History Literature / TheBlackSwan

* AnimalMotifs: The swan for Odile, an eagle-owl for Baron von Rothbart, and Princess Honoria (one of Siegfried's potential brides at the ball) is garbed as a hawk.
** Not sure if Lackey intended it at the time, but the hawk-princess (also an enthusiastic falconer) is also Foreshadowing. Some time after the book (both in-universe and real time) Honoria received ADayInTheLimelight in the short story "Wide Wings", where she body-swaps with a magical hawk (who did an earlier BodySwap herself, and states that she was the latest in a long line of girls to do so) in order to escape her arranged marriage.

* LadykillerInLove: Siegfried.

* MundaneUtility: Odile frequently uses her magic to make life more comfortable and convenient, if only because it's the one use of her talents that seems to please her father. Aside from the aforementioned cleaning of the Great Hall, she keeps the floors clean, the clothing washed, and repeatedly uses small magics to great effect to make everyone comfortable as she and the flock travel to Siegfried's kingdom.

* QuestionableConsent: Siegfried has sex with a gypsy girl he finds bathing outdoors, believing she has consented since she doesn't make that much effort to get away from him. He realizes only after she is DrivenToSuicide that she wasn't actually willing.
* RapeAsDrama: Siegfried, how could you?
** The description can lead one to truly believe Siegfried interpreted the gypsy girl's actions when she tried to run away as being all an act and didn't recognize that he had actually ''raped'' her until ''much later''! This leads him to a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment.

* ShrinkingViolet: While Odile is quite composed and witty, when she goes to the fete that Clothilde throws she feels very embarrassed and self-conscious 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.

* StayInTheKitchen: Von Rothbart's attitude toward his daughter. He is always scornful when Odile attempts to master higher magics but praises her when she applies her magic to domestic pursuits. She is not amused when she realizes this.

** Not sure if Lackey intended it at the time, but the hawk-princess (also an enthusiastic falconer) is also Foreshadowing. Honoria gets ADayInTheLimelight short story later on, where she body-swaps with a magical hawk (who did an earlier BodySwap herself, and states that she was the latest in a long line of girls to do so) in order to escape her arranged marriage.

* FemaleMisogynist: Odile, as you'd expect for a character defined by her loyalty to her heavily misogynistic father. She firmly believes that women are treacherous and faithless by nature and she's the exception to the rule, and it takes her quite a while to grow out of it.

** On Siegfried's end of things, Queen Clothilde deliberately raised him so that he wouldn't be fit for the throne. She wants to continue her reign as regent, even if it means [[OffingTheOffspring having him killed]].

* ArrangedMarriage: Common, given that the time period is Renaissance...ish. Most of the characters are resigned to the idea as a fact of life, provided their intended mate isn't unbearable: the ones who most strenuously object are Odette (her father promised her mother on her deathbed that Odette could marry for love) and one of the Little Swans, who was going to be sent to an abusive older man.

* IgnoredEpiphany: Odile begins to suspect early on that her father only cares about himself, but she dismisses it because she's been trained from an early age not to question him. She also believes it's not right for a daughter to think such things of her own father.

* RapunzelHair: Odile's white-blonde falls past her waist. Lackey goes into more detail than most about how hard it is to maintain hair that long without servants, plus Odile can't really wear it loose without risking tangles that would take hours to unsnarl.
* RegentForLife: Clothilde's intentions. She'd prefer to be reigning Queen, but time and custom won't allow it.

* SpannerInTheWorks: The ''gypsy girl''. Just think - if Seigfried ''hadn't'' encountered her, he truly wouldn't have been suitable for Odette...and thus Rothbart would have '''won''' simply because Seigfried wouldn't have truly loved Odette.

* AbusiveParents: Von Rothbart has been neglecting 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.]]
** Also, Queen Clothilde has been manipulating her son his whole life so that she can keep the throne, and even intends on [[OffingTheOffspring having him killed]].

* AnimalMotifs: The swan for Odile, an eagle-owl for Baron von Rothbart, and one of the princesses at the ball is garbed as a hawk.

* ArrangedMarriage: What Odette refused, thus 'earning' her a place in the Baron's flock. Several others are implied to have done the same, including one of the four Little Swans.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Clothilde and Uwe end up being killed by Von Rothbart's magic and few mourn once they learn about [[EvilPlan Clothilde's plans for Siegfried]]. Later, nobody really mourns when Von Rothbart in turn is killed by Odile.]]
* TheAtoner: Siegfried, after a nightmare makes him understand how badly he's acted--in general, not just to the gypsy girl, although she is the catalyst. He begins acting much more kindly towards men in the court and a commoner lover of his, worrying his mother who hoped he would never earn loyalty and thus pose a threat as her successor.

* RegentForLife: Clothilde's intentions.

