The mage and the serpent
Eadaz and the female heroism in The Priory of the Orange Tree
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/1983-4373.2025i35p137-157Keywords:
High Fantasy Literature, Feminist Criticism, Black Heroines, Lesbianity, SubversionAbstract
This article aims to understand some of Eadaz du Zāla uq-Nāra ’s facets as one of the main heroes of Samantha Shannon’s high fantasy novel The Priory of the Orange Tree. Both the protagonist's significance as a black heroine existing in a secondary world in which there is no patriarchy or racism, and her lesbian relationship with the character Sabran Berehtnet will be analysed. Bernárdez (2020), Betz (2011), Fox (2023), Funck (2016) and Tatar (2021) provide the main theoretical foundation for this paper. Although there are many instances in which Eadaz aligns herself with a more traditional perspective of heroism, most of her heroine’s journey represents a subversion. At the end, we come to the conclusion that because of said subversion, the character of Eadaz poses the question of what it even means to be a hero, therefore broadening the concept of a hero’s journey and heroism itself.
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