The Bloody Chamber
“For Carters, European myths and fairytales … encourage the notion that feminity is essentially passive, that female sexuality is simultaneously vulnerable and dangerous, and that young women undergo certain rite of passage designed to teach them how to control their bodies and their desires.”
In which ways do you think carter depicts and challenges this view within the ‘Bloody Chamber’?
Angela carter shows two side of the argument. Carter uses the ‘new woman’ and ‘puppet’ women in her stories as she gives the ‘puppet’ women voices that they never had before and shows the ‘new woman’ journey from being voiceless to a powerful woman. Carter uses female protagonist who take on an empowered role where they rise up away from the control and oppressive forces of men. These women are known as ‘new women’ as they gain back their sexual identity and deconstruct the roles of women in the society.
In the beginning of Carter’s stories women start of as ‘puppet women’. They have no desire or hope to be a ‘new woman’ they are passive and they’re female sexuality is simultaneously vulnerable and dangerous which leads them to the control of men. In the bloody chamber Carter creates a sense of terror by using the protagonist’s vulnerability, an example of a gothic element. “Clasped round my throat… chocker of rubies” highlights that the Marquis presents her as his possession and heightens her entrapment within her ‘marriage’. However, as the ruby chocker was worn by Marquis’ grandmother who has ‘escaped the blade’ foreshadows that the narrator will escape Marquis’ blade. The grandmother also represents the women who have escaped from their dominant males.
The narrator is also presented as a naïve and passive young girl and has no sign of independence. The narrator, ‘puppet woman’, has always been an object of possession and is highlighted in the line “ceased to be her child in becoming his wife”. However her mother has been in the dominant society lot longer and
In which ways do you think carter depicts and challenges this view within the ‘Bloody Chamber’?
Angela carter shows two side of the argument. Carter uses the ‘new woman’ and ‘puppet’ women in her stories as she gives the ‘puppet’ women voices that they never had before and shows the ‘new woman’ journey from being voiceless to a powerful woman. Carter uses female protagonist who take on an empowered role where they rise up away from the control and oppressive forces of men. These women are known as ‘new women’ as they gain back their sexual identity and deconstruct the roles of women in the society.
In the beginning of Carter’s stories women start of as ‘puppet women’. They have no desire or hope to be a ‘new woman’ they are passive and they’re female sexuality is simultaneously vulnerable and dangerous which leads them to the control of men. In the bloody chamber Carter creates a sense of terror by using the protagonist’s vulnerability, an example of a gothic element. “Clasped round my throat… chocker of rubies” highlights that the Marquis presents her as his possession and heightens her entrapment within her ‘marriage’. However, as the ruby chocker was worn by Marquis’ grandmother who has ‘escaped the blade’ foreshadows that the narrator will escape Marquis’ blade. The grandmother also represents the women who have escaped from their dominant males.
The narrator is also presented as a naïve and passive young girl and has no sign of independence. The narrator, ‘puppet woman’, has always been an object of possession and is highlighted in the line “ceased to be her child in becoming his wife”. However her mother has been in the dominant society lot longer and