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Celaena Sardothien: Breaking the Glass Slipper

Taylor Roberts
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the portrayal of Celaena Sardothien, the female protagonist in a popular
young adult fiction series. I focus on a textual analysis of gendered discourses that occur in the first book
of the bestselling series, Throne of Glass. An analysis of narrative structure in the Throne of Glass reveals
that the inclusion and exclusion of literary aspects and character features of the traditional fairy tale,
Cinderella, positions Celaenas character to subvert common female stereotypes, in turn making her a
more ambiguously gendered character that empowers readers. In addition, my feminist post-structuralist
discourse analysis (FPDA) of the various dialogues in Throne of Glass shows that Celaena uses her voice
and body language to perform gender in order to create power shifts in her relationships with other
characters. Therefore, the rewriting of Cinderella in Sarah J. Maas Throne of Glass creates a new female
heroine who becomes an effective leader by using a repertoire of gendered interactional strategies to
assert her authority and achieve her goals. Maas deconstruction of Cinderella and of womens position in
patriarchal society by using gendered discourses to enable and produce power shifts works to create a new
type of ambiguously gendered female heroine who shatters the ideologies of hegemonic social order by
ironically being resurrected out of violence.
KEYWORDS
Discourse, FPDA, Structural Analysis, Second Wave Feminist Linguistics, Third Wave Feminist
Linguistics, Ambiguity, Gender Performativity, Power, Leadership
When she awoke every morning, she repeated the same words: I will not be afraid. (Sarah J. Maas,
Throne of Glass)
INTRODUCTION
The sacred place of young adult fiction dedicated to the teenage experience can be found in
bookstores across the country, between the childrens section and the rows of books for adults (Kokesh
139). According to Jonathan Stephens, young adult fiction can be defined as a story that tackles the
difficult, and oftentimes adult, issues that arise during an adolescents journey toward identity (40-41).
Strong female protagonists, such as Tris Prior in the Divergent series and Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger
Games series, are becoming more noticeable in mass media due to their popular movie adaptations.
However, these strong female heroines lack the complexity and agency needed to represent an influential
female leader against the gender norms established and controlled in society today. However, because
Celaena Sardothien, the main character of the narrative I am studying, has an ambivalent gender identity,
she opens up new possibilities for female heroines in young adult fiction. In my paper, feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis allows me analyze gender in a way that shows women do not need to
completely strip themselves of feminine qualities in order to be considered an effective leader. Therefore,
the rewriting of Cinderella in Sarah J. Maas Throne of Glass creates a new female heroine who becomes
an effective leader by using a repertoire of gendered interactional strategies to assert her authority and
achieve her goals. Maas deconstruction of Cinderella and womens position in patriarchal society using
gendered discourses to create power shifts within dialogue between characters works to create an
ambiguous gender identity for Celaena, thereby allowing Maas to construct a new type of female heroine
who shatters the ideologies of conventionally gendered hegemonic social order by being resurrected out
of violence.
Very generally speaking, it is rare to find a female protagonist who fights for her own
independence. This is usually thwarted by traditional heterosexual romance in young adult fiction (Oliver

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676). However, throughout Throne of Glass and even in the resolution of the novel, Celaenas fate
focuses on her goal of freedom from patriarchal power in which she disregards the traditional female roles
in society as a wife or mother. Because she does not wholly conform to the traditional female roles in
Throne of Glass, she occupies a space in between masculine and feminine, therefore supporting Judith
Butlers argument that males and females are not born, or even socialized into a prefixed gender, but
they become gendered through their interactions (Baxter 82). Thus, her ambiguous gender identity
creates a new space for female possibilities not only for heroines in young adult fiction, but for readers in
the real world as well.
Essentially, Celaena acts as a symbol of ambiguity. Although she she mostly preferred tunics
and pants, she is also seen comfortably wearing dresses, jewels, and make-up throughout the narrative
(Maas 46). Throne of Glass alternates between Celaenas identities as a weapon wielding assassin and a
charming court lady. Consequentially, it is her gender ambiguity that makes her the ideal female heroine.
And as Jeanette Mines states in her scholarly article, Young Adult Literature Heroes Do Exist, teenage
readers deserve to meet female heroes who transcend the common and, in doing so, illustrate the ability
and vulnerability of heroes regardless of sex (12). Not only does Celaena do this, but she gives teenage
readers a heroine who supports the progressive ideology that females and males are equal and should be
treated equally (Ingalls 217). This is important because writers of young adult literature, who create
female characters struggling through the maturation process, endow readers with the validity of the
human experience (Mines 14). Thus, this topic is significant because it explores the current problems
with female heroes in contemporary young adult literature using a Third Wave feminist perspective. I
analyze Throne of Glass in order to understand what is at stake for readers of young adult fiction if
popular heroines identities are created to conform to gendered stereotypes, male or female, from
ideologies held by the public. No research has been done on the varying language patterns used by
Celaena or discourses within Throne of Glass and therefore my research expands knowledge about
gendered performances in different discourses by examining this text. This particular text allows me to
determine the benefits to women of understanding the performative nature of gender, not only to survive
contemporary culture, but thrive within it as effective leaders despite the hardships that they face.
Because the media individuals consume, even legacy media like books, affects how individuals perceive
the world, this topic enhances others understanding of how gender and leadership are constructed not only
within the realms of fantasy, but reality as well.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
To my knowledge, no published research has been conducted on the Throne of Glass from a
linguistic perspective. However, because Sarah J. Maas claimed that Disneys Cinderella was an
inspiration for writing Throne of Glass, it is necessary for me to investigate linguistic studies pertaining to
various adaptations of Cinderella.
First, Hennis article Stylistic Analysis of Ronald Dahls Cinderella, produces an analysis of
the narrative structure and the linguistic style applied in the rhyme [paired] together with the discussion of
the authors purpose of applying such a style (42). Although the research in this article focuses on the
elements of poetry to create foregrounding, the portion of the research that focuses on narrative structure,
structural linguistic aspects, and the ideology of fairy tales coincides with Hansjorg Hohrs article,
Dynamic Aspects of Fairy Tales: social and emotional competence through fairy tales. In Hohrs
article, a structural theory of fairy tales is presented and then applied to the analysis of three literary
versions of the Cinderella cycle (89). The concluding statements discuss results from a pedagogical
perspective that are unrelated to the focus of my paper, but it nonetheless offers valuable input on how to
structurally analyze adaptations of Cinderella from a linguistics standpoint.

