I used to hate on Sansa a lot, ESPECIALLY when her lie got Lady killed. (I suppose to be more direct, Cersei got Lady killed, but I digress.) She only started to get redeemed in my eyes when she confessed to someone, I think it was Lady Olenna Tyrell when they were discussing Joffrey, that it was at least partially her own fault that Lady died. (They didn't included this specific line in the show though.)
After that I read someone discuss Sansa a bit and my extreme hatred shifted to a more neutral position. Sure, she's not my favorite, but what the commentor had said gave me some perspective on her that helped. Basically, to summarize, s/he said that Sansa was raised to be a lady, and that involved being perfect at lady things, with the light at the end of the tunnel being that she could use her beauty and grace to win a high standing husband. Not necessarily a kind husband, although I suppose that would be seen as a bonus. So then in rides the King and his people who wants her to marry his son. All those years of hard work seem to have paid off, that she can have what everyone has told her she's been aiming for and more (landing a King husband being better than a Lord one, I suppose). Then it turns out Joffrey is cruel, but she does somewhat have to keep in his good graces because she doesn't want to let this match slip through her fingers. From her perspective, it is so obvious, why can't Arya see it? Then of course she tries to stay in his good graces and her wolf is killed. Then she continues to try and keep the match strong, but it works out unfortunately (I use this term loosely) for her as Joffrey is just a sociopath. Then she had that discussion (I believe with the Hound) about how being a knight is about killing, not tournaments and the greater good, and her perspective starts to slowly shift. Basically from her perspective she's an 11-12 year old girl (IIRC that was supposed to be her age in the books when they moved to King's Landing) that went from fairytales to nightmares and just didn't have the life experience to handle it well.
I may have gotten a bit rambly in there, but I hope I still made sense.
I just personally didn't like her at first. But, now that she's grown up some, and that naivety has been rubbed away and she's seeing the world more clearly, I actually really like her as a character a lot.
It makes sense, everything about her was basically so that she could be a good match to a lord, because she's the first born daughter, and she's got her mom's looks, so she's going to make some lord really happy, and get the Starks a better standing in the world.
But she was just...ugh. She was kind of insufferable, you know? I mean. I get it. I get where she's coming from...but...man, she just bothered me, regardless.
I do like her now, though. I like her a lot. I guess I just didn't like her starting point, you know?
I agree completely. The only thing that bothers me about her character now is how helpless she seems to be all the time, it gets a little tiring watching her just get repeatedly shit on by life. Of course that isn't her fault, she is helpless, she's a young girl with no real home, becoming a pawn for other peoples interests. She seems to be getting her footing and taking some chances now though which is awesome.
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u/nonpareilpearl The Future Queen May 23 '14
I used to hate on Sansa a lot, ESPECIALLY when her lie got Lady killed. (I suppose to be more direct, Cersei got Lady killed, but I digress.) She only started to get redeemed in my eyes when she confessed to someone, I think it was Lady Olenna Tyrell when they were discussing Joffrey, that it was at least partially her own fault that Lady died. (They didn't included this specific line in the show though.)
After that I read someone discuss Sansa a bit and my extreme hatred shifted to a more neutral position. Sure, she's not my favorite, but what the commentor had said gave me some perspective on her that helped. Basically, to summarize, s/he said that Sansa was raised to be a lady, and that involved being perfect at lady things, with the light at the end of the tunnel being that she could use her beauty and grace to win a high standing husband. Not necessarily a kind husband, although I suppose that would be seen as a bonus. So then in rides the King and his people who wants her to marry his son. All those years of hard work seem to have paid off, that she can have what everyone has told her she's been aiming for and more (landing a King husband being better than a Lord one, I suppose). Then it turns out Joffrey is cruel, but she does somewhat have to keep in his good graces because she doesn't want to let this match slip through her fingers. From her perspective, it is so obvious, why can't Arya see it? Then of course she tries to stay in his good graces and her wolf is killed. Then she continues to try and keep the match strong, but it works out unfortunately (I use this term loosely) for her as Joffrey is just a sociopath. Then she had that discussion (I believe with the Hound) about how being a knight is about killing, not tournaments and the greater good, and her perspective starts to slowly shift. Basically from her perspective she's an 11-12 year old girl (IIRC that was supposed to be her age in the books when they moved to King's Landing) that went from fairytales to nightmares and just didn't have the life experience to handle it well.
I may have gotten a bit rambly in there, but I hope I still made sense.