Cersei Lannister is revered as a powerful, strong women. She portrays these attributes by her relational dominance. Although her husband was the King of Westeros, and her son is the heir, she has more power and authority among respected individuals. "Dominance is often defined as the actual degree to which a person influences someone, and submission as the actual degree to which a person gives up influence and yields to the wishes of someone else. Dominance is communicated verbally and non-verbally in a variety of ways"(C1). Cersei uses her words as poison, to slowly corrupt the minds of others until they can no longer think for themselves. She rules through intimidation and lets everyone know that she is the dominant figure in all the country. In the episode Knowledge is Power, Cersei pulls Petyr Balishs strings and assures him that "Power is power"(10). Her dominance goes unmatched, and as the plot develops her dominance stretches even further.
With so much bad blood between competing families, often times people will "use" or "take advantage" of people because of who they are. This provides some interesting examples of Task-Social Orientation. "This Message reflects how much people are focused on tasks versus having fun and socializing"(C2). The Starks of Winterfell want absolutely nothing to do with the Lannisters, but because of the Lannisters social status, and what they are able to do for the Starks, they tolerate each other. The Lannisters hate the Starks, but because the Starks have the gateway to the north they must keep them happy. The families are pulled in many different directions that they do not want to be, but they must.
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