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Similar to the previous articles discussed, Elisabetta Zurru provides a structural analysis of the
version of Cinderella she discusses in her article, Breaking the Crystal Shoe: A Multimodal Stylistic
Analysis of the Character of Cinderella in the Shrek Saga. However, she takes her study a step further
and considers the multimodal aspects the characters representation in order to reconstruct
Cinderellas process of character development in the saga (Zurru 239). Thus, she ultimately uses both
structural and post-structural analysis in her paper to prove that this film series constitute[s] a vehicle or
consideration and subversion of genre conventions and gender stereotypes, which are in actual fact
reinforced through reversal at the beginning but then subverted by the end of the third episode (Zurru
239). While Zurru evaluates a modern film adaptation of Cinderella, Belinda Stott studies earlier film
adaptations and text retellings in an article called Cinderella the Strong and Reader Empowerment. In
this article, she takes a purely post-structuralist approach in order to prove that by redefining [Cinderella]
as Cinderella the strong, a paradigm of female strength and endurance, it is possible to see how the
Cinderella fairy tale might offer readers empowerment strategies that offer the potential to make progress
away from the victim role in the real world (Stott, 15). Although none of these articles address second or
third wave linguistics or even feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis, these scholars show the
importance of evaluating adaptations from multiple perspectives which I will build off of in my own
analysis.
THEORETICAL STANDPOINT
My analysis of Throne of Glass offers a unique perspective on language, gender and leadership
using post-structuralist linguistics and third wave feminism theory. Like most linguists, I rely to an extent
on structuralism, which has been described in a theory of literature which assumes that the nature of the
text is determined by the implied order of the relationships between its constitutive elements (Shank
147). Structuralism proves useful when discussing the construction of literature, but because literature
does not exist merely in isolation but as part of a lived experience this method provides an insufficient
amount of meaning given the competing discourses present in the text. Uncovering the meaning behind
these discourses, or forms of knowledge or powerful sets of assumptions, expectations and explanations,
governing mainstream social and cultural practices, forces me to depend more heavily on the
methodology of post-structuralism (Baxter 7).
Essentially, post-structuralism allows me to look at the external influences on my text and how
they form a plurality, multivocality and non-fixivity of all meaning within my text (Baxter 6). For
example, I respond to Victoria Ingalls claim that the more typical female generated hero [overcomes
evil] without extreme physical power, without crafted weapons that would accentuate a heros power and
without her hero living in isolation (219). Structuralism does not utilize biographical information about a
text, and therefore would not aid my counter against Ingalls second wave argument concerning gender
binaries in authors who construct literature that young adults read.
Furthermore, structuralism limits the interpretive possibilities for leadership potential in the main
character of Throne of Glass. In order to analyze the power shifts between genders and discover the way
in which individual speakers are better placed than others to benefit from experiences, interests and goals
of a particular context, second wave feminism theory provides a useful base for understanding power
and femininity (Baxter8). Second wave femininity is defined as a set of embodied characteristics and
practices that are imposed on women and result from or signify their subordinate status in relation to
men, thus giving power to men to define, suppress of otherwise control females (Schripper, 28 and
31). Considering my text contradicts these notions of femininity and power, using third wave feminism
theory proves more useful for my analysis because it defines femininity as a set of available bodily and
relational performances that, theoretically, can be embodied by anyone and power as relational, having
multiple tactics and strategies and as available to subordinate groups and not just the possession of

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dominant groups (Scrippers 30 and 32). Therfore, utilizing a third wave feminist post-structuralist
discourse analysis not only recognizes the structural elements of the text, but also deconstructs the
unhelpful gender binaries about femininity and power that pervade much young adult literature.
METHODOLOGY
This paper identifies discourses in Throne of Glass and readers response to the book using
second and third wave feminism tools. First, my second wave analysis determines the structural elements
of language, such as lexis, semantics, and paralinguistics, the characters use in their dialogue to create
discourses and how their language conforms to gender identities. The gender binaries constructed in this
analysis serve as a basis for the main focus of my paper which is identifying how the characters use
language to make power plays. I identify these power plays by deconstructing these binaries and in turn
showing these pluralities formed within discourses wherein male and female authority coexists.
Essentially, I use a combination of denotative and connotative analysis to describe and interpret the
meanings of discourses within my text. Using feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis, a feminist
approach to analyzing the ways in which speakers negotiate their identities, relationships and positions in
their world according to the ways in which they are located by competing, yet interwoven discourses,
allows me to form multifaceted insights about the heroine of the text, Celaena (Baxter1). In particular, I
study how Celaenas ambivalence as a character gives her the freedom to occupy a space in between
stereotypically feminine and masculine qualities. Additionally, I determine how Celaena uses her
ambivalent gender identity to compete in discourses with other characters in order to gain control in
events that occur within the text. Ultimately, I use this analysis to examine readers reviews on the novel
and how Celaenas ambiguity affects their perception of gender.
FPDA is the best method for my analysis because it emphasizes diversity and suggests that power
is created within a discourse. Basically, third wave feminism theory reveals womens freedom of agency
whereas second wave feminism theory limits agency to stereotyped polarities of male and female. I
recognize that third wave depends on second wave stereotypes and therefore I use second wave feminist
theory to serve as a foundation for my third wave analysis. Ultimately, though, my paper uses FPDA
because it allows me to address language, leadership, and gender in discourses in a more complex and
innovative way than using a single methodology.
CONTEXT
Published in 2012, Throne of Glass is the first book in a young adult fantasy series by Sarah J.
Mass. Based loosely off the storyline of Cinderella, the book follows the adventures of Celaena, a teenage
assassin who must compete to win her freedom from prison in a competition against 23 other male killers.
Most of the narrative takes place in the corrupt kingdom of Adarlan under the rule of a tyrannical king.
For my analysis, I focus on dialogue between Celaena and four other characters. I use FPDA to assess
how Celaena performs gender in order to make power plays while talking to other male and female
characters. To determine how she linguistically performs gender, I analyze Celaenas word choice,
sentence structure, body language, and other gendered semiotic artifacts such as clothing. The two main
characters Celaena interacts with throughout the book include Dorian and Chaol. Dorian is the Crown
Prince of Adarlan. Chaol is the Captain of the Guard. In addition to these two characters, she encounters
other male characters that introduce different discourses and power dynamics within their dialogue with
Celaena, thus offering a wide range of data about how Celaena creates her complex gender identity.
After determining how Celaena constructs her gender identity by deconstructing gender binaries, I
discern how readers perceive her character based on reviews found in literary journals and online on the
website Goodreads.com. I analyze the reviews for language that indicates their understanding of gender