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

** [[spoiler:Odette and Siegfried come very close to the same.]]

* KnightTemplar: How Von Rothbart presents himself, though what he does is really more for his own power's sake than for his cause.

* DeathEqualsRedemption: Uwe uses his dying breaths to confess to everything he and Queen Clothilde did.

* DrivenToSuicide: The gypsy girl. This has a lot of FridgeBrilliance to it, as the Roma have a strong culture around purity and for a Roma girl to lose her virginity -- ''especially'' to an outsider -- before marriage makes her "dirty" and "unclean" by their culture, not to mention an automatic outcast. Medieval culture in general frowned on this too of course.

* MagicKnight: Von Rothbard can skillfully use both magic and his sword. He is aware of the {{squishy wizard}} trope, and consciously acted to avert it this way, along with warding himself against any damage from normal weapons. However, he remains unwarded against gold or silver, so he can use a small silver dagger for {{blood magic}}. [[spoiler: It's what does him in at the end.]]

* BodySnatcher: [[spoiler: Von Rothbart uses magic to [[PeoplePuppets take control of Odile]] at the ball so that she can seduce and distract Siegfried—or at least, not warn him.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Not only Odette, but six other princesses as bridal candidates for Siegfried.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The misogyny of the times is a key theme, Roma people are so insignificant that [[spoiler:even a priest doesn't care if one is raped and killed]], and old men marrying young women isn't remarked upon even by sympathetic characters.

* [[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. Not to mention his HeManWomanHater attitude kills that.

* MeaningfulName: Siegfried's best friend is called Benno and brings to mind Benvolio from RomeoAndJuliet. Also Odette and Odile are variants of the same name.

Not to be confused with the film ''Film/BlackSwan'', or the [[Film/TheBlackSwan1942 swashbuckler movie]].

* MagicKnight: Von Rothbard can skillfully use both magic and his sword. He is [[GenreSavvy aware of]] the {{squishy wizard}} trope, and consciously acted to avert it this way, along with warding himself against any damage from normal weapons. However, he remains unwarded against gold or silver, so he can use a small silver dagger for {{blood magic}}. [[spoiler: It's what does him in at the end.]]

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Clothilde and Uwe end up being killed by Von Rothbart's magic and few mourn once they learn about [[EvilPlan Clothilde's plans for Siegfried]]. Later, nobody really mourns when he is killed by Odile.]]

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Clothilde and Uwe end up being killed by Von Rothbart's magic]].

** The description can lead one to truly believe Siegfried misinterpreted the gypsy girl's actions when she tried to run away as being all an act and didn't recognize that he had actually ''raped'' her until ''much later''! This leads him to a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment.

** The description can lead one to truly believe Siegfried misinterpreted the gypsy girl's actions when she tried to run away from him as [[NotIfTheyReallyWantedIt being all an act]] and didn't recognize that he had actually ''raped'' her until ''much later''! This leads him to a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment.

** The description can lead one to truly believe Siegfried ''didn't know'' it was actually rape until ''much later''. This leads him to a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment.

* GoThroughMe: Three different occasions-Odette for the flock, Siegfried for Odette, and (awesomely) the flock for Odette and Siegfried.

* OldManMarryingAChild: One of the "little swans" was taken from an arranged marriage to a cruel older man. Later, when she develops a crush on Siegfried's elderly tutor and wants to marry him, everyone thinks it would be a good arrangement. Most likely because he honestly adores her back and they want happy endings for everyone.

* RegentForLife: Clothilde.

* LowerDeckEpisode: This is ''Theatre/SwanLake'' from Odile's point of view.

* PerspectiveFlip: Of ''Swan Lake''.

* BelligerentSexualTension: Odile and Benno have a lighter version of this, mostly thanks to their first meeting being...''interesting''.
* BigFancyHouse: The Von Rothbart manor is rather luxurious, boasts a very large pond and extensive manicured gardens and also invisible and highly efficient serving spirits, [[spoiler: that are implied to be demonic in nature and bound into servitude by Von Rothbart. They also spy on the inhabitants of the house.]]

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: How most men in the story view women, especially Von Rothbart. The finale suggests people are working on fixing this, especially Siegfried due to his character development revolving around him learning respect for women.

* TheAtoner: Siegfried, after a nightmare makes him understand how badly he's acted-in general, not just to the gypsy girl, although she is the catalyst. He begins acting much more kindly towards men in the court and a commoner lover of his, worrying his mother who hoped he would never earn loyalty and thus pose a threat as her successor.
* TheScourgeOfGod: Baron von Rothbart sees himself as this, particularly to the swan maidens [[spoiler:and Clothilde]].

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

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

** could quite possibly be a mixture of DoesNotLikeCompetition and even ProperlyParanoid on his part, as well as his general misogyny