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Character depiction and direct discourse
representatives of another ideology. Power relations and social distance are largely, though not exclusively, dependent on pre-existing social levels and positions that are maintained by convention; a disregard or violation of these conventional rules can lead to tension and even social unrest. The saints frequently, almost regularly, question the conventional hierarchies of society. In their verbal action, they display not only disregard but outright contempt for the non-Christian rulers’ power and orders. The potentially subversive behaviour arises from the context of