Critical extract regarding The Lady of the House of Love.

Me and Dan were given the extract from a critical essay as follows

'sometimes the legends are uncanny just because they are so enigmatic' 

At first glance it seems to not really saying much, but when you delve deeper into what it is saying and apply it to the text, it can be seen to have a great level of meaning.

The quote itself is basically saying that the reason the 'legends' are so mysterious is solely because of their strange nature. One of the most important aspects of this quote to pick up on when thinking of how it relates to the text, is the idea that it is 'just' the fact that they are enigmatic that makes them uncanny, when there are far more factors that help to build up their uncanny presentation. For example, what makes the lady uncanny in this text is the contrast of character that is used. For example, the solider is in contrast to the character of the countess due to his focus and representation of reason (which can be seen in his lack of belief in the supernatural, therefore he does not shiver in fear when he enters the countess's lair). This is in contrast to the character of the Countess who is a supernatural being herself, and is able to continue her levels of power through the presentation of her as a higher supernatural power. This helps to add to the 'uncanny' style of the character as the levels of mystery are amplified by the contrast of character, therefore proving that it is not simply the fact that they are enigmatic that makes them uncanny.

It is also important to consider that the fact that she is enigmatic is what draws into the victims to her, these focuses on the theme of being draw to what is dangerous, despite knowing the damage it could cause to follow and seek out these danger. This could be interpreted to be a question as to if the levels of mystery is what is attractive to the men that are ensnared within her grasp, thus questioning if we are doomed to danger if we seek out what is most mysterious to us. However, the solider (who represents reason) is the only victim who survives, so this could be an attempt to show that to survive what is most mysterious and alluring to us we must approach it with a sense of reason in order to succeed. This idea can be linked to the quote as it comments on the positives that this 'uncanny' nature brings, and how its influences can be harnessed for positive outcomes.

Overall, although the quote does not say much, there are many points that can be developed from or supported by it to help develop and evaluate the viewpoint.

Experimental Erl.

‘the Erl-King is the most innovative and experimental of the narratives’ how far does this quotation support the statement?

‘The woods enclose and then enclose again, like a system of Chinese boxes opening into another; the intimate perspectives of the wood changed endlessly around the interloper, imaginary traveler walking towards an invented distance that perpetually receded before me. It is easy to lose yourself in these woods’

Angela carter is experimental in a variety of ways within the telling of The Erl-King, with many of these aspects being shown in the extract above. 

One of the key aspects that make this narrative so experimental and innovative is the shifting between different narrative perspectives, for example the narrator refers to herself in the third person ‘interloper, imaginary traveler’ while then switching to the first person ‘perpetually receded before me’. This is a very transgressive choice that is not evident in ant of the other texts within the collection, the transgression within this short story is key due to it being an important aspect of the genre in which it belongs to. This short story (and the collection) belongs to the genre of The Gothic; one of the key aspects of this genre is the idea of transgression, which this short story seeks to achieve. This idea of the reader not being sure if the narrator is within the forest of simply viewing it from the third person is key to the theme of ‘blurring boundaries’ this idea of the reader not being sure about eh position is also not seen in other stories in this collection such as ‘the snow child’ and ‘the bloody chamber’.

Carter furthers the idea of transgression with the inclusion of the description of ‘Chinese boxes’ this involves aspects of a different culture in which the story it set, this brings the idea that that this transgression is blending different cultures together which itself is an experimental act. This blending of cultures from different countries is not evident within the other tales within this collection, thus it makes this story stick out as more innovative than the rest of the collection. Furthermore, the description of an ‘invented distance that perpetually receded before me’ is used by Carter to add to the idea of ‘blurring boundaries’ as this description does not contain any specific details of the surrounding the narrator is within, this leaves the reader to question what is and isn't real, thus blurring the boundaries of reality.  

Overall, this quote clearly illustrates how the Erl King is the most innovative and experimental of the texts within the collection, due to Carter's control on perspective, language and setting.

Thoughts on power levels

Women and men are portrayed in a variety of power levels within this collection of texts. Those females that are seen to be more powerful (such as the narrator in the final paragraphs of The Erl-King) have gained these powers after transforming themselves due to the negative actions of men. There is a change in the mind-set of the female narrator which in this text is displayed through the change of narrative perspective. This suggests that women need to change in order to gain equality, when the real cause of this oppression is the male dominance, so surely a change for the males should also be targeted within the literature?

Well a change other than murder...