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and whether or not they perceive Celaena in a positive or negative light. This helps me draw conclusions
about how popular young adult fiction influences readers perceptions about gender identity and
complexity.
LANGUAGE ANALYSIS
Narrative Structure of Throne of Glass
The purpose of analyzing the narrative structure of the Throne of Glass is to prove how the
inclusion or exclusion of traits and themes in fairy tale semiotic structure position Celaenas character to
subvert common female stereotypes, in turn making her a more ambiguously gendered character that
empowers readers.
According to Traugott and Pratt, linguistics can contribute a great deal to our understanding of a
text. It can help us become aware of why it is that we experience what we do when we read a literary
work (20). Because analyzing a fictional discourse requires an understanding of the relations between
reader, author and text, it is pertinent view literature not as an object but as an act of communication
between a writer and a public (Traugott, 255). Therefore, the conversations, actions, and events that
occur within a story create meaning and serve a purpose for its audience. Since Throne of Glass is based
loosely off of the storyline of Cinderella, it is important to see structurally and post structurally analyze
how the Throne of Glass aligns or diverges from the narrative of Cinderella.
The story of Cinderella is classified as a fairytale. According to Hohr fairy tales represent an
advanced stage in the development of folklore (90). Hohr goes on further to show the distinct differences
between myths and fairy tales when he says:
While the myth is concerned with collective values and welfare, the hero in fairy tales seeks his
goals for his own benefit (individualization). Also, while the mythical hero is superhuman and
commits supernatural deeds, the fairy tale hero is an ordinary human being, often oppressed, who
depends on supernatural help in order to gain his goals. While myth is concerned with conflicts of
nature versus culture and with cosmic and existential questions about life and death, the central
conflict in the fairy tale is social, often situated within the family (91)
In accordance to these ideas, Throne of Glass adheres to all these motifs of fairy tales. The heroine,
Celaena, aims to secure her own freedom by winning the competition and becoming the Kings
Champion. Her goals contradict Ingalls argument about female heroes and superheroes. Ingalls claims
that stories written by women, the primary goal of the hero is to save a close family member (214).
However, Celaenas goal is to save herself which conforms to the fairy tale semiotic structure. In
addition, Celaena is an ordinary human being oppressed by her criminal status along with her gender.
Therefore, she relies on the aid of Elena, the magical half-fae spirit of the first queen of Adarlan, and
Nehemia, a magic-wielding princess, to help achieve her goal. Furthermore, the central conflict in Throne
of Glass is the struggle for female agency or power in society making the primary conflict social even if it
does not occur within the family.
In addition to Celaenas goals, the plot and resolution align and diverge from the semiotic
structure of fairy tales. Essentially, the classical fairy tale may be seen as a sequence of tests or
challenges the hero has to face (Hohr 90). This concurs with the plotline of Throne of Glass in that
Celaena must complete a series of challenges to become the Kings Champion and win her freedom. For
example, in one test against the other contestants, Celaena must shoot arrows to hit a bullseye. The part
where this narrative diverges from the fairy tale structure occurs in the resolution. Most fairy tales end in
a wedding; however, Celaena breaks her ties from the prince, with whom she is romantically involved in

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the end of the story. Instead of a wedding, the story ends with her as the Kings Champion. This explicit
deviation from the fairy tale structure communicates a very different message to the audience than if the
story ended with Celaena and Dorians wedding. Perhaps the reason for this is because in feminist terms,
it could still be argued that [in Cinderella,] Cinderella replaces familial oppression with that which may
be inflicted by her all-powerful Prince (Stott, 25). Therefore, in order for Celaena to be an
unquestionable example of female agency, she had to sever ties from the Prince.
In addition to an analysis of narrative structure, it is also important to analyze the construction of
Celaenas character in the context of the specific characteristics of stories that center on a female heroine.
According to Stott, All over the world, stories which center on a heroine, on a young woman suffering a
prolonged ordeal before her vindication and triumph, frequently focus on women as agents of her
suffering (15). The main characteristics of stories that center on a female heroine discussed by Stott can
be viewed in Appendices A. Celaena adheres to some of these characteristics while subverting others.
First, Celaena is indeed a victim. Although Celaena is a criminal, she is also a victim because she was
forced to become an assassin at a young age in order to survive after her parents death. This led to her
incarceration in Endovier, the labor camp where she was imprisoned for her crimes, which prolonged her
role as a victim because she was whipped like an animal (Maas 121). Her status as a victim continued
when she is taken out of prison to compete in a competition to be the Kings Champion. She claims that
It was either this or Endovier! I had no choice (Maas 320). Her lack of choice shows how oppressed she
was in her situation. She is also treated as a victim in the competition because she is the only female and
the other competitors constantly treat her as inferior due to her gender. She is called derogatory names
and laughed at by the other competitors. Thus, her prolonged ordeal, another characteristic of stories that
center on a female heroine, lasts throughout the entirety of the narrative. Not only does her ordeal include
being called derogatory names, but she is isolated from the community by being locked in her room
except for when training or competing. Furthermore, her status as an appealing, attractive female victim
is emphasized in accordance with the contemporary feminine stereotype as [she] is blonde, blue-eyed, and
pretty (Stott 16). Although her prolonged ordeal is similar to Cinderellas suffering, she is not a heroic
victim in the sense that she is presented to her readers as being an idealized female who is without any
negative qualities (Stott 18). Celaena has many faults, such as impatience and vanity, that not only show
she is not a traditional female victim, but also make her more relatable to readers.
Furthermore, Celaenas morally ambiguous role serves to oppose her character foil, Chaol who is
a strict and ethical Captain of the Guard and also the main agent of Celaenas suffering in the book. The
choice to make Celaena a corrupt hero perhaps shows that the ideological system that Chaol stands for is
broken because the main agents of her suffering in this story are men. This does not align with the typical
female victim storyline that Cinderella follows because the agents of this type of narrative are typically
female and only one minor female character serves as a threat to Celaena. However, despite her flaws,
because she is a heroic victim, her inner fortitude in the face of adversity is a definitive part of her
feminine appeal (Stott, 18). In fact, she eventually gives the main agent of her suffering, Chaol, hope
because she had come out of Endovier and could still laugh (Maas 397). This relationship to a male
agent of her suffering showcases her resilience as a female to resurrect herself from the violence she
endured. This resilience helps her in achieving her eventual vindication and triumph.
Ultimately Celaenas vindication and triumph occurs when Celaena wins the competition,
reversing her role as a female victim and enhancing her value as an individual. No longer is she simply a
female criminal, she is the Kings Champion. Henni states that in classic fairy tales, such as Cinderella,
the heroines value is measured in terms of her servitude, kindness, gentleness, and beauty, but beyond
her beauty Celaena thwarts these ways of measuring a heroines value (Henni 45). Her value is ultimately
measured by the way she conducts herself in battle and by her vindication and triumph. Her strength,
speed and ability to wield deadly weapons allow her to accomplish her goals, not her servitude, kindness,

