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Arya Stark
Sansa is Ned and Catelyn’s daughter and Robb, Arya, Bran, and Rickon’s sister. She is also Jon Snow’s half-sister. She is engaged to Joffrey. Sansa is initially enamored with Joffrey because he’s everything she thinks a prince should be: tall, handsome, and strong. Elsewhere, Sansa displays a romantic view of the world and wishes that it would conform to the songs she has heard that commemorate legendary historical events. Later, when Joffrey executes Ned despite her pleas to have mercy on her father, Sansa realizes that Joffrey is not at all what she thought he was. Instead, he’s cruel and despotic, which leads Sansa to a pivotal moment in her coming-of-age story. At that moment, Sansa realizes that the world is not like the romantic songs she heard while growing up. Instead of the heroes achieving victory, the monsters often win. With that in mind, as a character, Sansa reinforces the book’s argument that true heroes often come from the most unlikely places, while those who seem like they might meet one’s superficial ideas of what a stereotypical hero might be are sometimes villains at heart. Sansa also provides a commentary on the novel itself. While fantasy novels are often associated with fairy tales, Sansa’s painful awakening to the harsh reality of the world underlines the idea A Game of Thrones is anything but a fairy tale.
Sansa Stark Quotes in A Game of Thrones
The A Game of Thrones quotes below are all either spoken by Sansa Stark or refer to Sansa Stark. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 22: Arya
Quotes
“Your mother and I have charged [Septa Mordane] with the impossible task of making you a lady.”
“I don’t want to be a lady!” Arya flared.
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“Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths.”
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Chapter 67: Sansa
Quotes
Sansa stared at him, seeing him for the first time. He was wearing a padded crimson doublet patterned with lions and a cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar that framed his face. She wondered how she could ever have thought him handsome. His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel. “I hate you,” she whispered.
King Joffrey’s face hardened. “My mother tells me that it isn’t fitting that a king should strike his wife. Ser Meryn.”
The knight was on her before she could think, yanking back her hand as she tried to shield her face and back-handing her across the ear with a gloved fist. Sansa did not remember falling, yet the next she knew she was sprawled on one knee amongst the rushes. Her head was ringing. Ser Meryn Trant stood over her, with blood on the knuckles of his white silk glove.
A voice inside her whispered, There are no heroes, and she remembered what Lord Petyr had said to her, here in this very hall. “Life is not a song, sweetling,” he’d told her. “You may learn that one day to your sorrow.” In life, the monsters win, she told herself.
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Sansa Stark Quotes in A Game of Thrones
The A Game of Thrones quotes below are all either spoken by Sansa Stark or refer to Sansa Stark. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 22: Arya
Quotes
“Your mother and I have charged [Septa Mordane] with the impossible task of making you a lady.”
“I don’t want to be a lady!” Arya flared.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 67: Sansa
Quotes
Sansa stared at him, seeing him for the first time. He was wearing a padded crimson doublet patterned with lions and a cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar that framed his face. She wondered how she could ever have thought him handsome. His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel. “I hate you,” she whispered.
King Joffrey’s face hardened. “My mother tells me that it isn’t fitting that a king should strike his wife. Ser Meryn.”
The knight was on her before she could think, yanking back her hand as she tried to shield her face and back-handing her across the ear with a gloved fist. Sansa did not remember falling, yet the next she knew she was sprawled on one knee amongst the rushes. Her head was ringing. Ser Meryn Trant stood over her, with blood on the knuckles of his white silk glove.
A voice inside her whispered, There are no heroes, and she remembered what Lord Petyr had said to her, here in this very hall. “Life is not a song, sweetling,” he’d told her. “You may learn that one day to your sorrow.” In life, the monsters win, she told herself.
