Kingdom of the Wicked

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue and Chapters 1-9

Chapters 10-21

Chapters 22-32

Chapters 33-40

Chapters 41-48

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Bones, Herbs, and Plants

The witches and other magical creatures in the novel use organic materials such as bones, herbs, and plants as symbolic elements in their magic. Yarrow root, for example, represents protection because it is linked to healing in herbal medicinal practices. By using herbs as symbols of their applications in herbal medicine, witchcraft is grounded into real-life uses of such plants, creating a link between domestic work and witchcraft.

Bones are a symbol of dark magic in the novel, as they are a primary material used in dark magic rituals. The use of bones symbolizes the sacrifices necessary to completing dark magic spells, because their presence in the ritual necessitates that a living creature dies and decomposes. As Emilia’s conception of the morality of magic grows more nuanced, the link between bones and death is framed as not entirely negative, but indicative of the gravity of the spell being performed.

The Cornicello Amulets

Emilia and Vittoria’s cornicello amulets represent their status as Shadow Witches, ancestrally linked to the Wicked, as Emilia learns from Envy. They also symbolize the power witches have over the devil, thanks to La Prima’s curse, and Emilia and Vittoria’s possession of the amulets indicates their role in the prophecy of how the curse will be broken. The different colors of the amulets highlight the differences between Vittoria and Emilia, while the notion of one horn broken into two pieces indicates Vittoria and Emilia’s status as identical twins and two halves of the prophecy.

The cornicello amulets embody the dual nature of magic and morality in the novel, as they both protect Emilia and Vittoria and are the key to unleashing the forces of Hell. The ambivalent moral nature of the cornicello amulets reinforces the novel’s perspective that magic itself is an amoral tool, and it is the purpose for which magic is used that is potentially good or evil.

Snakes

Snakes symbolize danger and deception in the novel. There are three primary examples of snakes: the Viperidae, Wrath’s tattoo, and Wrath’s dagger with the snake on the handle. The Viperidae symbolizes the looming danger of the demon world seeping into the human realm. Wrath’s snakes represent his position as a demon that situated him as oppositional to Emilia.

Snakes are also a common symbol for the devil in Christian traditions, indicating the connection between snakes and the forces of Hell in the novel. Emilia’s possession of Wrath’s dagger and her defeat of the Viperidae foreshadow her eventual triumph over the forces of Hell and her ability to bend its powers to her own purposes.