Equal Rites belongs to one of the most venerable traditions in storytelling: The theme of a child leaving home to seek his or her destiny, and overcoming all obstacles in the process.

Pratchett pays homage here to models as diverse as Grimm's fairy tales and Mark Twain's novels of boyish adventure along the Mississippi. Those familiar with fantasy as a genre will note the many allusions to characters and incidents in the established classics of such authors as J. R. R. Tolkien and Mervyn Peake. By making his protagonist a female trying to break through the barriers set up by a male power structure, Pratchett introduces feminist themes that are prominent in much of the best fantasy literature by women writers.