61 pages • 2 hours read
Brigid KemmererA Curse So Dark and Lonely
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Curse
The curse in A Curse So Dark and Lonely is intimately tied into the theme of The Burden of Leadership. At the story’s outset, Rhen has relived the autumn of his 18th year over 300 times. Each time, he becomes the monster he fears, and his failure leads to immense suffering for the very people he desperately wants to protect. At the time of the curse, Rhen was a young man on the verge of stepping into adulthood and claiming ever more of the power his birthright granted him. His memories of his spoiled and irresponsible behavior at that time make it clear he was not yet ready for that responsibility. However, other memories, as well as his actions since, suggest that Rhen had the capacity to lead in him all along. In part, the curse metaphorically represents a lesson that Rhen very much had to learn the hard way: Leaders who fail don’t just harm themselves. Leaders are responsible for many people, and as a result, leaders often need to prioritize the good of others over their own desires.
Rhen, at the start of the novel, is paralyzed with fear about stepping into his role as a leader. He believes he has already failed and that failure is permanent and unchangeable. He cannot stop blaming himself for bringing the curse about by spurning Lilith and allowing her into his bed in the first place. The curse is a constant reminder of the arrogant, uncaring person Rhen used to be, embodying Rhen’s guilt for the death of many innocents. Harper helps Rhen to realize that part of setting aside one’s own desires for the greater good is setting aside the desire to hide from risk, including emotional risk. To save his people, Rhen must put his pride on the line by meeting with them in person. Toward the middle of the book, Lilith hints that Rhen may not be the true heir to Emberfall’s throne, something that the visiting queen later seems to confirm. This revelation sits nicely within this retelling of Beaty and the Beast. Just as it’s not traditional beauty, but inner beauty, that will win the day, it’s not merely blood that makes a leader, but true and selfless leadership.
Emberfall
Emberfall is the main setting of A Curse So Dark and Lonely. For Rhen, it is his “normal world,” the place a protagonist of a story is familiar with. For Harper, it is a portal world—meaning she left her own world via a type of magic to reach it. At the beginning of the story, Emberfall is merely the place where events take place, but by the end, it becomes home for Harper and, in a new way, home for Rhen and Grey. Harper feels more useful and less stressed in Emberfall. Though she quickly finds herself lying to protect people and pretending to be something she isn’t, these untruths reflect real truths about her character, such as her strength and leadership, and Emberfall becomes a catalyst for her character arc. While Rhen has lived in Emberfall his entire life, it only begins to feel like home after Harper arrives, symbolizing how a home is about the people who matter, rather than a physical location. Rhen sees his palace in new ways through Harper’s eyes, coming to view it as more than where he has held himself captive. Grey is the only remaining guardsman in Emberfall and the only character who can travel between worlds as part of the curse. To him, Emberfall is an objective—something he must save by whatever means necessary. This objective leads him to kidnap girls from Harper’s world, which should go against his protective instincts, and the fact it does not shows how the kingdom’s peril allows Grey to ignore some core parts of himself.
Away from the lenses of the characters, Emberfall is part of a world on the brink of war. After Rhen’s first season of being the monster, he closed the kingdom’s borders and ordered city officials to govern themselves before barricading himself in the palace and making it appear that the royal family had deserted the people. In the following five years, the people have developed mixed opinions about the royals, and Emberfall has fallen into a state of paranoia and uncertainty. This state of affairs has made the kingdom easy prey for the land to the northwest. The invasion builds as a threat throughout the novel, and though the attack is beaten back at the end of the book, the war is not over. Emberfall shifts from being a broken place to something its royals and commoners fight to maintain, showing how a place’s worth is determined by those who live there.
Cards
Card games are a common activity throughout the book, often taking place during important or emotionally heavy discussions. The cards keep the characters’ hands busy so their hearts can be expressed, often providing subtext during conversations. The most commonly referenced game is King’s Ransom, a name that seems to refer to the unknown price that must be paid to gain the release of Rhen, their king, from the curse.
The characters have different aptitudes for King’s Ransom that speak to their strengths. Harper plays for fun and has telling behaviors, reflecting her honest and open nature. Neither Rhen nor Grey have such tells, suggesting how both are good at deception. Having been raised as a prince, Rhen uses his tactical knowledge in everything he does, including games, which represents his tendency to plan and his struggles with spontaneity. Grey, in contrast, is much better able to pivot, adapting his change his strategy mid-game.
Cards also represent the characters’ approach to life. As Rhen observes once, early on, “My father once said we are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose—just as a poor hand can win—but we must all play the cards fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless” (188). However, Harper later counters, “I don't think he's right. I think you get cards, and you play them, but then you get more cards. […] Failure isn't absolute” (472). The resulting shift in Rhen’s mindset allows him to start moving past his guilt and into his role as a leader capable of overcoming past mistakes.
