Foxglove

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gender discrimination and sexual content.

The question of which aspects of their lives humans control and which ones fate decides is an important one for the human characters in Foxglove. From the Prologue, Grace makes it clear that fate is real in the world of the series, personifying the concept in the character of Fate, who has control over human lives. Yet the author also creates a slight division between fate, the concept, and Fate, the character, noting that Fate is guided as he weaves his tapestries by a song that comes from somewhere else. When Fate sees the two changing tapestries in the Prologue, the narrator notes that “Whatever these monstrosities were, he had not created them” (13), demonstrating that he cannot completely control certain lives. When Signa learns of Fate’s powers, she balks at them, not wanting to let him have all the credit for her achievements. After her first meeting with Fate, the narrator observes that Signa does not like being referred to as a “creation” of Fate’s. She feels that the description removed her agency and suggests that she has not earned her success. This idea challenges Fate’s belief in his total control over humans, suggesting that Signa has free will to make her own decisions in life.