From Page to Screen: Myth and Political Consciousness in Game of Thrones

The alteration of myth, ideology, and political meaning in modern culture may be examined in great detail through the conversion of literary narratives into visual media. A compelling case study of how epic fantasy is reimagined to reflect contemporary political consciousness may be found in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and its television adaption Game of Thrones. The television series expands the ideological breadth of the original texts by reinterpreting mythic structures, medieval history, and heroic archetypes through the lenses of power politics, governance, gender relations, and social inequality. This chapter looks at how Game of Thrones emphasizes political consciousness as a major narrative element while translating mythological imagination from page to screen. The study examines how the series modifies narrative structure, character arcs, and symbolic frameworks to address modern issues including authority, corruption, resistance, patriarchy, and marginalization. It does this by drawing on adaptation theory and myth critique. The story's ethical and political resonance is changed as a result of the visual medium's increased emphasis on spectacle, violence, and emotional immediacy. The chapter also examines how mythological history is rewritten in Westeros, where realist depictions of power struggles interact with made-up pasts, dynasty disputes, and prophetic traditions. Gender politics, family relations, and subaltern viewpoints receive special emphasis, demonstrating how the adaptation redefines agency within a rigid social hierarchy and amplifies voices of opposition. The chapter illustrates how adaptation serves as both a translation process and an act of cultural reinterpretation by contrasting the narrative techniques used in the novels and the series. In the end, this paper contends that Game of Thrones is a prime example of how contemporary television adaptations turn epic fantasy into a vehicle for political criticism, expressing current concerns about identity, power, and social order while staying rooted in mythological traditions.