Heartless

How is happiness defined in the novel? Is it true joy and passion, like Cath finds in her baking or with Jest? Or blissful ignorance, like the King embodies? Discuss how the pursuit of happiness drives different characters’ choices in the narrative.

Discuss the concept of good and evil in the novel. Who is the villain, and why? Who is the hero, and why?

Hatta’s primary goal in the novel is to escape “madness,” but in the end he does not escape his fate, and Cath becomes the erratic Queen of Hearts. What does it mean to be “mad” in Meyer’s adaptation?

How does the narrative approach the concept of victim and victimizer? Who are the victims in the story? Who are the victimizers? Consider characters like Hatta, Peter Peter, Lady Peter, Cath, and Jest.

Consider the role of perceived helplessness in the plot’s outcomes. If the characters had more belief in their own agency to determine their destinies, how might that have affected the choices they made?

The narrative is overshadowed by the reader’s knowledge of the characters’ fates, yet it also examines how the characters’ own thought processes and behaviors condemn them to their destinies, as in a classic tragedy. What other tragic elements are present in the novel? Do the characters have tragic flaws that entrap them in their fates?

Analyze Cath’s relationships with her parents. What is their role in her character arc? What does the narrative say about the influence of parents upon their children and their responsibility in guiding their children’s personal development? Analyze their relationships through the lenses of class and traditional patriarchal structures.

Inverted logic and wordplay are prominent characteristics of Carroll’s Alice novels. How does Meyer incorporate these into her adaptation? To what effect? Consider her use of rhyme and absurdity in dialogue.