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Why do humans and faeries hate each other?
In A Court of Thorns and Roses, humans and faeries live on segregated lands separated by a wall. Both humans and faeries believe negative or frightening stereotypes about the other, and humans in particular fear a reprise of the war between humans and faeries, which was fought and won 500 years prior to the events of the novel. Before the war, faeries and humans shared the same land, but humans had been enslaved. Eventually, there was an uprising, and some High Fae sided with humanity while others fought to restore slavery. The war was brutal and included such atrocities as Jurian’s seduction and butchering of Clythia, Amarantha’s subsequent revenge, and the King of Hybern’s murder of all his human slaves. Eventually, the war ended, as did the practice of enslaving humans. A peace treaty was signed, which decreed that faeries would live separately in the north, and humans separately in the south. While peace prevailed, the fear, mistrust, and hatred born from slavery and war 500 years prior remained forefront in the minds of humans and faeries in Feyre’s time.
Why do Tamlin and the Spring Court faeries always wear masks?
Throughout A Court of Thorns and Roses, Tamlin refers to a problem he calls “the blight.” He explains to Feyre that the magic in Prythian, which affects the powers and abilities of the faeries living there, is corrupted, weakened, and out of control, which makes it difficult for the fae to wield it as they once did. One symptom of this diseased magic is strange and irreversible happenings. Tamlin explains that, during a masquerade 49 years prior, magic that had been corrupted by the blight caused the guests’ masks to merge with their faces. No one had been successful in breaking this curse. However, later in the novel, Feyre discovers that this story was a sanitized version of the truth. She had been led to believe that the blight was a natural occurrence, as if magic itself had contracted an illness. In fact, the blight was deliberately caused by Queen Amarantha—or, rather, the blight is Queen Amarantha. To consolidate power and rule over all of Prythian, Amarantha manipulated her way into a position of power and privilege within each High Court of Prythian. Once she established herself, she was able to carry out her scheme: taking some of the powers of each High Fae for herself, weakening their magic and strengthening her own so that she could install herself as the ultimate ruler of Prythian. Additionally, to take revenge on Tamlin for refusing to be her lover, Amarantha gouges out his friend Lucien’s eye. To make amends for her violence, Amarantha suggests a masquerade ball with the entire Spring Court. At the ball, Tamlin offends her once again, and she uses her magic to make the masks a permanent feature of the Spring Court’s faces.
What is the difference between High Fae and lesser faeries?
The lesser faeries of Prythian have fewer humanoid features than the High Fae and generally have niche, targeted magical powers. These powers can range from being excellent artisans and craftsmen to being able to walk through solid objects. Lesser faeries can still be quite dangerous and powerful, but unlike the High Fae, they do not have a diverse range of abilities. High Fae are born with myriad powers and possess a magical potency far stronger than the lesser fae. They are not limited to niche abilities but are able to call upon an abundance of magical faculties. They also tend to be physically stronger than almost all lesser fae. High Fae possess these traits because they are “born to rule,” meaning that they must be able to control and wield power over all faeries in their domain. Additionally, High Fae have humanoid features, although these features are often heightened and perfected, to the extent that the High Fae resemble a highly idealized and supernaturally beautiful version of a human.
Why do Feyre and her family live in poverty?
Feyre’s family lives in poverty due to both family tragedies and her father’s bad business practices and personal weakness. In childhood, Feyre and her sisters enjoyed a privileged upbringing as children of a noble family. Her mother was not a particularly present parent, but she was intelligent and practical. When Feyre was eight years old, her mother contracted typhus and died. Before her passing, she asked Feyre to take responsibility for caring and providing for the family, suggesting that she did not believe Feyre’s father would be capable of doing so. Not long after Feyre’s mother’s death, debt collectors arrive and break her father’s leg, crippling him for life. This occurrence is incredibly traumatic for Feyre and marks her transition into being the family’s primary provider, as her father is no longer physically capable of working. Feyre learns that her hereditary fortune was built on fraudulent business practices that started well before her father took over the family’s finances. Her grandfather and even great-grandfather both mishandled the family’s wealth, making shady dealings and failing to pay back the money owed. Her father inherited this burden and ultimately could not dig himself out of debt. However, after the family was ruined and reduced to poverty, Feyre’s father continued to fail to protect and provide for his daughters. Although his disabled legs make it impossible for him to do physically laborious work, he doesn’t even try to find a different method of making consistent money. Instead, he allows Feyre to shoulder the responsibility of hunting for food, selling pelts, and earning only enough money to pay for the family’s most fundamental needs.
How did Queen Amarantha come into power?
Prythian is equally ruled by seven High Lords, who each hold power in their own separate courts. However, 100 years prior to the events of the novel, Amarantha—an emissary from Hybern, another faerie kingdom separate from Prythian—arrives in Prythian under a pretense of strengthening trade and the sharing of resources between Prythian and Hybern and making amends for her and the King of Hybern’s vicious behavior during the war. Amarantha ingratiates herself with the seven High Lords, gaining a positive reputation. However, she has concocted a scheme to take power in Prythian, as she still holds a grudge against humanity for the death of her sister and hopes to use Prythian’s proximity to the human world as a launching point to attack humanity once again. The unassuming trade ships carrying goods from Hybern to Prythian, as per their new trading agreements, were in fact secretly transporting Amarantha’s own military force. Amarantha eventually throws a ball for the High Fae of Prythian and poisons the High Lords’ wine with a potion that impairs them and allows her to take their magic. No longer powerful enough to contest Amarantha, the High Lords have no choice but to submit to her. She becomes Prythian’s High Queen, with the Lords remaining puppet rulers of their respective courts.