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and gentleness. The way Celaenas value is measured contradicts another point in Ingalls argument
regarding female generated heroes in young adult fiction. Ingalls claims:
The female generated heroes are more likely to overcome the odds without extreme power to
help them. As with almost all heroes, their heroes use curiosity, cleverness, and determination,
but they accomplish their task without skills (or weapons) that give them an initial advantage to
those around them, and in the end, most female-generated heroes simply try to escape, solve a
problem, reveal the truth, or sacrifice themselves without a physical fight. (215)
In contrast to how Ingalls portrays female generated heroes, Maas female heroine, Celeana, uses her
curiosity, cleverness, and determination to achieve her goals in addition to using weapons to win a battle.
Therefore, Celaena enters her tasks or challenges with an advantage because she not only fulfills the
requirements necessary for a modern female hero; she also fulfills the requirements of a male hero
showing that power is fluid and not necessarily defined by patriarchy.
Furthermore, Celaena uses magical sources of support to achieve her vindication and triumph.
Nehemia and Elena, the magical sources of support, act as sources of empowerment for Celaena and
signify the true potential of women. Nehemia offers Celaena her wooden staff weapon before the final
test in the competition. This symbolizes feminine empowerment against patriarchy because by accepting
Nehemias weapon she turns down Chaols offer to use his weapon. In addition to Nehemias support,
Elena also acts as a source of female empowerment for Celaena because she is able to guide and shape
Celaenas escape from oppression much like Cinderellas fairy godmother. For example, when Celaena is
poisoned during the final competition, Elena takes the poison out of her system and magically heals
Celaena so that she can win the final test and become the Kings Champion. Elena shows that women are
guardians of the female force.
While the female magical sources of support help Celaena win her final test, her fate would not
be fulfilled without the help of Chaol, the realistic although idealized external source of salvation. Not
only does he tell her to get up when she is incapacitated during her duel, he also kills the other competitor
after Celaena wins the duel and the competitor tries to murder Celaena. It could be argued that in
accepting Chaols help, Celaena relinquishes some of her female agency and power but, on the contrary,
these Chaols acts represent his willingness to embrace and aid in the protection of female empowerment.
Through his role as the realistic although idealized external source of salvation and Celaenas forgiveness
towards him as her agent of suffering, another characteristic of stories that center on a female heroine,
Chaol ultimately aids in her achieving her goals in addition to her vindication and triumph.
The discrepancies between the structure of the Cinderella fairy tale and Throne of Glass act in a
way to change the dominant patriarchal ideology that often surfaces within literature. Zurru describes
typical structural elements that define fairy tales in her scholarly article. She says, Indeed, fairy tales
constitute a site where traditional values are not only respected but also reinforced. . . In particular, fairy
tales generally support a clear cut distinction between masculinity and femininity, usually portraying the
man as the strong hero who saves the adorable and adored princess in need. (Zurru 237). While there are
places in the storyline of Throne of Glass where these clear cut distinctions between masculinity and
femininity do surface, ultimately Celaenas ambiguous character achieves the subversion of traditional
values often featured in fairy tales and adaptations of fairy tales, breaking with the gendered limitations.
Throne of Glass break from fairy tale traditions ultimately strengthens the message that women are free
to choose the own destinies and are even supported by their male cohorts to do so.

