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The Witcher 3

Decent Essays
Literature is a mutable thing. Many have sought, often in vain and to great dissatisfaction, to contain it and define its true nature. What’s more, it seems that with each generation this task becomes increasing difficult as words find new mediums across which to be expressed and heard. Conventional definitions of literature, in turn, seem to be of increasingly less use as the words multiply around us. The most successful definitions, under these circumstances, are those which seek not to assess the nature of literature, which is ever-changing, but its function in human society, which has remained relatively unchanged over the annals of time. I would assert that the function of literature, beyond the pleasure its aesthetic beauty can inspire,…show more content…
The world of “The Witcher 3” is not wholly unlike our own. Women, particularly in marginalized segments of society, struggle to assert their own worth and determine their own destinies in a world in which men hold virtually all major positions of power. In “The Witcher 3,” this manifests itself in many ways. One way is in the ubiquitous prostitutes of Novigrad, through whom the writers challenge players to assess their own beliefs about sex work. Opportunities arise throughout the game to either help affirm their humanity and defend them against male abuse and violence, or partake in their services and leave them to their fates as objects of male desire. Given the ineptitude of many of their world’s male leaders, there are also many women from the upper segments of society who seek to define not only their own fates, but those of their entire nation. Upon traveling to the Skellige Isles, an archipelago off the western coast of the Northern Kingdoms, players find themselves interrupting a funeral service for the recently deceased king, Bran. His widow, Birna, has plans for the island nation even in her mourning. Traditionally, the next ruler would be chosen by the people based off of their deeds and popularity. Regarding this tradition with disdain, Birna seeks instead to form Skellige into a dynastic monarchy after that of the rival Nilfgaardian Empire with her son upon the throne. She is not alone, however, in seeking to radically change her nation for the better. Cerys an Craite, the daughter of a Skellige jarl, seeks to inherit the current political system and use it to reform and improve the policies of her native land. Instead of continuing to raid the coastal lands at great loss of life, as ruler she would seek to turn the island nation’s attention inward to invest in its people and infrastructure. By presenting women as the
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