Part of the way that Paterson breaks the mold is by acknowledging the motivation by human feeling. For me the turning point of the story comes when Raphael tests Rosamund's knowledge. She tells him she knows one thing no one else does. That small quiet action is a giant turning point. In this miniscule moment of fiction, Paterson lets readers see the depth of Rosamund's wisdom.
Superficial knowledge is irrelevant to wisdom of knowing the human heart.
It also has to do Rosamund's looking below the surface. It has to do with her delivery. If she had shared this information stridently and loudly, holding the ruthless prince up for public ridicule, she would never have shifted his reality. Her compassion allows Raphael fall hopelessly and eternally in love, see a way of life he'd never imagined and shift forever his values. Feminism seems to grow in complexity.