no excuse for all the things she did. Sansa
deserves every bit of hate that she received from audiences due to her early
obsession with Joffrey, her world views, and her questionable decisions.
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ReplyDeleteYes, Sansa doesn't stick up for Arya at the beginning of the series, and this attracts a vicious amount of hatred towards her. But I believe that in some ways she was protecting herself. If she told the truth and stuck up for her little sister, who knows what would have happened to her. The audience is also so quick to judge (as I was myself), but we cannot forget that she is still a young little girl. If we continued to judge people for their mistakes when they were little, then every single one of us would be hated. One bad decision should not define a character, especially when it was a lose-lose situation in the first place. I understand the backlash that her character received, but as the show continues I think that she is more hated for her femininity.
ReplyDeleteUgh I really agree with you on everything. I can’t imagine my older sister not sticking up for me because of a boy she has a crush on. Like what even is that? And because that altercations end up with two deaths. I feel you because Sansa is clearly brainwashed by this boy who turns out to be a psychotic a**hole. Sansa easily could have been stronger than that and realized, hm maybe I shouldn’t marry him because hes a whiney little brat who will always get his way.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that Sansa is one of the hated characters in Game of Thrones, initially. I am for sure guilty of despising her, especially when it seems that she doesn’t stick up for her family. However, I would have liked to read more about her progression since season 1 and your thoughts on that. For me, instead of Sansa being viewed as weak because she is so feminine, I think she uses her femininity as a tool for outsmarting her opponents, especially when she is forced to be in King’s Landing with Joffrey. Sometimes, silence can be seen as strength for me, instead of lashing out and showing all my emotions on my sleeve. A question I would pose to you is, how have your views of Sansa changed since the first season? If your opinion of Sansa hasn’t changed, why not?
ReplyDeleteI agree that Sansa is in the wrong for going against her family, but my thought process on this is that Sansa grew up with the notions that Kings and Queens love each other and get along really nicely in order to rule together (which now we know is pretty impossible with Joffrey), but I believe that she was trying to build a sense of trust in her new relationship with Joffrey. She is a dreamer and a fantasizer instead of a rebel who always goes against society like Arya. I think that the truth of the matter is that we are very quick to judge Sansa even though majority of us relate to her more than we think that we do. We like Arya because she pushes the boundaries and is constantly testing the people around her, while Sansa is more stagnant where she is and tries to stay positive despite the continuous battle between the Starks and Lannisters. I think that she has obviously changed quite a bit from the beginning, but I now I wonder if audiences still view her as the same through the even more traumatic events that have occurred more recently to her in addition to her father's beheading.
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