History Literature / TheBlackSwan

* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Odette and the rest of the flock, in contrast with the voluntary shapeshifting of the Baron and Odile.

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* [[TheDutifulSon The Dutiful Daughter]]: Odile to her father, too bad for him he does not appreciate it.

* TheWhitePrince: Siegfried in the beginning is very selfish and self-centered. Mostly because his mother ensured that he would not be fit to rule. Later he starts to become a better person much to the relief of the royal advisers.

* AbusiveParents: Von Rothbart has been neclecting and undermining his daughter's self esteem for all her life. [[spoiler: He also steals her magic regularly and uses PeoplePuppets magic on her to further his plans. Few people can blame Odile for killing him.]]

* BadDreams: Siegfried has a lot of this after the gypsy girl kills herself. It is never made clear if it is his own concience acting out or a supernatural element. But given that he first dreams of lich gypsy girl before learning of her suicide it can be both.

* BigFancyCastle: Siegfried's castle is a a few times larger than the large Von Rothbart manor.

* [[BoltOfDivineRetribution Bolt of Sorcerous Retribution]]: [[spoiler: This is how Von Rothbart puts an end to Clothilde's wickedness. Her fellow ploter Uwe is caught in it but he survives enough to make a ful confesion and reveal every amoral thing Clothilde has done. Had Clothilde survived she would have been humiliated and lost everything she had worked for.]]
* ChekhovsGun: Odile casually mentions at one point that wizards are generally warded against ordinary weapons but not gold or silver, and that she herself has a little silver dagger.
* CorruptChurch: A priest does not see anything wrong with lower class women being raped. And seems to thing that a 24 hour fast and vigil is more than enough penance for it.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Arguably Clothilde, a woman like her would have considered it worse to lose everything and be humilated as her true nature became known rather than just die by sorcery. Also Siegfried after assaulting the gypsy girl. Sure he got punished by wallowing in guilt for a while and made him a better person but the girl died.]]
* {{Ladykiller In Love}}: Siegfried.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Odette and the rest of the flock, in contrast with the VoluntaryShapeshifting of the Baron and Odile.
* IronicHell: Averted for Clothilde, [[spoiler: she gets the real thing, FireAndBrimstoneHell if the religious views shown throught the book are any indication.]]

* MadScientist: Von Rothbart is a fantasy example, making Odile the..
* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter
* MadonnaWhoreComplex: How most men in the story view women, expecially Von Rothbart.

* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf

* NoWomansLand: While high born women are treated with respect they still are considered pawns and chatel by their fathers. Lower class women on the other hand are constantly disrespected and mistreated.
* MundaneUtility: Odile frequently uses her magic to make life more comfortable and convenient. The time where she uses magic to clean dirty, dusty tapestries that had not been touched in decades and to make a small island in the middle of a swamp for herself and the flock to use as shelter is particularly awesome. While it might be dismissed as non threatening kitchen magic by her father it requires a high level of skill and control.
* OldManMarryingAChild: Zigzagged. One of the youngest girls was taken from an arranged marriage to a cruel older man -- but when she develops a crush on Siegfried's elderly tutor and wants to marry him, everyone thinks it would be a good arrangement.
* OurLichesAreDifferent: Siegfried seems to think that the gypsy girl has come back from the dead as a lich to torment him even though he ordered that her corpse be staked and buried at crossroads to prevent such a thing.

* PrincessClassic: Odette. Actually given the fact that she run away from an arranged marriage to a much older and cruel man she might qualify as a RebelliousPrincess.

* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: The Baron's view of his magical punishments. It doesn't particularly matter to him whether it's real betrayal, treachery which he enticed or tricked the other person into, or just something that is betrayal FromACertainPointOfView..

* ShrinkingViolet: While Odile is quite composed and witty, when she goes to the fete that Clothilde throws she feels very embarrased and self concious because she has grown up in isolation with just her father and the flock as company, and is not used to having so much attention on her. Her over the top costume did not help either.
* SilkHidingSteel: Odette, Odile and a few of the princesses (Honoria and Evangeline in particular) that Siegfried is to chose from. In fact Clothilde considers Honoria too strong willed to make a proper and bidable daughter in law. Also Clothilde herself is a darker aspect of it.

* StayInTheKitchen: Von Rothbart's attitude toward his daughter. He is always scornful when Odile attempst to master higher magics but praises her when she applies her magic to domestic pursuits.
* SwansASwimming

* TomboyPrincess: Princess Honoria is an avid and expert hawker and hunter but cant fully be classified as a tomboy because she also keeps up a front of being feminine and proper.

* TheWhitePrince: Siegfried in the begining is very selfish and self-centered. Mostly because his mother ensured that he would not be fit to rule. Later he starts to become a better person much to the relief of the royal advisors.

* TheMadonnaWhoreComplex: How most men in the story view women, expecially Von Rothbart.

* TheMadonaWhoreComplex: How most men in the story view women, expecially Von Rothbart.

* SilkHidingSteel: Odette, Odile and a few of the princesses (Honoria and Evangeline in particular) that Siegfried is to chose from. In fact Clothilde considers Honoria too strong willed to make a proper and bidable daughter in law.

* {{Tsundere:}} Odile has dere dere as her default mode, but Benno seems to bring out her tsun side.

* IronicHell: Averted for Clothilde, [[spoiler: she gets the real thing instead, probably.]]

* MundaneUtilily: Odile frequently uses her magic to make life more comfortable and convenient. The time where she uses magic to clean dirty, dusty tapestries that had not been touched in decades and to make a small island in the middle of a swamp for herself and the flock to use as shelter is particularly awesome. While it might be dismissed as non threatening kitchen magic by her father it requires a high level of skill and control.

* KarmaHoudini: [[ spoiler:Living with everyone knowing her true nature and losing her right to rule would have been a much better punishment for Clothilde. Instead she dies fairly quickly via a magical lighting bolt and dies a powerful queen and ruler.]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[Living with everyone knowing her true nature and losing her right to rule would have been a much better punishment for Clothilde. Instead she dies fairly quickly via a magical lighting bolt and dies a powerful queen and ruler.]]

* ChurchOfCorruption: A priest does not see anything wrong with lower class women being raped. And seems to thing that a 24 hour fast and vigil is more than enough penance for it.

* PrincessClassic: Odette.

* [[WellDoneSonGuy Well Done Daughter Girl]]: Odile, so very much. She could easily have become DaddysLittleVillain except that Baron von Rothbart either 1) didn't think of it or 2) was unwilling to share power.

* HelpFaceTurn: Odile and Rothbart. Odile admits that she would probably have done anything for him if he'd just asked...but instead he forcibly bespells her to betray her friend, stealing her ''own magic'' to do it, and that's the end of that.

Not to be confused with the film ''BlackSwan''