Most of the characters are resigned to the idea as a fact of life, provided their intended mate isn't unbearable: the ones who most strenuously object are Odette (her father promised her mother on her deathbed that Odette could marry for love) and one of the Little Swans, who was going to be sent to an abusive older man.

Arranged Marriage: Common, given that the time period is Renaissance.ish.

Unsurprisingly, Odile herself begs not to be called 'Baroness' at the end. Aristocrats Are Evil: Baron von Rothbart.Some time after the book (both in-universe and real time) Honoria received A Day in the Limelight in the short story 'Wide Wings', where she body-swaps with a magical hawk (who did an earlier Body Swap herself, and states that she was the latest in a long line of girls to do so) in order to escape her arranged marriage. It's unclear if Lackey intended it at the time, but the hawk-princess (also an enthusiastic falconer) is also Foreshadowing.The swan for Odile, an eagle-owl for Baron von Rothbart, and Princess Honoria (one of Siegfried's potential brides at the ball) is garbed as a hawk.The heroes grow out of it and become sympathetic characters. Adaptational Villainy: Queen Clothilde, and initially Siegfried as well.She wants to continue her reign as regent, even if it means having him killed. On Siegfried's end of things, Queen Clothilde deliberately raised him so that he wouldn't be fit for the throne.Few people can blame Odile for killing him. He also steals her magical energy regularly and uses People Puppets magic on her to further his plans.

Odile's father has been neglecting his daughter and undermining her self esteem all her life.

Also not related to the Dark Swan novel series by Richelle Mead. Not to be confused with 2010's Black Swan film by Darren Aronofsky, or the 1942 swashbuckler movie by Tyrone Power. Perhaps the two swans are not so different after all. But then one day, Odette defies the sorcerer to give her a chance to prove her rehabilitation. Like the Baron, she believes the swan maidens are fickle, faithless creatures who deserve their situation because they have been untrue to their men. She keeps his palace without complaint, though she longs for more of her father's approval. Odile von Rothbart is the dutiful daughter of her father and a rising sorceress in her own right. Once upon a time there was a princess named Odette who was kidnapped by the evil sorcerer Eric von Rothbart and subjected to an unusual curse: she is human only at night under moonlight by day she is a beautiful white swan. A fantasy novel by Mercedes Lackey, also known as the author of the Heralds of Valdemar and Elemental Masters series.

The black swan by mercedes lackey