Heartless

“It had been a hazy, beautiful dream, and in it there had been a hazy, beautiful boy. He was dressed all in black and standing in an orchard of lemon trees, and [Cath] had the distinct sensation that he had something that belonged to her. She didn’t know what it was, only that she wanted it back, but every time she took a step toward him he receded farther and farther away. [...] But mostly it was his eyes that haunted her. Yellow and shining, sweet and tart. His eyes had been bright like lemons ready to fall from a tree.”

Cath’s dream at the beginning of the novel frames her relationship with Jest and foreshadows the trajectory their relationship will take. The lemons, which here connotate sunshine and joy, symbolize Jest’s goodness and the goodness in Cath at the beginning of her arc. However, there are also overtones of temptation in the dream, implying that Jest will ultimately be the cause of Cath’s undoing; ironically, he is, but only because Cath cannot live without the love she placed in him—figuratively, he takes her heart, and she can never get it back.

“[The Marchioness] was often a warm, loving woman, and Cath’s father, the Marquess, doted on her incessantly, but Cath was all too familiar with her mood swings. All cooing and delighted one moment and screaming at the top of her lungs the next. Despite her tiny stature, she had a booming voice and a particular glare that could make even a lion’s heart shrivel beneath it.”

This description of Cath’s mother is rife with dramatic irony. The small stature, booming voice, and explosive rage are all iconic features of Carroll’s Queen of Hearts; characterizing Cath’s mother as such emphasizes to the reader how dissimilar Cath initially is to the Queen of Hearts they are familiar with. The dramatic irony of this moment foreshadows Cath’s fate and implies her mother’s influence upon it.

“The wife Mary Ann had mentioned was indeed a slip of a girl, almost invisible beside the massive bulk of her husband. She had a back that seemed permanently hunched—from work, not age, Cath could guess—parchment-white skin and stringy blonde hair. She looked ill, one hand pressed against her stomach and having no apparent interest in the food before her. Her face shimmered with a thin layer of perspiration.”

This description sets Lady Peter apart from the other ball guests, drawing the reader’s attention to her. Lady Peter’s physical appearance is important in foreshadowing the later revelation of her identity as the Jabberwock, and it places important clues the reader needs to draw that conclusion at the climactic juncture.

“It wasn’t just the firelight. [Jest’s] eyes really were the color of gold. The color of sunflowers and butterscotch and lemons hanging heavy on their boughs. [...] She felt it again, that internal tug she’d felt during the dream, telling her that he had something that belonged to her, and she had to catch him if she were ever to get it back.”

The connection between the color of Jest’s eyes and lemons establishes Jest as the figure from Cath’s dream and foreshadows the symbolism of Cath “giving” away her heart because of Jest. Although ultimately it was Cath’s choice to physically give up her heart, metaphorically it was Jest who “stole” it, because after his death Cath loses all her love and goodness. This quote foreshadows that outcome, establishing the lemon tree dream as a kind of prophecy.

“Overheard bits of conversation bustled with news of the Jabberwock, though they talked of it more like a long-passed fairy tale than a recent horror, which was the way of the people of Hearts.”

This moment reveals the shallowness of Hearts’s nobility. There is an irony here in the way that the people discuss the Jabberwock as something out of a fairy tale; readers also see the Jabberwock as something out of a fairy tale, because for them it is. Highlighting this paradox encourages readers to consider their perspective and realize the true brutality of the Jabberwock’s attacks when it is perceived not as a fantasy creation but as a true monster.

“It was an old myth—that drinking from the treacle well could heal a person’s wounds or age them in reverse. Only problem was, no one had the faintest idea where to find the treacle well. Some said the well was in the Looking Glass maze, but moved around so that you would only get more and more lost if you ever tried to find it. Some said that only the most desperate of souls could ever find the treacle well. But most, like the cobbler, said it didn’t exist at all.”

This quote establishes the treacle well as a figure of myth and foreshadows its role in the narrative. Its description recalls the Fountain of Youth, reinforcing its mythical quality and positioning it as the object of a desperate quest.

“With [Cath’s] father there, and her mother, and the dear, sweet King of Hearts, and all their hopeful eyes focused on her…she knew that she would undoubtedly say yes [to the King’s proposal].”