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Feminist Post-structuralist Discourse Analysis
After assessing the overall narrative and construction of Celaena as a character, it is necessary to
study excerpts of the book to more specifically determine how Celaenas ambiguous character acts to
portray a female heroine who arises out of violence.
Throughout my analysis, I assess how Celaena interacts with other characters by first defining
how she uses her voice and body language to perform gender in order to create power shifts in her
relationships. Given her position in society, first as a criminal for the murders she committed as the
Assassin of Adarlan and, second, as a young woman, she automatically enters into discourses with other
characters with less power. However, by utilizing spoken and unspoken tools of language, she depicts a
marginalized character who defies hegemonic discourses through gendered performances.
The first dialogue that an audience reads in Throne of Glass occurs between Celaena and Chaol. I
reference their interaction in detail in Appendices B-1. Prior to this dialogue, Chaol procured Celaena
from Endovier, a prison camp, where she served her sentence for murder. Since all prisoners are left to
die in Endovier, Celaena assumes she has been taken out of Endovier to be executed. In the dialogue
between her and the captain of the guard, Celaena finds herself in the position where Chaol controls all
access to information while she remains unenlightened. In order to extract information from Chaol,
Celaena measures his power in comparison to her own in order to determine how far she can push him to
gain information without compromising her own safety. The discourses present in this dialogue are Male
Authority, Female Submission, Female Nosiness, and Male Prevarication. Throughout the dialogue,
Celaena presents all these discourses within her language at certain instances in the conversation to
produce a power shift.
First, Celaena uses the discourse of Male Authority to gain information about her fate. She does
so by beginning the conversation with a statement, a stereotypically male way of speaking since men
speak with flat intonation patterns, the same pitch level that declarative statements typically end on. She
says, Youre a long way from Rifthold, Captain. Although Celaena seeks knowledge, she starts this
interaction with a statement and not a question, therefore positioning herself as a knowledgeable
individual, contrary to the stereotypical nave female archetype. However, in the same statement she also
addresses Chaol by his title, showing female submission. She does this to show her respect towards him
as a female and intentionally places herself in a weaker position in the interaction. These discourses clash
because discourses of Male Authority seek control whereas Female Submission embraces powerlessness.
However, Celaena uses these discourses to match Chaols power in Male Authority with her statement
and intonation and then to reign in her power by relying on the assumption of the discourse of Female
Submission to ensure that she can gain information without further compromising her position in the
dialogue.
Then she clears her throat, another stereotypically masculine way of speaking and an example of
Male Authority, in order to get his attention before she asks her question. She ensures that Chaol is
listening and appears more confident by clearing her throat, thus enhancing her power before launching
into her question. She asks, Did you come with the army I heard thumping around earlier? The fact that
she asks a question displays the discourse of Female Nosiness. However, the question does not directly
address her fate, making her more ambiguous than nosy. The question not only serves as a way to
discover why Chaol is here. It further enhances her power using Male Authority by subverting his by
power because she calls the soldiers he is in charge of loud and clumsy. The discourses of Female
Nosiness and Male Authority work together in this context because they both serve to enhance her power
and help her gain knowledge.

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However, Chaol answers her vague question in turn with one of his own and performs the
discourse of Male Prevarication, typically defined by hedging or ambiguity used by males to maintain
power, in order to throw Celaena off from discovering his true intentions. In addition, his voice is
described as cool and articulate, displaying his power through the discourse of Male Authority.
Therefore, the description of his voice leaves the reader to assume that this makes Chaols question more
masculinized. Yet, Celaena also describes her own voice this way, further masculinizing and lending
power to her character. Furthermore, her response to his question is saying nothing and shrugging. She
counters his ambiguous response with her own ambiguous response in order to remain relevant in the
conversation. Celaena ultimately shifts the power in this discourse when she mimics Chaols Male
Prevarication with an ambiguous response and her shrug. By mimicking Chaols indirect answers with
her own, she entertains an air of mystery. Her shrug also indicates some level of indifference towards
Chaol, and therefore her own employment of evasiveness pushes Chaol to revert from his own Male
Prevarication to Male Authority, which he demonstrates with a growl. Thereby, she utilizes her agency as
a woman and shifts some power back to her in this conversation by using the discourse of Male
Prevarication against his use of Male Prevarication. Although she did not achieve her goal of obtaining
more knowledge of her situation, she did succeed by placing herself in a higher status in this relationship
between Chaol and her. In fact, he feels threatened by Celaena as displayed by his reaction to her shrug.
He growls in annoyance and, when she smiles at him, reaches for his sword in a defensive mechanism
that places Celaena in a more offensive position. He perceives her as a threat and tries to increase his
power by alluding to the threat of violence towards her when he reaches for his weapon and performs the
discourse of Male Authority. Chaols perception of Celaena as a threat shows that she utilizes her agency
as a woman and shifts some power back to herself in this conversation.
The next encounter reviewed in Appendix B-2 occurs between Celaena and Dorian. When the
Crown Prince of Adarlan first interacts with Celaena, he does not address her by her name, thereby
limiting her power in the conversation. In fact, he does not address her at all. Instead he addresses, Chaol,
his Captain of the Guard. By doing this, he participates in and shows the male-dominated sphere that he
exists within due to his lineage. This type of interaction is characterized by its allegiance to a patriarchal
view of gender relationships in which societies are unequally divided on gender lines in such a way that
the male species is considered to be superior (Baxter17). He continues to maintain his power in this
dialogue by allowing her to enter the interaction when he expects her to bow to him as regent protocol
calls for. However, Celaena subverts this protocol and denies this patriarchal model when she shows her
agency as a female and remains upright, silently refusing to bow. By not bowing, Celaena does not accept
this submissive position granted to her by the prince and the prince responds by making himself bigger
and lifting his chin a bit higher in order to remind her that he is indeed still the one in power.
The multiple discourses present in this interaction include Royal Authority, Male Authority, and
Criminal Authority. The Royal Authority discourse is displayed by Dorian as a prince, especially when he
turns to Celaena and expects her to bow. He also expresses the Male Authority discourse during this
instance when he does not directly address Celaena and instead addresses Chaol. This causes further
tension and enforces this hegemonic discourse in which the men communicate as if Celaena isnt present.
This creates the discourse of Male Authority in an exclusive Gentlemens Club, in which women are
kept in established [traditional, stereotypical] roles [by] offering them few opportunities to voice their
opinions and engage in a conversation, that Celaena isnt a part of (Baxter 28). They allow her into this
interaction when they both look at her and expect something from her, but when she doesnt give them
what they want, she is dismissed again. This again supports the idea of the discourse of Male Authority in
an exclusive Gentlemens Club because in this context, women are valued and treated with respect on
the basis that they dont move out of traditional roles or functions (Baxter 28). Furthermore, Celaena
expresses Criminal Authority when she refuses to bow.

