Media advisory: Medieval lit expert discusses 'Game of Thrones' themes

LAWRENCE — Misty Schieberle, University of Kansas associate professor of English, is available to discuss the conclusion of the fifth season of HBO's popular show "Game of Thrones" and how the American fantasy drama depicts themes from medieval literature and history.

The finale of the Emmy-nominated show, which is based on novels by author George R. R. Martin, is scheduled to air June 14.

Schieberle's broad research interests include late medieval English literature, especially during the Wars of the Roses, gender and political literature, and Christine de Pizan and the exchange of literature between France and England. She is author of the 2014 book "Feminized Counsel and the Literature of Advice in England, 1380-1500."

Q: What are the major points of overlap between medieval history and literature and "Games of Thrones"?

Schieberle: The most impressive aspect of the "Game of Thrones" project is the way it collapses more than 1,000 years of history, plucks out the best or most scandalous stories, and presents them as if they occurred contemporaneously.

There are historical events that evoke the Red Wedding (similar events occurred in Scottish history), Joffrey’s poisoning, conflicts at the northernmost borders of England (Hadrian’s Wall) and various brutal wars over who would rule a kingdom best, like the Wars of the Roses, which Martin has identified as a direct influence. But these events did not occur all at once – daily life was on average far more boring than the world of Westeros implies.

To that mixture, "Game of Thrones" adds elements that evoke medieval literature such as the dragons, which we see in "Beowulf" and Arthurian literature; the wit, camaraderie and battle prowess of knights from chivalric romance, who are not always perfect people even if they are great warriors; and Machiavellian maneuvering of the sort seen not only in historical struggles for power but also in literature advising princes how to evaluate advisers and make good, moral decisions as rulers. What "Game of Thrones" does expertly is interweave all these stories and elements into one cohesive world.

Q: Do you think any of these points of overlap are the reason for the HBO project’s immense popularity with viewers? If so, why?

Schieberle: The real impact comes, I think, from the way "Game of Thrones" has developed compelling characters to put into dramatic, complex and problematic moments drawn from medieval history and literature.

Characters challenge the assumptions held by many people that the Middle Ages was a time of narrow-mindedness, chastity, virtuous knights and perfect ladies, and morality, which is the real “fantasy” of the medieval era – it was never so clean, uncomplicated and pure as modern popular culture often suggests.

"Game of Thrones" is plausibly more true to the spirit of the age because it depicts a grittier, more cynical and perhaps more realistic vision of the world than people have become accustomed to. Moreover, the show uses its fantasy setting and fictionalized versions of the medieval world to grapple with issues that still face our society today – gender inequality and rape; colonial conquest and Western vs. Eastern relations; cultural stereotypes and prejudices; religious zealots; and problematic politicians.

The show has become such an important cultural phenomenon because it transports the problems of our world onto the past, allowing us to experience them with some distance.

Q: Quite of a bit of negative news coverage and criticism has focused on a scene this season surrounding a rape. With your expertise on women in medieval literature, what is the significance of scenes like that in "Game of Thrones"? 

Schieberle: As a modern woman, I’m uncomfortable with the show’s depiction of Sansa’s rape on her wedding night (a deviation from Martin’s novel), especially because it occurs right when Sansa is developing some agency and is on a path to reclaim her home, making it all the more frustrating.

But I’d also like to put it in historical perspective. A surprising number of people assume that the Middle Ages was a time of chivalry, morality and respect, but that is really a misconception that grows out of modern romanticization of medieval themes. Medieval writers did depict rape. Geoffrey Chaucer’s "The Wife of Bath’s Tale" (c. 1380s) begins with a knight who rapes a maiden he encounters in the forest, causing his punishment and, perhaps, the reform of his character. There are many other examples from literature.

Many of these writings criticize the degeneracy of the man who would inflict such damage and victimize women. But there was also the historical reality in which, for aristocratic marriages in particular, consummation was required to validate the union, which, in arranged marriages in a best-case scenario, could lead to questionable experiences for both parties. The worst-case scenario was that, through a legal loophole that enabled the legitimization of elopements, if a man could kidnap a woman, force her to marry him, and consummate the marriage (also by force), then theirs would be considered a legally binding union even without her consent.

Women could be taken advantage of for personal or political motives, but it is clear that rape was not acceptable in broader medieval society.

And as a scholar, I also understand it as another aspect of the dark, complex world in "Game of Thrones," in which good people do not win, and no one really gets what we think they should deserve, or at least not immediately and not without significant hardship.

Q: Your recent book focuses on medieval political counsel. How has the show depicted politics among the characters?

Schieberle: The recent meeting between Tyrion Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen emphasizes the importance of good counsel in the development of a ruler, and some of the most popular medieval books were advice texts designed to teach princes how to be good rulers.

The image of the wheel that spins kings on it, raising some up and crushing others, was a popular one in the medieval imagination. Throughout the medieval period, the wheel of Fortune symbolized the uncertainty and instability of the world of politics – Fortune was depicted as a blindfolded woman spinning a wheel like the one Daenerys describes, without caring whether good or bad people advanced. The image illustrates how medieval people grappled with the fact that bad things often happen to good people, undeservedly. But later in the 15th century the idea changes to include the notion that by being a virtuous ruler and acting with prudence, one could in fact stop the wheel of Fortune and maintain a position at the top for as long as possible – the closest analogue to Daenerys’ assertion that she will break the wheel.

Such discussions of fortune and prudence are actually the precursors to Machiavelli’s "The Prince" (1513), and "Game of Thrones" is not without its Machiavellian figures, especially Petyr Baelish, aka Littlefinger. He masterfully manipulates those with more power than him, and he adapts fluidly to changing circumstances, always with an eye to self-protection and self-advancement.

There are historical examples of figures with similar strengths, though most of them only succeed for a while before a spectacular downfall — even Machiavelli was exiled after disgrace. After all, no one can stay ahead of Fortune or death forever, which seems to be one of the enduring lessons of "Game of Thrones."