This is an early indication of Cath’s inability to resist power. However, by emphasizing that it’s only in front of others Cath does not have the ability to say no, this quote indicates that it might be the expectations of others that have the larger influence on Cath’s decisions in the early stages of her relationship with King.

“‘[Hatta’s heart riddle is] very good,’ [Cath] said, ‘although I wonder whether it wouldn’t be more accurate to say, Once given, I can never be taken back.’”

Cath’s critique of Hatta’s riddle foreshadows the significance of Cath’s own heart as a key figure in her character arc. Cath loses her love because she metaphorically “gives” her heart to Jest, which ultimately spells her doom when all of Cath’s goodness dies with him. This moment is also ironic because in the end Cath literally gives her heart to the Sisters, an irrevocable action.

“The King was sweating profusely, not meeting [Cath’s] eyes. She recognized shame in his expression, but it only annoyed her. Silly or not, clever or not, he was the King of Hearts. He should be doing something about the Jabberwock, shouldn’t he?”

Cath’s internal criticisms of the King of Hearts contrast her character with his and highlight the superficiality of Hearts’s ruling class. This quote also demonstrates that there is a need for Cath’s leadership—she would be a strong ruler who takes action to right wrongs. However, these intentions are warped at the end of the novel when Cath takes justice into her own hands to fulfill her own lust for revenge. The tragic irony of this quote demonstrates all the potential for goodness Cath lost when she chose to become the Queen of Hearts.

“Or worse—[Cath] might tell [Jest] [his social class] didn’t matter, when she knew that it did.”

Despite her desperation to stay true to her own heart, there is a part of Cath that is drawn to prestige and power. This moment is a shocking revelation of that fact for Cath, when she realizes that even she could reject the man she’s fallen in love with for something as superficial as his social class.

“[Hatta] pulled out his pocket watch and let it dangle like a pendulum over his desk. ‘Sometimes [Time] moves forward and sometimes he moves backward, sometimes he goes fast or slow and sometimes he pauses altogether. But as long as I keep moving, as long as I am always moving in the opposite direction from Time, he can never find me, and I can never meet my fate.’”

This moment establishes the Escaping Fate theme. Dramatic irony is also present here—the reader knows Hatta cannot escape his fate any more than Cath can. This reinforces the characters’ entrapment by their choices despite their desperation to evade their destinies.

“‘The easiest way to steal something,’ Jest murmured, ‘is for it to be given willingly.’”

Jest’s abashed confession of his true mission recalls Hatta’s riddle and Cath’s response. This moment also significantly foreshadows the catalyst for Cath’s descent into evil: the loss of her heart. However, Meyer subverts expectations, because while the loss of Jest leads Cath to reject the love and goodness in her heart, it is ultimately through Cath’s choice to give away her heart to the Three Sisters that she seals her doom.

“But that promise had been made by a girl who was still going to open a bakery with her best friend. That promise had been made by a girl who didn’t care if she was a part of the gentry, so long as she could live out her days with the man she loved. [...] Mary Ann had betrayed her secret. Jest had condemned himself forever. But maybe it wasn’t all for naught. Cath lifted her chin and, for the first time, dared to imagine herself as a queen.”

This quote demonstrates how Cath uses power to compensate for her emptiness in the wake of grievous loss. The foreboding tone established in this moment also foreshadows Cath’s choices at the end of the novel, when she turns to power as the means to soothe her grief and have her revenge after Jest’s death.

“Your future is written on stone, but not in it.”

This quote suggests an answer to the thematic question of to what extent fate is predetermined. Here, the Sisters indicate that Fate can be avoided; it is not an all-consuming power that dictates events, as there are still factors that can influence outcome. This implies that there is some individual agency involved in fate and thus a degree of personal responsibility for it.

“But Peter was the one who had captured Mary Ann. He was the one trying to keep a monster as a pet and feed it innocent lives.”

Cath’s reflection during the battle at Peter’s pumpkin patch questions to what degree the individual is responsible for sealing their own fate. Peter blames others for his circumstances, which in turn compel the actions he takes. But Cath’s words question Peter’s perspective and analyze the agency an individual has to make their own choices, prompting the reader to consider the responsibility a person ultimately has over their own fate.

