46 pages • 1 hour read
Kami Garcia, Margaret StohlBeautiful Creatures
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Ethan Wate
Ethan Wate is the novel’s protagonist. He is a Mortal who falls in love with Lena, a Caster. Ethan is hopeful and optimistic, with a vision for his future. Before he meets Lena, Ethan dreams about the day he can leave Gatlin behind because he does not “want to end up like [his] dad, living in the same house, in the same small town [he had] grown up in” (10). Ethan’s desire to leave Gatlin shows how he is different from others in his town and makes him open to Lena’s difference in a way that the other students at the school are not.
Ethan grows from the novel’s beginning to end, though his fundamental character does not change. His love for Lena brings out his compassion and introspective nature. For example, her presence makes Ethan question himself and his motives: Lena “made [him] realize how much [he] was just like the rest of them, even if [he] wanted to pretend [he] wasn’t” (36). Ethan feels drawn to Lena because of her uniqueness. The supernatural also plays a role in bringing them together. Ethan realizes that Lena is the girl from his dreams. He accepts the supernatural, which makes him open to Lena and her magical ability. His love for Lena is so deep that it creates a power of his own; he can protect her from any Dark Caster around her if they are together.
Ethan struggles with grief over the death of his mother. He faces the emotional burden of grieving alone, as his father fell into a depressive episode after her death. When Ethan discovers that his mom is still communicating with him, it fuels his optimism. Ethan has hope when Lena does not because he believes that everything happens for a reason. He feels that his mother is guiding him beyond the grave; this gives him comfort, even when everyone around him tells him that he cannot change Lena’s fate.
Lena Duchannes
Lena Duchannes is Ethan’s romantic interest. Lena is a Caster whose magical ability revolves around controlling nature and using it to attack. Lena lives in fear of her 16th birthday, when she will be Claimed. She is afraid that she will be Claimed for the Dark and will forget her love for Ethan, Macon, and the rest of her family.
Because of her power and unique nature, Lena experiences severe bullying from the other students at the high school. At the same time, she shows her agency and strength. For example, she stands up to Emily, telling her in front of the class that she should “give people a chance. Before [she] automatically skip[s] to the hating part” (57). Lena’s assertiveness makes her bullies double down. This dehumanizes Lena and reinforces her low self-image. It also underscores her greatest fear—that people see the Dark in her.
Lena is a round and dynamic character in that she changes over the course of the novel. At the beginning of the story, she believes that she is Dark and that she can’t control her fate. Her transformation happens through Ethan’s love. Ethan is the only person in Gatlin who sees Lena for her goodness. He starts to convince her that she may not be evil like everyone thinks. She discovers that she does have the freedom to choose her fate, though the choice entails great consequences. Lena feels so torn by the weight of her decision that she uses her power to postpone her choice; however, this is in itself an exercise of agency.
Lena struggles with her desire for normalcy. Despite Gatlin’s exclusion of her, Lena still wants to go to the winter formal and have a 16th birthday party. This will provide her with an escape from her anxiety that she’ll be claimed for Dark. Macon breaks her hopes when he tells her, “You can’t be normal. You weren’t meant to be normal” (489). Lena clings to the one thing that keeps her centered amid the chaos, despite everyone telling her to abandon him: her love for Ethan.
Macon Ravenwood
Macon Ravenwood is Lena’s mentor and parent figure. Although he is an Incubus, and therefore a Dark creature, he dedicates his life to protecting Lena from Dark Casters. Macon, a recluse, acts outside of Gatlin’s prescribed behavior of normalcy. Therefore, the town sees him only as a terrifying figure. Ethan draws a parallel between Macon and the character of Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird: “Old Man Ravenwood made Boo Radley look like a social butterfly” (21). Later, the parallel will become even more meaningful. Macon, like Boo Radley, will prove to be compassionate and misunderstood.
When Ethan meets Macon, he realizes that Macon is the opposite of what Gatlin believes. He is a tall, handsome intellectual who looks nothing like the version of Macon from Ethan’s imagination. Macon is devoted to protecting Lena, such as when threatening to expose Gatlin’s secrets if they do not let Lena return to school. He dedicates his energy toward keeping Lena alive. He is willing to sacrifice himself, protecting her from the knowledge that if she turns Light, then he will die.
Macon’s belief system differs from Ethan’s. Unlike Ethan, who believes in free will, Macon resigns himself to the fact that he cannot control his fate. He tells Ethan that he envies Mortals because “[they] think [they] can change things. Stop the Universe. Undo what was done long before [they] came along. [They] are such beautiful creatures” (446). Although Lena accuses Macon of never loving another person when angry with him, Macon’s love for Lena is so strong that he sacrifices himself to bring Ethan back to life for her.
Lena’s loss of Macon brings her closer to Ethan, as Ethan understands grief after losing his mother. Ethan believes, like his mother, that Macon still exists somewhere in the world. He hopes that he can reconnect Macon and Lena one day.
Amma Treadeau
Amma Treadeau is Ethan’s mentor. Like Macon, she is compassionate and protective. She helps raise Ethan after his mother dies and tries to guide him away from Lena because she fears that the relationship will cause him harm. Amma practices voodoo and places charms around Ethan’s house to protect him and his father. Although the people in Gatlin subscribe to Christianity, they still come to Amma for tarot card readings, as they cannot resist “the possibility of changing the course of their own destiny” (26).
Ethan knows that Amma gets into moods. They correlate with her ability to see the future, although Ethan does not learn her identity as a Seer until later in the narrative. Ethan remembers how when Amma “was in one of these moods, [his] mom used to call it going dark—religion and superstition all mixed up, like it can only be in the South” (8). Although Ethan believes that Amma’s power merely stems from superstition, her power comes from her ancestors, The Greats. Amma’s African heritage and abilities are connected. She draws power from keeping the memory of her ancestors alive so that their identity is not erased by Gatlin’s revisionist history.
Amma is one of the only people in Gatlin who understands the harm of the Civil War and takes the respect of her ancestors extremely seriously. Even when someone as powerful as Macon disrespects her relatives, Amma stands up to him: “This is our Great House, the great house my family, you hear? […] Don’t you disrespect the Greats in their House. You want answers, you show some respect” (202-03). Amma’s deep connection to the past gives her the ability to help Lena. Although Amma does not like Lena, she helps her to protect Ethan. She tells Lena about Sarafine because she believes, unlike Macon, that Lena deserves to know all the information about her past before she Claims herself. Amma does not subscribe to Ethan’s belief that one has pure free will. She knows that Ethan’s fate is connected to Lena and that they will need guidance in their journey together.