This also conveys the idea that men cause women to transform into this more violent nature through their actions of oppression (this is also seen in The Bloody Chamber when the mother kills the Marque) to 'lower them to their level' so to speak. Furthermore, it suggests that women have to accept the more violent traits of the male in order to gain equality (and maybe power?) over males. Therefore would it not also make more sense for Carter to suggest how males could remove these violent traits rather than encouraging females to also use these more violent and oppressive acts in order to gain equality?

But, then again, not all males are presented as purely attempting to force women into a violent murderer in order to survive them. For example, the piano tuner in The Bloody Chamber is presented as a 'good' character than remains equal with the narrator. This could be argued because he has been freed from the obsession that men apparently find regarding women's looks, this could be an attempt by Carter to suggest that a fairer less aesthetic society is not only beneficial for women, but also creates a better life for men.

What do you consider to be the key themes of this short story? Does the story have one or more messages for the reader? If so what might these be?

The story of the Bloody Chamber follows the narrative of a young girl who marries a mysterious Marquis who attempts to murder her; however she is rescued by her mother who shoots the Marquis thus saving her daughter.

One of the main themes of this short story I believe to be the negative impacts of capitalism and the upper classes. In example, the narrator is shown to be marrying the Marquis for the financial security rather than her feelings which is seen in the quote ‘I’m sure I want to marry him’ when she is questioned if she loves him or not. This presents the upper classes in a negative light as they transform a ceremony such as marriage (which is traditionally associated  with feelings of love) into a financial deal rather than the traditional meaning. This links into the Gothic theme of entrapment, as the narrator is entrapped within the relationship for financial reasons, rather than her own choice. Furthermore, the fact that the upper class male (the Marquis) is the one that is seen to be ‘saving’ the narrator from poverty he is seen to be the more powerful character in the story due to his financial situation. Also, the narrator is taken from a world that is not said to be negative, into the upper class world that almost leaves her dead. This questions the reader’s ideas surrounding wealth and the quality of life that the members of each social class receive as they automatically presume that due to her lower status she is existing within a ‘worse’ environment but it is revealed in the story that she lives a superior life when she does not have wealth.
Aspects of Marxism are also evident within this text, especially references to Karl Marx’s theory of false consciousness, the idea being first conceived but then named and developed by Engels. This can be seen when the narrator ‘faints’ and reawakens in a far more alert and ‘awakened’ sense. This could be a reference to the narrator breaking through the false consciousness and become aware to the class oppression that she is suffering at the hands of the Marque, this is also when she becomes aware of the actions that she must take in order to try and remain alive. This also provides a link to the Gothic theme of entrapment, however within this part of the text the narrator becomes aware of this entrapment and then begins to try and escape it.

Violence and sex are two themes that intertwine themselves within the bloody chamber, these can most clearly be seen in the quote from the Marquis ‘"There is a striking resemblance between the act of love and he ministrations of a torturer" these shows that the Marquis sees the act of sex and murder as the same or a similar thing. The Marquis is seen to be in a routine of marrying a girl, having sex with her and then killing her, he sees all these actions as a single thing. Thus, this could be interpreted to show the connection between sex and violence within this short story. This links to the gothic theme of transgression as it links together two themes that would not normally be put together, but instead blends them together (this theme can also be seen in different stories within the collection of The Bloody Chamber).

Female objectification is also a key theme within The Bloody Chamber (and throughout all the different stories) mirrors are a key contributor to this objectification of women. For example, the first time that mirrors are seen in The Bloody Chamber is within the bedroom seen in the quote ‘surrounded by so many mirrors’. These mirrors then reflect her simply as a pornographic image, thus objectifying her as a simple sexual image. The fact there are multiple mirrors that provide the same reflection shows how changeable she is and she is simply ‘another’ image rather than seen as an individual thus furthering her objectification.
Furthermore, objectification is seen in the planes that the Marquis has for the narrator. He plans to turn her into a literal object for his own personal display within his ‘bloody chamber’ this is reflective of the patriarchal society, as he does not just kill and take control of the females within his life he also intends to construct his elaborate displays of these dead bodies, thus showing that he craves not only power over the women when they are alive, but also when they are dead.

In conclusion, the Bloody Chamber has many different themes which are highlighted throughout the text. Many of the other short stories that exist within the collection also focus on these themes; however the Bloody Chamber seems to contain the most of these themes.

When and where is the story set? Why might this be?

When and where is the story set? Why might this be?

