Magic Lessons

As a deuteragonist, Faith is a dynamic character whose arc explores the darker potential of the Owens bloodline and the lasting trauma of abandonment and abuse. Initially an innocent child, her abduction by Martha Chase is a turning point in her development. Martha’s attempts to suppress Faith’s identity and magical nature—by dying her hair, changing her name, and binding her with iron bracelets—do not erase her heritage but instead twist it. The five years of imprisonment and lies foster a deep-seated anger and a desire for retribution, pushing her toward the study of dark magic. This journey illustrates The Corrosive Cost of Revenge, as Faith seeks power not for healing but for protection and punishment.

Faith’s embrace of “left-handed magic” (296), particularly through The Book of the Raven, represents her rebellion against the helplessness she experienced as a child. She’s drawn to its promise of power and control, viewing it as a necessary tool for survival in a cruel world. This path, however, leads to deep isolation. Her first act of vengeful magic results in the death of her familiar, Keeper, a symbolic loss of her own innocence and connection to the natural, compassionate magic her mother practices. Her pursuit of revenge against her father, Hathorne, brings her to a moral crossroads. Confronting him, she sees her own capacity for cruelty reflected in his, and she ultimately rejects the dark path she has chosen, realizing that it has made her into something she doesn’t want to be.

Faith’s reconciliation with her mother and her eventual decision to forsake dark magic mark her return to the Owens family’s core values, but she is irrevocably changed by her experiences. She becomes a highly intelligent and independent young woman, a scholar and teacher who dedicates herself to educating other girls. While she renounces vengeful magic, she retains her strength and a cynical view of love, shaped by her father’s betrayal and her own painful past. Her journey establishes a key tension within the Owens lineage: the constant struggle between the power to heal and the temptation to harm.

Samuel serves as the deuteragonist and primary love interest, acting as a foil to Hathorne and embodying the novel’s theme of redemptive, reciprocal love. A Sephardic Jewish pirate turned trader, Samuel is a worldly and complex character shaped by a history of persecution and loss. Having witnessed his mother’s murder during the Inquisition, he’s initially a guarded man who uses his loquacious charm and storytelling as both a defense mechanism and a way to connect with the world. His life at sea shows a state of rootlessness, a constant search for safety and belonging that he has never found on land.

His relationship with Maria is transformative for both characters. When she saves him from breakbone fever, a bond of mutual care and respect is forged. Unlike Hathorne, who’s drawn to Maria by a fleeting, selfish infatuation, Samuel is drawn to her intelligence, strength, and compassion. He sees her for who she truly is and isn’t frightened by her power. His love is steadfast and demonstrative; he saves her from the gallows with cleverness, brings her the miraculous magnolia tree as proof of his devotion, and ultimately provides the emotional safety for her to trust in love again. His declaration, “You can’t pretend something real doesn’t exist” (222), encapsulates his honest and persistent approach to their relationship, directly challenging the curse that Maria created out of fear and pain.

Samuel’s character shows a life lived with honor and loyalty despite immense suffering. He’s a man who understands the cruelty of the world but chooses kindness, a talker who knows how to listen, and a wanderer who is ultimately searching for a home. His union with Maria breaks the curse not through a magical spell but through the patient, lasting power of a love that is freely given and returned, providing a stable and nurturing foundation for the future of the Owens family.

Hathorne is a key antagonist, a fictionalized portrayal of the historical Salem magistrate whose actions embody the hypocrisy and cruelty of the Puritan patriarchy. He is a largely static character, defined by his moral weakness and his commitment to upholding an oppressive social order to protect his own ambition and reputation. Hathorne presents a dual nature: In the liberating atmosphere of Curaçao, he appears to be a free-spirited romantic, but this persona is a temporary indulgence. Back in the rigid society of Salem, he reverts to his true self: a severe, judgmental, and self-serving man who is a product of his powerful father’s influence. This shift reveals his lack of a stable moral core; his actions are dictated by societal expectation rather than personal conviction.

As an antagonist, Hathorne is the catalyst for Maria’s greatest suffering and the source of the Owens curse. His seduction and subsequent abandonment of the teenage Maria are acts of selfish convenience, and his refusal to acknowledge her or their child is driven by a fear of social ruin. When Maria reappears in Salem, he chooses persecution over responsibility, participating in her witchcraft trial to eliminate the threat she poses to his standing. His character embodies the Patriarchal Oppression of Independent Women in 17th-century Salem, as he fears and seeks to control Maria’s power, knowledge, and agency. His role as a judge in the witch trials, where he condemns innocent girls and women based on spectral evidence, cements his legacy as a man who wields his authority not for justice but for the violent enforcement of a fanatical and misogynistic worldview. Ultimately, he’s left a diminished figure, haunted by the consequences of his cruelty but incapable of true repentance.

Hannah is the archetypal wise mentor who establishes the moral and magical foundation of the Owens family. A resilient and kind woman, she rescues the infant Maria and raises her in the woods, away from the persecutory society that once imprisoned her. Hannah’s magic, the Nameless Art, is rooted in nature, healing, and compassion. As a literate woman in a time when female education was suspect, she represents the power of knowledge and the threat that independent women posed to the patriarchal order. Her central lesson to Maria, “Always love someone who will love you back” (12), becomes the guiding principle of the novel and the core tenet that the Owens women must learn across generations. Hannah’s own tragic history of being betrayed by a lover serves as the cautionary tale behind this wisdom, grounding the family’s magical legacy in a painful but essential truth about survival and love.

Maria’s biological mother, Rebecca, is a foil to Hannah and shows a more chaotic, passionate, and dangerous approach to magic. While she loves her daughter enough to ensure that she’s left in kind hands, Rebecca’s life is governed by selfish desires. Her use of the powerful Tenth Love Potion to ensnare Thomas Lockland backfires, resulting in a violent and possessive relationship that’s a potent warning against forcing or controlling love. She introduces Maria to the concept of bloodline magic and more potent, vengeful spells, complicating the gentle, nature-based practice learned from Hannah. Rebecca is a reckless and ultimately tragic figure whose choices bring destruction upon Hannah and propel Maria’s story forward, embodying the peril of love sought through magical coercion rather than genuine connection.

Martha is a secondary antagonist whose actions are driven by a desperate and twisted desire for motherhood. A devout Puritan widow, her envy of Maria’s relationship with Faith curdles into a dangerous obsession. She shows a personal, domestic form of the broader societal oppression of women, using piety as a justification for cruelty. By abducting Faith and attempting to suppress her magical nature with iron bracelets, Martha inflicts trauma that fuels Faith’s turn toward dark magic and her quest for revenge.

Finney is an ally and supporting character who embodies kindness and decency. A lonely Cornish peddler grieving the loss of his own family, he encounters Faith as she escapes Martha and chooses to help her. Despite his initial reluctance, he becomes her protector and friend. He shows a world outside the rigid confines of Puritanism, a man guided by simple compassion rather than strict dogma. His relationship with Faith is one of mutual rescue, and he ultimately finds a new family and happiness through his connection to the Owens women.

A powerful and enigmatic witch in New York, Catherine acts as a mentor figure for Maria. She understands the complexities of both light and dark magic and provides Maria with the important insight needed to save Faith: that saving another’s life is the only way to win back her daughter’s soul. She demonstrates that a community of powerful women exists and that the Owens women are not alone in their practice of the Nameless Art. Her eventual, magically induced romance with Finney is a lighthearted counterpoint to the more tragic love stories in the novel.