Game of Thrones and the Medievalism of Incest
Format
Oral Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Andreea Boboc
Faculty Mentor Department
English
Abstract/Artist Statement
This paper focuses on the HBO show The Game of Thrones, specifically the incest between Circe and Jamie Lannister, as an example of medievalism. Surprisingly, there were at least five understandings of natural law in medieval times, some of which Gower deploys in his Confessio Amantis. People tend to think of the Middle Ages as theocentric and of Gower as a “moral” author. Yet far from taking the traditional view of incest as an immoral act, Gower’s Confessio allows instead that any love stemming from natural law is innocent. Modern views of incest, too, are either centered on sin or the biological problems that would result due to inbreeding. Yet the HBO show Game of Thrones takes a refreshing medieval point of view on the topic, following Gower’s interpretation of natural law. Analyzing the relationship between Circe and Jamie Lannister from a Gowerian perspective on natural law allows the innocence behind their love to overpower the inherent ‘wrongness’ of which they are condemned throughout the eight seasons of the hit television series. By examining the similarities between The Tale of Canace and Machaire, as told by Gower, and the directors’ adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s novels in The Game of Thrones, this essay details how innocence prevails in sibling amorous love thanks to a medieval reinterpretation of natural law for modern times.
Location
Virtual
Start Date
25-4-2020 10:00 AM
End Date
25-4-2020 12:00 PM
Game of Thrones and the Medievalism of Incest
Virtual
This paper focuses on the HBO show The Game of Thrones, specifically the incest between Circe and Jamie Lannister, as an example of medievalism. Surprisingly, there were at least five understandings of natural law in medieval times, some of which Gower deploys in his Confessio Amantis. People tend to think of the Middle Ages as theocentric and of Gower as a “moral” author. Yet far from taking the traditional view of incest as an immoral act, Gower’s Confessio allows instead that any love stemming from natural law is innocent. Modern views of incest, too, are either centered on sin or the biological problems that would result due to inbreeding. Yet the HBO show Game of Thrones takes a refreshing medieval point of view on the topic, following Gower’s interpretation of natural law. Analyzing the relationship between Circe and Jamie Lannister from a Gowerian perspective on natural law allows the innocence behind their love to overpower the inherent ‘wrongness’ of which they are condemned throughout the eight seasons of the hit television series. By examining the similarities between The Tale of Canace and Machaire, as told by Gower, and the directors’ adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s novels in The Game of Thrones, this essay details how innocence prevails in sibling amorous love thanks to a medieval reinterpretation of natural law for modern times.