The Erl King follows the story of a girl entering a forest, meeting the Erl King (who then turns her into a bird) and she then ends up killing him.  The tale is set within a forest which is often described in great detail to have a variety of effects. However, the time period is not mentioned at all during the telling of the story (just the period of the year) this could be thought to have been done for a reason to reflect certain things.

The open of this story begins with a highly detailed description of a forest such as ‘it struck the woods with nicotine stained fingers’ the description of the setting this way is key. The description of the ‘nicotine stained fingers’ is something that is associated with humans, which could be considered to mean that it is in fact symbolic of man’s influence on nature. As it is described to ‘struck’ which is very aggressive language associated to physical abuse, which could be interpreted to show humanities negative influence on nature. This setting description also links to the gothic genre of the text as the description is something that is associated with decay and death, with death being a key part of the gothic genre. In this way this opening could be interpreted to be an attempt to awaken the public to man’s influence to negative, which at time was a very transgressive view to hold, therefore it could also be linked to the gothic genre in this way.

There is no direct mention of the time that this story happens within, the reader is instead provided with a rough time setting within a month. However, the removal of any specific mention to a year could be thought to reflect how the events of the story are relevant to all times, rather than in the past or the present. This allows the story (and more importantly its messages) to be relatable to audiences at any point. However, the time frame that the reader is given is that it is a ‘cold day in late October’ this is a time point in the year that is associated with Halloween. Therefore it could be argued that the use of this foreshadows the supernatural elements in the story, such as the shape shifting and the vampire. Furthermore, the end of October is a time which is associated to seasonal change in which the weather becomes colder, this use of time could be thought to foreshadow the ‘change’ which occurs within the power levels in the forest (when the narrator manages to escape and strangle her captor the Erl King).

The fact that the tale is set within a forest is also key to the readers understanding of the text. A forest is often an area that is associated with uncertainty and ‘monsters’ which is key to the supernatural being that is the Erl King. A forest/wood is also something that features heavily within fairy tales, in which is where parts of the narrative are taken from. Furthermore, a forest is often thought to be a very enclosed area which links into the gothic theme of entrapment, this setting also presents the idea that the Erl King has entrapped the narrator in the forest before he even physically entraps her in the cage as a bird. This could also be argued to be foreshadowing of this act.

Overall, setting and time is employed by carter to have a variety of functions that help the narrative story to progress and also to allow the story to fit within certain genres and to promote the texts meanings.

Setting in The Snow Child

Choose one setting carter uses and discuss how it is significant in the telling of the story.

For this question, I chose to focus on The Snow Child (no surprises there I’m sure) however, this is not simple just because we have recently discussed it, but also due to the setting being extremely important (in my opinion) to the telling of the story.

The Snow Child documents the story of a count and countess travelling through a forest, the count points out aspects of the surroundings that he wishes were aspects of a ‘girl’ she then appears, dies and the count then has sex with her causing her to melt away. It’s certainly a strange tale that is clearly low in levels of realism; this brings me to my first key point regarding the setting. There are aspects of the setting that are nonsensical such as ‘they came to a hole in the snow; this hole is filled with blood’ this establishes elements of the Gothic straight from the opening of the story, which is a key genre within the story. Furthermore, the ‘hole filled with blood’ could be thought to be symbolic of a vagina, therefore with the count calming that he wants as girl as ‘red as blood’ this suggests that men see women’s reproductive organs as something that they have the ability to lay claim over. To further this point, it could be argued that this also reflects how men feel that they have the ability to design women as they see fit which can be seen in the other elements that he requests such as ‘I wish I had a girl as white as snow’.

The description of the wider world itself is also very important, the wider world is described to be ‘the whole world was white’ the word white carries connotations of being sterile and cleanliness, this could be symbolic of his wife being sterile, and therefore unable to bear him a child, which has then caused him to seek other women. It is also important to consider the title of ‘the snow child’ which, when the white is interpreted as being sterile, could be thought to mean that she is the child that he seeks due to her being sterile. He lists specific aspects that he craves from her such as ‘black as that birds feathers’ the countess is incapable of doing anything to try and stop his desires of this child. As what she does try does not prove successful ‘is she a fish? To swim in such cold water’ this shows how the Count has the superior level of power over her and the decisions that are made. However, when the girl is then described to ‘melt’ this how due to there being no marital connection, the potential for a child is removed and she is then shunned from society and ‘melts’. The count then returns to his wife which is symbolically shown when he hands her the rose.