“‘You’re right. Jest was innocent,’ [Hatta] said, so quiet [Cath] could barely hear him. ‘Martyrs usually are.’”

Hatta’s statement casts Jest's death as an innocent one. By explicitly calling him a martyr, Hatta signals that the first of the Sisters’ prophecies has come to pass, establishing an ominous mood regarding whether the rest of the prophecies will come true too.

“The truth belonged to her and [Cath] couldn’t escape it and would never forget it.”

This quote symbolizes Cath’s entrapment in her own fate. Earlier, in Chapter 43, the Sisters said that destinies are “but one truth of many”; the reference to truth here signals that Cath’s truth and fate are now one and the same. Because she chose to disobey the Sisters’ instructions and go through the door, Cath sealed her fate; the truth “belonging” to Cath here symbolizes the role her choices played in bringing her fate to pass and indicates the responsibility Cath must accept for them.

“The Three Sisters were gone, but the tree remained, heavy green fruit drooping over [Cath’s] head.”

The image of the limes hanging over Cath’s head symbolize the weight of her choices and signal her descent into evil. The limes symbolically contrast with the sunny lemons from earlier in the novel; the limes are a symbol of the revenge Cath seeks and the deal she made with the Sisters. This quote imparts an image of the temptation toward evil and revenge hanging over Cath’s head, just within her reach, and she reaches up and grabs it without hesitation.

“‘But hoping,’ [Cheshire] said, ‘is how the impossible can be possible after all.’”

Cheshire’s comment to Cath upon seeing how changed she is after Jest’s death reinforces the theme of Being True to Your Own Heart. It demonstrates the importance of Cath’s hopes and dreams and highlights the danger of rejecting hope and love. This indicates how Cath has trapped herself by clinging to hate and revenge, rejecting the possibility of a brighter future.

“‘How different everything could have been,’ [Cath] said, ‘if you had thought to ask me that before.’”

Cath’s poignant remark to her parents after they ask her if marrying the King will truly bring her happiness completes the thematic arc of the importance of Being True to Your Own Heart. If her parents had placed greater importance on listening to her true heart, perhaps Cath would never have been involved in the series of events that had such drastic outcomes. However, this quote also reinforces the theme of the individual’s role in sealing their own fate: It implies that Cath’s parents also had a hand in how things turned out through their inaction and inattention to Cath’s needs, prompting the reader to consider the role of others in influencing Cath’s fate.

“[Hatta] inhaled sharply. ‘Yes. So it is [my fault].’

[Cath] jerked back, surprised at the levity of his admission.

‘I know it is, and I will pay for it with my sanity, just as the Sisters said. I’ve seen the drawings too, Lady Pinkerton. I’ve seen them all.’”

This moment is part of the culmination of the Escaping Fate theme, as seen through the vehicle of Hatta’s foil with Cath. While Hatta accepts his role and the choices he made that influenced the outcome of events, Cath blames others—Mary Ann, Hatta, Fate. But regardless of this self-awareness, both characters are unable to escape their fate. They are doomed by their own choices, reinforcing the narrative’s analysis of the individual’s agency in fate.

“Lacie pulled out the blade. A beating heart was skewered on its tip. It was broken, cut almost clean in half by a blackened fissure that was filled with dust and ash.”

The physical manifestation of Cath’s heart emphasizes the corruption Cath has invited into herself because of her grief. Her heart is literally broken; the fissure represents the impact Jest’s loss had on Cath. The fissure being filled with dust and ash connotes destruction, representing the emptiness Cath feels at the loss of her love and reinforcing the idea that it was love’s very absence—and Cath’s resulting grief—that motivated the destruction of her better self.

“All that was left was the rage and the fury and the desperate need for vengeance that would soon, soon be hers.”

Cath’s grief vanishes along with her heart, but she also loses her ability to feel anything but hatred and anger. This moment indicates the importance of maintaining one’s heart with all its pain and suffering; without her heart, Cath loses her sense of mercy or compassion and gives in completely to the cruelty that marks her as the Queen of Hearts.