Roberts 10
Essentially, these discourses clash because as a prince, Dorian expects Celaena to follow the
political protocol of bowing to a royal whereas Celaena refuses to follow this protocol as a criminal who
breaks the law which Dorians title stands for upholding. This disrupts the discourse of power in this
interaction, causing tension as displayed by Chaols nervous shifting of his feet. Dorian senses this
tension and lifts his head to control this dialogue. Again, Celaena is perceived as a threat to Dorians
power and therefore he must ensure that he secures his power. However, the fact that Dorian perceives
Celaena as a threat showcases the power of her agency. Again, since she is perceived as a threat, this
shows that she utilizes her agency as a woman and shifts some power back to herself in this conversation.
Another encounter between the Celaena and Chaol further showcases how she uses her agency as
a woman to gain power in a situation. Appendices B-3 shows this interaction in more detail. Prior to her
interaction with Chaol at the ball, she gets all dressed up in yards of silk, clouds of powder, brushes,
combs, pearls, and diamonds (Maas 248). In fact, she claims that she couldnt help but feel, despite
herself, like a princess (Maas 248). Then, after making herself into the acceptable female stereotype of
beauty and elegance, she makes a memorable late arrival to the dance to which she wasnt invited. Chaol
intercepts her in order to thwart any plans she may have as a criminal. The discourses present in this
dialogue include Male Authority, Female Attraction, Female Nagging, Male Frustration, Female
Submission and Female Playfulness.
In the beginning of the interaction, Chaol is described as seething: meaning he isnt simply mad;
he is furious. He grabs her by the wrist and uses the discourse of Male Authority to convince her that
whatever she is planning isnt a good idea. In addition, he asks a question that demands an answer. The
syntax in the sentence, especially when he says, you want to tell me makes this question seem less
interrogative and more declarative. Plus, the angry tone of the question and the fact that he wouldnt let
go of her arm, even after she tried to shake him off, shows that he utilizes the Male Authority discourse to
remain in power during this exchange. Celaena counters his demanding question with a demand of her
own by telling the Chaol to relax in a menacing tone, hissing much like a snake, and in turn answering his
question. She answers the discourse of Male Authority by using Male Authority as well.
When this doesnt successfully answer his question by his standards and he asks more questions,
she decides to practice her agency as a female and change her language tactics. Thus, she shows that she
has a diverse range of interactional strategies to assert [her] authority and accomplish complex and everchanging goals (Baxter 87). She uses discourses of Female Attraction and Female Nagging to achieve
her goal of attending the ball. These discourses ultimately clash with Chaols discourse of Male
Authority. The instant when she gives him a pitiful pout and tells him I was lonely ultimately
changes the power dynamic of the conversation because he choked before asking her another question
and Celaena is able to [twist] her wrist out of his grasp (Maas 289). She ensures her power in this
conversation by using the discourse of Female Nagging to influence Chaol to allow her to stay. She does
this not by convincing him, but rather by annoying him. She successfully gains the upper hand in this
interaction when Chaol covered his face with his hand and let out a long sigh, displaying the discourse
of Male Frustration (Maas 289). It is then that she knew shed won (Maas 289). She then gives him a
sincere grin and switches her discourse to Female Playfulness for further insurance that she can stay at the
ball. She gains this insurance when she sees that Chaols shoulders slump, a sign of defeat. This sign of
defeat also showcases Chaol using the discourse of Female Submission since he makes himself appear
smaller than Celaena and accepts his lack of power in the situation. She responds to his discourse of
Female Submission by patting his cheek, continuing with her discourse of Female Playfulness, and
leaving his side to enjoy the ball.
The discourses of Male Authority and Celaenas Female Attraction and Female Nagging conflict
because Chaol and Celaena use them to gain the upmost power. Since only one party in the conversation
can gain the highest power, these two discourses acted in competition to one another. However, once

Roberts 11
Chaol reverted to using the discourse of Male Frustration and Female Submission, Celaena ultimately
defeats him using the Female Playfulness discourse and the two characters discourses complement each
other and allow Celaena to gain the upper hand in the interaction. Therefore, her ambiguity as a character
and ability to switch between male and female discourses allows Celaena to better position herself to
benefit from the experience.
In the next interaction, shown in Appendices B-4, Celaena uses discourses to gain better
positioning to reach her goal during one of the final tests in the competition. In this test, she battles Grave,
a male criminal also vying for the position the Kings Champion. Celaena has just punched Grave in the
nose before their dialogue begins. This exchange includes a Combat Discourse along with Male
Authority, Female Inferiority, and Female Empowerment.
First, Grave uses the Male Authority discourse when he calls Celaena a bitch. The denotative
meaning of this informal derogatory term is a spiteful woman and also a person who is completely
subservient to another (Oxford Dictionary). The connotative meaning holds negative associations on an
emotional and cultural level because it is a term used to make women feel inferior to men. Not only does
he call her a derogatory term, but he says it in a threatening manner by hissing and also displays signs of
violence towards her when he swings his sword at her, combining the Male Authority discourse with the
Combat Discourse. However, Celaena utilizes a Combat Discourse to show that she is not inferior. She
does not simply protect herself in this situation, but she meets his blade showcasing her equal value by
matching his level of fighting abilities. Plus, she not only holds him off, but pushes his sword away with
her staff showcasing her female agency. This directly counters Ingalls claim that the more typical
female generated hero [overcomes evil] without extreme physical power [and] without crafted weapons
that would accentuate a heros power (219). This is significant because it shows that female heroines can
use the same tools as male characters to show their power and authority in an interaction. In addition, she
uses a combination of a Combat Discourse and Male Authority when she shoved him, grunting, and
spun (Maas 351). Shoving and spinning are combative methods to engage with another individual while
grunting is a low, short guttural sound made by an animal or a person, stereotypically uses by men
given their low vocal range (Oxford Dictionary). She further engages with Grave using the Combat
Discourse by whacking the back of his head. Grave teetered after being hit, making him enact a Female
Inferiority discourse because the term comes with the connotative association of women clumsily losing
their balance while walking in heels (Maas 351). This shows that femininity is a set of available bodily
and relational performances that, theoretically, can be embodied by anyone whether they are male or
female (Scrippers, 30).
The moment the power dynamic changes from equal to unequal in the interaction occurs when
Celaena utilizes the combat discourse to [lash] out at his legs, [sweep] his feet out from under him,
and [crouch] over his chest [with] the iron coated tip of the staff at his throat (Maas 351). Her physical
positioning in this interaction places her above Grave. The semiotic implications of this description
include a preview of her ultimate vindication and triumph since she will eventually be placed above those
who underestimated her female agency. After this power shift, she whispers into Graves ear and says
My name is Celaena Sardothien, but it makes no difference if my names Celaena or Lillian or Bitch,
because Id still beat you, no matter what you call me (Maas 352). By calling herself by her true name as
Adarlans Assassin, a title she had to keep hidden throughout the competition, she gives herself more
power since she does not allow Grave to call her names. Also she reverts from using the Male Authority
discourse to Female Empowerment because she whispers this to Grave, a speaking tactic more commonly
attributed to women. However, she takes her power a step further by reclaiming the derogatory female
term and claiming that the usage of this term or any other name that he calls her does not take away her
power. Therefore, she enacts the discourse of Female Empowerment by naming herself and reclaiming
the derogatory term. Thus, this excerpt shows that Maas deconstruction of Cinderella and womens

