Withholding Information From Women During Pregnancy is Never Okay (A Court of Silver Flames SPOILER Alert).
"Rhy’s throat worked. 'Because I can’t bring myself to give her that fear. To take away one bit of the joy in her eyes every time she puts a hand on her belly.'" -Rhys, ACOSF, p. 447
"And Nesta didn’t care. Couldn’t think around the roaring. 'Have any of them told you, their respected High Lady, that the babe in your womb will kill you?'” -Nesta, ACOSF, p. 482
“'The wings,'” Nesta seethed. 'The boy’s Illyrian wings will get stuck in your Fae body during the labor, and it will kill you both.'” -Nesta, ACOSF, p. 482
“'She had the courage to tell me the truth'”- Feyre, ACSOF, p. 488
The most recently released installment of Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series, A Court of Silver Flames (ACOSF), is an enthralling change in point of view from the earlier books, which focus on Feyre’s Archeron’s love story with Rhysand. Told from the perspective of Feyre’s older sister, Nesta Archeron, ACOSF provides a compelling case for Feyre’s position as an unreliable narrator. Notably, Nesta’s point of view sheds light on some of the more problematic aspects of Rhysand’s character, which are harder to spot when experiencing the inner workings of Prythian from Feyre’s perspective.
In ACOSF, Feyre becomes pregnant, a rare and sometimes dangerous occurrence for the Fae species. In Feyre’s case, her pregnancy posed a significant risk of death for herself and her baby, Nyx, because she conceived him while she was in Illyrian form. Before knowing she was pregnant, Feyre shapeshifted back into her High Fae body, meaning that Feyre’s pelvis was too narrow to give birth to a baby with Illyrian wings. Shapeshifting during the later months of pregnancy posed serious risks to the unborn baby, so Feyre was not able to mitigate the risks by shifting back into her Illyrian form.
Maas’s choices in the narrative surrounding Feyre’s pregnancy certainly complicate Rhys’s character and his idealized relationship with Feyre. Rhys learns the dangers posed by Feyre’s pregnancy, and willfully chooses to withhold this information from her to save her the unhappiness and stress of knowing the truth. Rhys’s choice to hide crucial information about Feyre’s body and her health not only detracts from Feyre’s agency in the story— it significantly increases Feyre’s risk of birth trauma and post-partum post traumatic stress disorder.
As someone who has experienced a traumatic birth, I cannot condone Rhysand’s actions, no matter what his intentions were. Even while Rhys searches for expertise that will save Feyre’s life, he continues to hide the risks from Feyre, robbing her of her bodily agency to choose what is best for herself and her baby. Feyre is unable to take action, unable to research solutions, and unable to prepare herself emotionally for the difficult labor and delivery to come.
It is absolutely unfair for Rhys to withhold such crucial information from Feyre, especially when the couple should be working together to navigate the emotional challenges that losing a child— or a spouse— might entail. Birth trauma has many facets, and the experience of trauma is different from one mother to the next. However, there are key factors that can absolutely increase a mother’s experience of birth trauma, such as a lack of agency and communication during pregnancy, and poor interpersonal care and communication during labor. Alongside the physical factors posed by a dangerous birth, including the threat and fear of death to herself and her baby, Rhys’s choice to withhold the risks from Feyre are the ideal recipe for birth trauma.
Because Nesta tells Feyre the truth about her pregnancy, Feyre is able to make a choice to consent to a dangerous c-section because she knows the risk and that her and her baby are dying and she wants to try to save him. She takes back her agency— something she could not do if she was still unaware of the risks for herself and her baby.
While Feyre would have died from the C-section without Nesta’s magical intervention, my personal experience with birth trauma leaves me with the gut-feeling that finding out she was dying without any prior warning would have been far, far more traumatic, especially with the taste of spousal betrayal thrown into the mix. When navigating pregnancy and childbirth, making informed decisions about the unborn child and the birthing experience is key to feeling a sense of peace and control over the navigation of unforeseen circumstances.
I love the ACOTAR series, and I love Feyre and Rhys as a couple. However, after spending some time reflecting on Rhys’ actions in light of my own experiences with birth trauma, I definitely see him differently now, and dare I say I am a little bit angry about how his character perpetuates female misogyny and upholds the patriarchy in ACOSF. Why couldn't Maas leave him as the perfect book-boyfriend?
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