A Man’s World: Portrayal of Women in The Way of Kings in Comparison to Historical Gender Norms

This thesis examines the portrayal of women in The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and compares it to cultural norms that have been prevalent in our history – mainly in England between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries but also with some points of comparison in the last century. There is a focus on gender norms, societal roles, and other obligations that women face in the novel. There are plenty of similarities observed between women’s lives in the novel and in the real world. Women are treated as being subordinate to men in both worlds, having status mainly within the home while men have plenty of occupational choices outside of the domestic sphere. How they are expected to behave themselves is also a shared factor. They are supposed to be quiet and elegant, as well as covering certain parts of their body as a sign of modesty in order to represent their families in accordance with their social status. There are certain aspects of women’s lives in the novel that are not based on cultural norms in the real world – such as their right education and their status within their religion – but they do nonetheless reflect sexist attitudes since the main figurehead of the Vorin religion is a man, and the women are expected to use their education to serve their men better. The thesis argues that the reason for this sexist portrayal of women within the fictional world of Roshar is due to the fact that The Way of Kings is an immersive fantasy with an intrusive fantasy-based plot, and the nature of world-building within such a fantastical world often requires the use of elements from the real world in order to give the world a more complete feeling