The Journal of Supernatural Literature, Volume One (2013)

Daenerys, Drogo and Dragons: The Monstrous Feminine in A Game of Thrones

-Celeste Thorn

George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones is the first instalment in A Song of Ice and Fire. An intimidating number of characters, places, and events are introduced, while a variety of supernatural elements also permeate the narrative, influencing characters and events in varying ways and to differing degrees. In the case of Daenerys Targaryen, a thirteen year old girl who is sold into marriage by her brother, Viserys, the supernatural is seen through forms of magic culminating in the revival of dragons and Daenerys’ ability to survive a pyre. Through her arranged marriage to Khal Drogo she finds distance from Viserys and the bonds that she thought held her. Daenerys evolves as she is tested, and ultimately sees that she herself is stronger than Viserys: she is the true ‘blood of the dragon’ (Martin 2011, p. 565) and perhaps ‘the true inheritor of the Iron Throne’ (Spector, 2012, p. 183). This paper will consider the supernatural elements within A Game of Thrones, alongside an analysis of the evolution of Daenerys, working from the basis that it is Daenerys’ sexuality that brings her latent supernatural ability to the fore. Daenerys challenges patriarchal dominance systems, but is only allowed to do so via the supernatural; this will be examined with an analysis of the fantasy and mimetic elements within the narrative. Rosemary Jackson notes that ‘Modern fantasy is rooted in ancient myth, mysticism, folklore, fairy tale and romance’ (Jackson 1981, p. 4), and indeed A Game of Thrones includes recognisable links to ancient myths and wars. The supernatural has been receding from Westeros, and the lore of supernatural events ‘live[s] only in tales told to the young’ (Cox 2012, p. 129). For example, Old Nan from Winterfell is often seen as the bearer of a frightening tale told to

228 the Stark children (Martin 2011, p. 11), who either question or dismiss it. The retelling of folklore by the older generation to the young is Martin’s way of reinforcing not only the supernatural hovering beneath the surface, but also the proximity of the supernatural to the mimetic within A Game of Thrones. Old Nan’s stories of the supernatural are familiar in that they echo the fairy tales of ‘our’ world, passed down through generations and rooted in oral folk stories of the medieval period. Narrative and characterisation such as this within A Game of Thrones prickle our subconscious because ‘in this way Westeros is like our world’ (Cox 2012, p. 129). The juxtaposition of the mimetic with the supernatural emphasises the fantasy elements of the narrative. Christine Brooke-Rose elaborates on this, pointing out that fantastic texts:

...need to be solidly anchored in some kind of fictionally mimed ‘reality’, not only to be as plausible as possible within the implausible, but to emphasise the contrast between the natural and supernatural elements. (Brooke-Rose 1981, p. 234)

This is particularly evident in Daenerys’ narrative, from her initial subservient position to the climax in which she is seen to be an extremely powerful force. Benjamin Walker argues that ‘there is within each person a duality, a positive and negative polarity which ramifies through the physiological, mental, and psychical planes that constitute his identity’ (Walker 1970, p. 22). This duality can be seen in Daenerys’ journey, and is a duality that she herself perhaps did not know existed within her. Daenerys’ experiences with the supernatural are emphasised so clearly because many other parts of her character are within plausible bounds, for example, her initial domination by men, her later joy in her marriage and impending motherhood, and her consuming grief at the loss of her child and husband. Matthew Tedesco states that ‘the best works of fantasy use places, persons and powers sprung from the imagination in order to connect with the parts of us and our lives that are most

229 real’ (2012, p. 100); Daenerys’ emotions of joy, grief, and desire connect because they can be readily identified with. Indeed, it can further be argued that it is Daenerys’ emotions, and her sexuality, that lead her to access these previously latent powers which allow a symbolic rebirth in the pyre, where Daenerys Targaryen emerges ‘naked, covered with soot, her clothes turned to ash, her beautiful hair all crisped away…yet…unhurt’ (Martin 2011, p.780). In considering the sexuality of Daenerys and its role within the construction of the supernatural it is necessary to examine representations of sexuality, both within and apart from the supernatural; this will allow us to analyse how Daenerys is able to use her sexuality as a powerful force and influence. Michel Foucault tells us in The History of Sexuality that:

[t]hrough the themes of health, progeny, race, the future of the species, the vitality of social body, power spoke of sexuality and to sexuality; the latter was not a mark or symbol, it was an object and a target. Moreover, its importance was due less to its rarity or its precariousness than to its insistence, its insidious presence, the fact that it was everywhere, an object of excitement and fear at the same time. (1984, p. 147)

We can see from Foucault that sexuality itself permeates many levels of society and human consciousness, its influence felt precisely because it is a common element simmering beneath the surface; its effects are not truly known, but exalted and feared simultaneously because of the power that sexuality engenders. Foucault emphasises that it is sexuality, not sex, that is the key factor to power. Sex is arguably a mere agent of sexuality, as can be seen in Daenerys’ development: while sex is used as ‘her way of regaining power’ (Spector 2012, p. 184), it is merely a tool deployed in the larger scale of events that her sexuality influences. Caroline Spector argues that it is when Daenerys chooses to love Drogo that:

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[s]he begins to gain power, first through Khal Drogo, who grants her both his own protection and the authority that comes with being his mate, and later, through her own agency when she emerges unscathed from Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre with the baby dragons. Only with Khal Drogo’s death is she free to make her own way in the world, largely unencumbered by male control. (Spector 2012, p. 185)

Her sexuality, rather than sex itself, is what leads to her growing agency and development of power; as Foucault states, the sexual act itself is ‘a deployment of sexuality’ (1984, p. 155). Daenerys’ sexuality is what Drogo has grown to love, and therefore it is her sexuality that allows Daenerys a measure of power. With his death, she is able to use the strength she has gained from him as both a sacrifice and a motivating force to unleash her supernatural powers. Barbara Creed writes of the ‘monstrous-feminine’, referring to that which is seen as ‘shocking, terrifying, horrific, [and] abject’ of woman (1993, p. 1). These tensions and anxieties about women are arguably latent within a normative world, but are brought to the surface within supernatural narratives. What is shocking and terrifying about Daenerys is that it is her sexuality, and her very real emotions of grief and love, that convert her latent supernatural powers into demonstrable results in the rebirth of dragons. This link between woman and childbirth is central to tensions about the woman, sexuality, reproduction, and the supernatural. Indeed, Walker argues that:

Woman is the magical bond between two worlds. Her function is not primarily sexual but supernatural. As the Great Mother, she looms among the primeval archetypes and is invested with a frightening prestige. (1970, p. 35)

Therefore we can see that Walker posits the sexual as a by-product of women within the supernatural; her ability to give birth endows her with an almighty power above the man, and this ability to reproduce is almost a

231 supernatural capability in itself. Creed further states that ‘when woman is represented as monstrous it is almost always in relation to her mothering and reproductive functions’ (1993, p. 7). This is also true of Daenerys, as her supernatural capabilities are linked to her role as a mother: denied her own child by dark magic, this leads to a series of events which culminate in the birth of three dragons that view her as their mother, even to the point of feeding from her breast (Martin 2011, p. 780). This is a visceral demonstration of the ‘monstrous-feminine’ in full form. The khalasar that had told her they could not follow a woman (p. 774) witness her enter and survive the pyre, re- emerging with three baby dragons, and Daenerys ‘only had to look at their eyes to know that they were hers now, today and tomorrow and forever, hers as they had never been Drogo’s’ (p. 780). They fear and desire her, are repelled by her yet worship her, both despite and precisely because she is a woman. Spector claims that Daenerys is ‘remarkable and dangerous in every sense because her very existence is perilous to the current power structure’ (2012, p. 170). Daenerys challenges the patriarchal power system in both the mimetic and fantasy narrative strands: as a Targaryen, her claim to the Iron Throne threatens those in Westeros, but it is her subversion of the natural’ through the supernatural emergence from the pyre and birth of her dragons that truly threatens the dominant patriarchal structure. With these supernatural capabilities and elements, Daenerys is a true threat to Westeros, and to male domination. The birth of the dragons is an assurance of strength and power, and as their mother rather than someone who simply possesses them, this increases Daenerys’ power and dominance; the dragons are a symbol of the ‘monstrous-feminine’, and the supernatural power and capabilities of woman. Therefore, Daenerys can be seen as a characterisation of the underlying threat women pose to patriarchy and systems of male domination. Luce Irigaray explains the threat to male dominance posed by women who fight the dominant system and values:

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When women want to escape from exploitation, they do not simply destroy a few “prejudices”; they upset a whole set of dominant values…they challenge every theory, every thought, every existing language in that these are monopolised by men only. They question the very foundation of our social and cultural order. (cited in Grosz 1989, p. 126) The supernatural brings to the fore latent fears of the category of woman and their abilities, thus emphasising the link between the fantasy and the mimetic. Daenerys’ ascendency has started a journey to overthrow patriarchal domination. She answers to no one and is subordinate to no man; even her dragons are not independent: she is their mother and they will do her bidding. From this point on she will command and lead her own army, continuing to challenge and subvert the accepted notions of the patriarchal system and perceived feminine weakness. However, we must consider that it is only through the supernatural that this is possible: within the mimetic alone Daenerys cannot subvert the dominant values of patriarchy; it is the supernatural that allows her to do so. In conclusion, the supernatural elements within A Game of Thrones are emphasised precisely because of the mimetic that is recognisable and, at times, familiar. Further, the very real emotions of love, grief, and desire are perhaps what allow Daenerys’ latent supernatural abilities to break free. Daenerys and her dragons as representation of the ‘monstrous-feminine’ is a link between the fears of woman and their reproductive capability as bordering on the supernatural itself. That is, the character of Daenerys and her ‘birthing’ of the dragons is a supernatural depiction of a woman’s capability to give birth therefore giving life itself. As Creed notes, ‘the notion of the monstrous- feminine challenges the view that femininity, by definition, constitutes passivity’ (1993, p. 151) The characterisation of Daenerys is a reflection of latent fears in relation to female sexual agency, and the challenge this agency poses to the dominant value system of patriarchy. If fantasy literature can be defined by Kathryn Hume’s statement as ‘the deliberate departure from the

233 limits of what is usually accepted as real and normal’ (1984, p. xii), then this is why Daenerys is able to undermine the patriarchal system: because it occurs within the supernatural, not the mimetic, and can thereby remain hidden beneath the surface, seen only as ‘fantasy’—safe, because it is supernatural.

References: Brooke-Rose, C 1981, A rhetoric of the unreal: studies in narrative and structure, especially of the fantastic, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Creed, B 1993, The monstrous-feminine: film, feminism and psychoanalysis, Routledge, London Cox, E 2012, ‘Magic, science, and metaphysics in A Game of Thrones’, in W Irwin & H Jacoby (eds), Game of Thrones and philosophy: logic cuts deeper than swords, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 129-141. Foucault, M 1984, The history of sexuality volume one: an introduction, translated from the French by R Hurley, Penguin, Harmondsworth, UK. Grosz, EA 1989, Sexual subversions: three French feminists, Allen & Unwin, Sydney. Hume, K 1984, Fantasy and mimesis: responses to reality in Western literature, Methuen, New York. Jackson, R 1981, Fantasy: the literature of subversion, Methuen & Co., London. Martin, GRR 1996, A Game of Thrones, Harper Voyager, London. Spector, C 2012, ‘Power and feminism in Westeros’, in J Lowder (ed.), Beyond the wall: exploring George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, from A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons, BenBella Books, Inc., pp. 169-187. Tedesco, M 2012, ‘It would be a mercy choosing life or death in Westeros and beyond the narrow sea’, in W Irwin & H Jacoby (eds), Game of Thrones and philosophy: logic cuts deeper than swords, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 99-112. Walker, B 1970, Sex and the supernatural: sexuality in religion and magic, Macdonald & Co., London.

HOW TO CITE: Celeste Thorn, “Daenerys, Drogo and Dragons: The Monstrous Feminine in A Game of Thrones,” The Journal of Supernatural Literature 1 (2013): 228-234.

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