Roberts 12
position in patriarchal society works together with her structuring of a new type of female heroine who
can be reborn through violence that deconstructs the social order.
General Public Reactions
Essentially, positive reviews in the media by journalists and fans alike support a third wave
reading of the main character in the book. For instance, Genevieve Gallagher writes that Maas has
created a strong and sympathetic character in Celaena, who is able to best men in a fight but is laid low by
the return of her monthly cycle (124). By recognizing Celaenas gender ambiguity in describing Celaena
as strong, a stereotypical male leadership quality, and sympathetic, a stereotypical female leadership
quality, Gallagher essentially, like me, deconstructs a hegemonic leadership theory and shows that gender
is performative, and power is fluid and enacted within a discourse (Baxter 5). In addition, Kate QeaulyGainer states that with her stubborn spirit, playful wit, and wicked weaponry skills, Celaena is an
entertaining addition to the YA canon of tough heroines (97). The way Qaeuly-Gainer describes Celaena
reflects the same ideas as Gallaghers description since stubborn and tough are typically words used
to describe male leaders whereas playful is a more feminine adjective. These two readings support my
own view that an adequate leadership theory must take gender performativity into account.
Reviews by fans on websites such as Goodreads.com also support the notion that males and
females are not born, or even socialized into a prefixed gender, but they become gendered through their
interactions (Baxter 82). One fan on Goodreads.com said that Celaena is such a strong female character
without giving up the girly things that she enjoys while another fan said she's one of the most pragmatic
characters I've come across in YA fantasy (Throne of Glass). Words such as strong and pragmatic
are adjectives typically attributed to men whereas girly is obviously a female adjective. Plus, an
additional fan said, She is a fierce, assassin who has a much softer, lonelier side as well (Throne of
Glass). Again the juxtaposition between words such as fierce and softer suggest that gender is
performative because it is constituted in actual interactions and that masculinity and femininity a set of
available bodily and relational performances that, theoretically, can be embodied by anyone (Scrippers
30). Basically, all of these reviews show the ambiguity of Celaenas character and how it moves along a
gendered spectrum ranging from masculine to feminine. However, while these reviews recognize
complexity of Celaena, they do not address the implications of such an ambiguous heroine in young adult
fiction as I have above.
CONCLUSION
The retelling of Cinderella in the Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas creates a new archetype of a
female heroine born out of violence. Because Sarah J. Maas diverges from the traditional fairy tales
storyline and therefore rejects womens position in a patriarchal society, she ultimately creates a new type
of female protagonist and rebuilds the way in which the hierarchy of society functions.
Essentially, Maas narrative addresses the three problems that plague young adult literature
pertaining to women. With the structure of her storyline, the characterization of her protagonist, and
dialogue between character in her book, she first rejects the tradition that many of the teenage favorites
have stories that are primarily masculine, second that there are dominant female characters, but it is the
male character who does something worth doing, while the girl stands by watching, and third that girls
are depicted as victims, (Mines 12). Thus, Maas achieves in validating the emerging feelings from a
feminine perspective for the teenage reader (Mines 12). This is significant because female teenage
readers need characters to look up to and emulate. While strong male heroes are great characters for
female young adult readers to look up to, female heroines deal with issues that are more relatable to
female teenage readers, thus making the messages books such as Throne of Glass more positively
influential on these readers.

Roberts 13

Through an analysis of this narrative using a structural methodology, it became clear to me that
traditional fairy tales did not allow for the creation of gender complexity recognized by post-structural
feminism. By transcending the main goal of the fairy tale, marriage, Celaena was able to showcase female
empowerment, an important idea derived from the Third Wave feminism perspective which suggests that
power is relational, having multiple tactics and strategies and as available to subordinate groups and not
just the possession of dominant groups (Scrippers, 32). Second, analyzing the characterization of
Celaena compared to Cinderella made it obvious that Celaena was not a heroine comprised of simply
female stereotypes, but held more of an ambiguous identity which allowed her to surpass the customary
roles for women in a patriarchal society. Lastly, by using a Second Wave and Third Wave lens along with
FPDA to analyze the various excepts from the book further showcased Celaenas ambiguous identity and
how she used varying discourses to create power shifts in dialogues.
Because stereotypical narratives have social importance when they find their way from books to
the real world by affecting how readers relate to others and see themselves, it was necessary to offer a
brief insight into how audiences perceived Celaena (Kokesh141). This brief analysis shows an overall
positive reception of Celaenas ambiguous gender identity. That being said, a more in depth qualitative
and qualitative analysis in linguistics of reactions to this text would be a suggestion for further study on
this topic. However, my brief analysis of these reviews show how 18-year-old female assassin Celaena
Sardothien, the main character in Sarah J. Maas young adult fantasy series, uses the performative nature
of gender to deconstruct gender binaries that exist in the kingdom of Ardalan. In short, Sarah J. Maas
encourages her readers to disregard traditional ideas about gender and become more perceptive to
contextual and interactional cues in order to become more powerful leaders.

