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Chapter 3
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Court of Thorns and Roses, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Pain
Compassion, Respect, and Difference
Responsibility and Sacrifice
Art, Beauty, and Poverty
Summary
Analysis
Before she knows it, Feyre has her hunting knife in her hand and the beast has entered the house. It’s the size of a horse and looks like a wolf with curved horns, claws, and fangs. It shouts, “MURDERERS!”, and Feyre realizes this is a faerie. Feyre puts herself between the beast and her family, but the beast slaps the knife out of her hand and demands to know who killed “him,” the wolf. Knowing faeries can’t lie, Feyre asks, hypothetically, if they could make up for the murder if one of her family did commit it. The beast says they all must do what the Treaty commands.
While this passage implies that the wolf was indeed a faerie, this marks the first time Feyre comes face to face with a faerie knowing exactly what she’s facing. Feyre holds onto the little power she believes she has, given that humans can lie but faeries cannot. Interestingly, though, the beast doesn’t give her a straight answer—which suggests that it’s perhaps being intentionally vague.
Active
Themes
Feyre admits that she killed the wolf, saying when asked that she would’ve done it even if she’d known he was a faerie. She also admits that the wolf didn’t threaten her. Knowing that Nesta will try to keep Elain alive, Feyre keeps the beast talking. He reveals that per the Treaty, Feyre must die—or she can spend the rest of her life in Prythian. Father tells Feyre to go, but she argues that Prythian is lethal for mortals. The beast offers to let Feyre live on his land and is offended when Feyre remains unconvinced that his offer is genuine. Father tries to bargain with the beast, but Feyre steps forward, figuring she can find a time to kill or otherwise trick the beast long enough to escape. Then, she can return to her family and follow through on her promise to her mother.
This passage continues to make it very clear that Feyre’s highest priority—if not her only one—is to ensure her family’s safety. She cares about her own safety to some degree; this is why she protests that Prythian will be fatal to her. But she sees no way to protect her family other than to take her chances and accept that this is how she can keep her other family members safe, at least for a while. Interestingly though, she continues to insist that she’s doing all of this for her mother, when it seems more like Feyre actually cares for at least Elain—she fixates on the fact that Nesta will protect Elain, suggesting Elain, despite her faults, is perhaps closest to Feyre.
Active
Themes
The beast snaps Feyre’s ash arrow before ordering her outside. Feyre tells her father how to ration the meat and advises him to ask Isaac how to make rabbit snares, since she taught him last year. Turning to Nesta, Feyre tells her not to marry Tomas—Tomas’s father beats his wife while his sons stand by. As Feyre steps out the door, Father tells her she’s too good for them. If she ever gets freedom, he says, don’t come back. Feyre has never told Father about her promise to her mother, so she just shrugs and follows the beast away.
Active
Themes
