The women of Westeros: Our fave female characters in GOT

Game of Thrones is fantastic for so many reasons, but for me, it’s all about the empowered female characters.

I can’t think of any other show at this level of success that has demonstrated such a wealth of awesome characters – a whole host of whom happen to be women.

On the surface, it’s easy to dismiss the entire GOT setting as a total man’s world,  but what I love about the show is that all characters are treated in an explicitly equal manner. There is a richness to each person whose journey we follow, no matter how long or short.

It’s exactly that wealth of detail that has had me (along with millions of others) hooked on Thrones for years.

Here are my top four fiercely fabulous GOT women…

Brienne of Tarth
A female knight, the majority of her life that we’ve witnessed on the show has been steely to say the least. She still demonstrates a tender kindness on more than one occasion – one of my personal favourites being a scene in which she gives a decent burial to three hanging corpses that she encounters on her travels. Nice one!

 

Catelyn Stark
Renowned on the show for her display incredible love and loyalty towards her family, it is always Catelyn's mission to keep the Stark family together. Her character is not without flaw though – her relationship with her husband’s son Jon Snow is rocky, but her loyalty towards Ned is admirable, and unwavering to the end.

 

Ygritte
Yet another tough nut, always eager to assert herself in an otherwise exclusively male group. Throughout her relationship with Jon Snow she appears to almost be fighting their firey mutual attraction – logical enough, seeing as they’re kind of supposed to be sworn enemies. I think most of us would succumb too, to be fair. 

 

Gilly
Gilly's relationship with Sam is proof that love can blossom even in the darkest of circumstances – it’s probably the most touching of all the pairings that we see in GOT. A seemingly meek, waifish girl, it’s ultimately the desire to protect her child that gives her incredible strength and grit. 

Deirdre Foley is a history grad, sceptic, wearer of red lipstick and self-confessed 'beauty maniac'. She is also the co-founder of fabulous Irish beauty blog, Viva Adonis.