This thesis examines the use of a patriarchal system as a default in fantasy literature, and it critically explores the possibility of creating more equal systems – such as a matriarchal one that...Show moreThis thesis examines the use of a patriarchal system as a default in fantasy literature, and it critically explores the possibility of creating more equal systems – such as a matriarchal one that is not merely the mirror image of patriarchy – within the worldbuilding of fantasy novels. It does so by comparing the patriarchal system in Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan (1946), to the matriarchal system in Samantha Shannon's The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019).Show less