Roberts 14
Works Cited
Baxter, Judith. The Language of Female Leadership. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Print.
Baxter, Judith. Positioning Gender in Discourse. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003. Print.
Bitch. Oxford Dictionaries. 2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/bitch>.
Gallagher, Genevieve. "Maas, Sarah J. Throne of Glass." School Library Journal 2012: 124. Biography in
Context. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Grunt. Oxford Dictionaries. 2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/grunt>.
Henni. "Stylistic Analysis Of Roald Dahl's Cinderella." K@Ta 12.1 (2010): 42-58. Humanities
International Complete. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
Hohr, Hansjorg. "Dynamic Aspects Of Fairy Tales: Social And Emotional Competence Through Fairy
Tales." Scandinavian Journal Of Educational Research 44.1 (2000): 89-103. Sociological
Collection. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
Ingalls, Victoria. "Sex Differences In The Creation Of Fictional Heroes With Particular Emphasis On
Female Heroes And Superheroes In Popular Culture: Insights From Evolutionary Psychology."
Review Of General Psychology 16.2 (2012): 208-221. PsycARTICLES. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
Kokesh, Jessica, and Miglena Sternadori. "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: A Qualitative Study Of
How Young Adult Fiction Affects Identity Construction." Atlantic Journal Of Communication
23.3 (2015): 139-158. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Maas, Sarah J. Throne of Glass. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012. Kindle Edition.
Mines, Jeanette. "Young Adult Literature Female Heroes Do Exist." ALAN Review 17.1 (1989): 12-14,54.
ERIC. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
Moody, Nickianne. "Feminism And Popular Culture." Feminist Literary Theory. 172-191. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge UP, 2006. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
Oliver, Kelly. "Ambiguity, Ambivalence And Extravagance In The Hunger Games." Humanities (20760787) 3.4 (2014): 675. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Quealy-Gainer, Kate. "Throne Of Glass (Review)." Bulletin Of The Center For Children's Books 2
(2012): 97. Project MUSE. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Schippers, M, and EG Sapp. "Reading Pulp Fiction: Femininity And Power In Second And Third Wave
Feminist Theory." Feminist Theory 13.1 (2012): 27-42. Web. 2 Oct. 2015.
Shank, Derek. "'The Web Of Story': Structuralism In Tolkiens 'On Fairy-Stories'." Tolkien Studies 1
(2013): 147. Project MUSE. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Stephens, Jonathan. "Young Adult: A Book by Any Other Name...:Defining the Genre". The Alan Review
Fall 2007. Web. 12 May 2009.Stott, Belinda. "Cinderella The Strong And Reader
Empowerment." New Review Of Children's Literature & Librarianship 10.1 (2004): 15-26.
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
Stott, Belinda. "Cinderella The Strong And Reader Empowerment." New Review Of Children's Literature
& Librarianship 10.1 (2004): 15-26. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with
Full Text. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
Throne of Glass. Goodreads Inc. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7896527-throne-of-glass>.
Zurru, Elisabetta. "Breaking The Crystal Shoe: A Multimodal Stylistic Analysis Of The Character Of
Cinderella In The Shrek Saga." Textus 23.1 (2010): 235-262. Humanities International Complete.
Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

Roberts 15
Appendices
Appendices A: Characteristics of Fairy Tales that Center on a Female Heroine
1. A female victim
2. A prolonged ordeal
3. Women as the agents of her suffering
4. Eventual vindication and triumph
5. A magical or fantastical external source or sources of support
6. A realistic (although idealized) external source of lasting salvation
7. An act of forgiveness towards female agents of suffering
Appendices B: Extended excerpts of text
1.

Youre a long way from Rifthold, Captain, she said, clearing her throat. Did you come
with the army I heard thumping around earlier?
What do you care for the armies of Adarlan? he replied. How lovely it was to hear a
voice like her own cool and articulate even if he was a nasty brute!
Nothing, she said, shrugging. He let out a low growl of annoyance.
Contemplating the potential outcomes, she grinned at him again.
Dont you look at me like that, he warned, and his hand drifted back toward his sword.
Celaena hid her smirk this time.
Where are we going again? she said sweetly, brushing a strand of her matted hair from
her face.
When he didnt reply, she clenched her jaw. (Maas 3)

2.

This is she? the Crown Prince of Adarlan asked, and Celaenas head whipped around
as the captain nodded. Both of them stared at her, waiting for her to bow. When she remained
upright, Chaol shifted on his feet, and the prince glanced at his captain before lifting his chin a bit
higher. (Maas 6)

3.

So, he seethed, holding tightly to her wrist, do you want to tell me how you got it into
your mind that this was a good idea?
She tried shaking off his hand, but he wouldnt let go. Across the great hall, Nehemia sat
with the Queen of Adarlan, occasionally glancing in Celaenas direction. Because she was
nervous or just surprised to see her?
Relax, she hissed at the Captain of the Guard. I only wanted to have some fun. Fun?
Crashing a royal ball is your idea of fun? Arguing wouldnt help; she could tell that his anger
was mostly about being embarrassed that shed managed to slip out of her rooms in the first
place. So she gave him a pitiful pout. I was lonely.
He choked. You couldnt spend one evening on your own?
She twisted her wrist out of his grasp. Nox is here and hes a thief! How could you let
him come with all this jewelry flashing about and not me? How can I be the Kings
Champion if you dont trust me? Actually, that was a question she really wanted to know the
answer to.
Chaol covered his face with a hand and let out a long, long sigh. She tried not to smile.
Shed won. If you take one step out of line
She grinned in earnest. Consider it your Yulemas present to me.
Chaol gave her a weighing look, but slumped his shoulders. Please dont make me regret
this.
She patted his cheek, sweeping past him. I knew I liked you for some reason. (Mass
289)

Roberts 16
4. Bitch! he hissed, and swung.
She met his blade, holding the staff with both hands, pushing the wood shaft into his
sword, even when it let out a splintering groan.
She shoved him, grunting, and spun. She whacked the back of his head with the top of the
staff, and he teetered, but regained his footing. He wiped at his bloody nose, eyes gleaming as he
panted. His pockmarked face became feral, and he charged, aiming a direct blow to her heart. Too
fast, too wild for him to stop.
She dropped into a crouch. As the blade sailed overhead, she lashed out at his legs. He
didnt even have time to cry out as she swept his feet out from under him, nor did he have time to
raise his weapon before she crouched over his chest, the iron-coated tip of the staff at his throat.
She brought her mouth close to his ear. My name is Celaena Sardothien, she
whispered. But it makes no difference if my names Celaena or Lillian or Bitch, because Id still
beat you, no matter what you call me. She smiled at him as she stood. He just stared up at her,
his bloody nose leaking down the side of his cheek. (Mass 351)
Professional Biography
Taylor Roberts is a senior undergraduate student at Xavier University. She will be graduating in
December 2015 with her Bachelors Degree in English. She will also be minoring in media studies and
writing.