Not so voluptuous
Orual talks about the Goddess Ungit in the beginning and she is associated with the Goddess Aphrodite in the Greek mythology. Because of this association, one would expect Ungit to be represented by beautiful statues just like Aphrodite in the Greek mythology. Ironically however, she is portrayed by a faceless black stone, simple and mundane.
Happy to be bald
After Orual’s biological mother dies, the two sisters have to cut their hair as a part of the funeral ritual. While the maids lament the fact that the girls had their hair cut, Orual was happy to have her hair cut because this meant that for one in her life she was considered as beautiful as her sister.
Beaten by the nurse
When someone thinks about royalty and their children, they generally expect the children to be treated fairly and with respect by the slaves working under their father. This was not the case in Orual’s case who was often mistreated and beaten by her nurse. This comes as something ironical considering her royal blood.
Not what they expected
When the King decides to marry another woman, he quickly found a princess from a nearby kingdom whose father was willing to marry her off to the King. Orual’s father thought that things will be better for him especially because the new princess was from a far richer kingdom than the one the King had. Ironically however, the reason why the princess’s father was willing to marry her daughter to the King was because they were having problems and no other man would marry his daughter.
Give back the sacrifices
When the King found that his wife was pregnant, he started giving sacrificed to the Goddess and to the priest. The sacrifices he gave were so many that the floor in his palace became slippery with blood. In the end however, all this did not matter and his wife and unborn child still died. Then, ironically, the King asked the priest to give back all the sacrifices he had made.
