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Chapter 7
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
As Feyre peruses the gardens, she thinks about weapons and possible escape routes, though it does seem true that she’s safer here for now. Still, she needs an ally. Thinking of what Alis said about Lucien needing someone to “snap[] at him,” Feyre decides to target him—after all, he doesn’t want her here, so he might convince Tamlin to send her home. Just then, Feyre hears two sets of feet and a quiet giggle. Before Feyre turns to face whatever’s there, Alis calls her for lunch.
Lucien’s distaste for Feyre makes him a prime target for her scheming. He doesn’t see her as worth any compassion or kindness and indeed, seems to view her as just as heartless as Feyre believes faeries in general are. The feet and giggles create some tension—who’s watching Feyre?—but for now, the novel leaves this a mystery.
Active
Themes
At dinner later, Feyre steals a knife. While Lucien and Tamlin chat, she slips it into her sleeve. Tamlin and Lucien then engage her in conversation, asking about her hunting experience and her age (19). Feyre asks what they do all day, but Lucien answers with jokes. She reveals, truthfully, that her mother didn’t tell her stories—faerie stories or otherwise. Her mother died of typhus when she was eight. Tamlin offers his condolences as Feyre leaves the dining room. In her own room, she packs a bag with clothes and the knife.
Active
Themes