Setting can also be seen in the use of the ‘rose’ that causes the death of the snow child. This is important as roses are symbolic of beauty; this suggests that it is the beauty of the snow child that causes her death. Furthermore, this could also be interpreted as a reference to the fairy tale of Snow White, however, the princes kiss takes a more sinister form. The red of the rose is also important to consider due to the connotations of danger that it carries; it also carries connotations of blood. This helps to build a Gothic tone into the story.

Overall, setting is a key aspect of The Snow Child as it helps to not only foreshadow events and allow different readings to be taken, for also allows for the genres within the story to be emphasised.

How does Carter create her characters? Choose one character we have not discussed in class and explain how this character is presented.

How does Carter create her characters? Choose one character we have not discussed in class and explain how this character is presented.

The Bloody Chamber is a reworking of the fairy tale of Blue Beard, and details a man (the Marquis in this text) who marries women and then kills and displays their corpses. The sory follows the narrator’s (his latest wife) struggle to break free from his oppression and attempt to escape alive. The character of the Marquis can be read in a variety of ways, however I believe the strongest view to be that he represents the physical embodiment of female oppression and the oppression that capitalism exerts onto the lower classes.

The dominance of men, the Marquis in this text, is established early on. This is seen when she describes that she has ‘ceased to be her child in becoming his wife’ in regard to her mother. This shows that men have the ability to sever all ties to others upon marriage and take superior control over women that causes them to become detached from their previous life. The relationship between child and parent is often something that is thought to be a natural strong bond, so therefore with marriage severing the relationship between parent and child it suggests that the idea of ‘marriage’ (and more importantly men’s dominance and desire to change women) is something that is unnatural, this shows how the text is seeking to highlight the negative impacts that marriage has on women. Carter builds the character of the Marquis which leaves the reader with the impression that he is an oppressive figure early on. This also suggests that upon marriage she is forced to change as she is no longer a ‘child’ and is instead a ‘wife’ this shows how men’s oppression causes women to transform into their husbands desire, rather than accepting them for who they are. All this builds the character to be seen as an oppressive and violent person that is dominated by his own selfish greed, Carter may have written the character in this way to emphasise the negative effect males have over women.

Furthermore, there are Marxists interpretations that can be taken from this text which builds the Marquis as not only the representation female domination, but also the oppression of the working class under the upper class. This can be seen when the narrator quotes to say ‘I’m sure I want to marry him’ regarding if she loves him or not, it is then later revealed to the reader that the family is incredibly poor and thus this marriage to the Marquis will bring the family the ability to survive. This shows the dominance that the upper class exerts as it is shown to take a ceremony that is associated with love and happiness and instead turns into a business deal. On the other hand, this could be thought to portray the Marquis in a positive light as he is providing a family with the ability to survive, however it is revealed later that this almost charitable nature is actually driven by his selfish desires. Furthermore this  relationship is shown to be toxic when he attempts to murder her, this shows how the upper class regard the lower classes as something they have superior power over to even decide when they live and die. This builds the Marquis as a physical embodiment of capitalist oppression, his further disregard for the lower classes and women is seen when he is described to inspect her like a ‘slab of meat’ this builds a character that shows no regard for human life (especially that of women) and also builds him to seen driven by sexual desire.

The Marquis is also built as a violent and psychopathic creature, this can be seen in his display of the ‘iron maiden’ which is a device associated with torture. Furthermore, this iron maiden represents his ability to oppress and abuse women. This is due to the device itself being in the physical style of a women while containing spikes, thus representing how his oppression of her physically also destroys her from within. The Marquis’ violent nature is also seen in the wedding gift that the narrator receives, the gift she receives is ‘a choker of rubies’ this is important to the context at the time as a red ribbon was worn by surviving French aristocracy who escaped the French revolution without being decapitated. This foreshadows his attempt to decapitate her with the ‘ceremonial sword’ this shows how the character of the Marquis had this attempt planned before he presented her with this gift, thus showing him to be a selfish character that is driven purely by violent desires. In expansion of this, it could be thought to represent the dangers of greed and oppression of the middle classes. This is because the narrator comes from a working class background, but is then given the ruby choker (representing the decapitation of the upper classes) which foreshadows her attempted murder, thus showing the dangers of greed and trusting the upper classes. This shows the Marquis to be a manipulative character and also as the representation of the dominance and greed of the upper classes.

Overall, Carter builds the character of the Marquis with various images of violence and dominance. This could have been done to try and illustrate the dominance and oppression that women feel within a marriage, thus opening the reader’s minds to these problems.