A Dance With Dragons Literary Elements

Epic, Fantasy

The story takes place in the Land of Westeros and Essos, and the story begins in 299 AC (Years after Aegon’s Conquest)

Omnipresent narrator,
Multiple POVs

Frightening, Suspenseful, Tragic, Anxious, Paranoid, Violent, Exciting

Because there are many conflicts in the book that develop at the same time, the antagonists and protagonists are not universal to the whole story but are relevant to the conflict they take part in. For example, for Daenerys the Sons of Harpy and the houses of Westeros are antagonists; for houses of Westeros, Targareyns which is the house Daenerys are the antagonists.

The major conflict arises as the multiple characters try to hold on to their power. The Wall has just recovered from a battle and seem to be preparing for another one with the Boltons, with a marriage to a pretender of Arya Stark, Jon Snow's sister. Daenerys is in middle of a civil war in Meereen and can't seem to control her dragons. The Others are preparing for an attack on Westeros as winter approaches.

The climax occurs when Jon Snow is stabbed, Daenerys is captures by a Dothraki Khalsaar who tried to murder her before.

Daenerys sees a vision in the House of Undying of a mummer's dragon in The Clash of Kings, Ageon Targaryen, supposedly the son of Rhaegar Targaryen is discovered to be heading towards Meereen, possibly to win Daenerys' support for Iron Throne. He's possible a pretender as he is prophesied to be a mummer's dragon.

Quentyn Martell, after Daenerys' flight from The sons of Harpy, tries to tame the dragons thinking that they would not harm him as he also has Targaryen blood and dragons favor Targayens, but is burned to death in the process.

Daenerys has some elements common with the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. Like Cleopatra, she lived in exile before emerging as a victor later. Like Cleopatra, Daenerys had marital alliances made to expand her army, and in the traditions of Egyptians, marriages in siblings was common in Targaryens so as not to dilute royal blood.

The most common imagery in this book is of snow and fire. Winter is approaching, but Westeros is busy fighting a war to control power. In Meereen, dragons are wrecking havoc as they seem to have gone out of control and Daenerys have to see people being burnt alive.

Cold-hands, as Benjen Stark is called after he has been transformed into a wight by the Children of the forest, should have killed Brandon Stark and others as his nature is of a dead dispassionate killer, but he helps them to reach to the cave of The Three-Eyed Raven.

A parallelism is drawn for Jon Snow and Aegon Targaryen, brother of Aemon Targaryen as both of them are young, mere boys in some aspects and have a great deal of responsibility.

The Wall is a Metonymy for safety and duty. It represents the people who defend Westeros from wildlings. Sword of a man is synecdoche for a man's loyalty. Warriors are asked to join sword to a particular person, thus showing their loyalty.

The Harpy is personified as some supernatural element that justifies slavery and aristocracy. To justify their causes to continue slavery and keep the inhumane traditions alive, the rebels against Danaerys' rule call themselves The Sons of the Harpy, while Harpy is a fictional character.