Wolves

In 'The Company of Wolves', the wolves are initially described as terrifying predatory 'assassins' who desire the smell of 'meat'. Already, echo's of Carter's previous themes are present. 'Meat' has been used to describe how men view woman, objectifying them and degrading them. Also, the animalistic wolves have in common with the predatory males, such as the Marquis, possessing 'unkind' power, which foreshadowing the symbolic meaning of the wolves which will develop.

Reinforcing this link is the shape-shifting between men and wolves. A hunter kills a wolf in a trap, but as he does so the wolf turns back into "the bloody trunk of a man", which suggests Carter is highlighting the bestial nature of men. This bestiality of men is also linked to the idea of sex. If you burn a werewolves clothes, leaving the man naked, you "condemn him to wolfishness for the rest of his life". The wolf is therefore associated with a naked man, and nudity is associated with sex, clarifying the link.

The werewolf's connection to the bestial nature to man is applied when we finally reach the actual story. When the werewolf reveals himself to the Grandma, she is threatened by his "huge" genitals, conveying the idea of men using sex as a threat perhaps, or that Carter is wary of the dangers of sex.

The wolves "huge" eyes "fixed upon her" (the girl), which refers to the male-gaze; the objectification of women physically, which is Carter again conveying the predatory nature of men to claim women purely as their 'prey', a trophy or an object. However, the girl turns the situation around, and knows that she is "nobody's meat". She refuses to be objectified by the man, and seizes control of the situation by burning the werewolves clothing. As he can no longer take the shape of a man, he is no threat to her. Carter is making the point that masculinity can be more dangerous and deadly to women than any carnivore. The declaration of defiance is a model of Carter's view that women should refuse to accept the allotted passive role of victim.

In 'The Werewolf', the wolf is widely considered to be the embodiment of a preceding generation of mothers. The wolf is in fact the child's grandmother, and the discovery that the wolf's paw she cut off is in fact "a hand toughened with work and freckled with old age" shows her realising she cannot respect women of previous generation who have taken on the role created for them by men. This is shown through Carter's condemning descriptions of the "crone", "old woman" and "witch" that is the grandmother. The child's act of resistance to her grandmother shows how she resists the fate of her nature being warped by men into something which Carter considers, monstrous, into an active, independent woman who 'prospered. She does not have to be a shift-shaper like her grandma, pretending to be something she is not.

Rest of The Erl King

There are various references to Rossetti's poem 'Goblin Market', therefore the themes connected to the poem are introduces in this story; sexual temptation. "He spreads out a goblin feast of fruit" for the girl, which directly refers to the symbolic goblin fruit which tempts the girls in Rossetti's poem to, as considered, give the men their virginity. This suggests the 'goblin-ridden' girl has been sexually temped by the Erl King, relating to the Gothic themes of female sexuality.

The issue of female repression is also presented through the metaphorical use of the Erl King's eyes. The eyes are a "reducing chamber", where the girl states she becomes "as small as my own reflection". This suggests that the girl, when looking into the eyes of the Erl King, realises she is being pushed down to a low, or "small" status, she is smaller, weaker, and less important than he is. She then describes after that after the Erl King has captured her, he shall "mock her loss of liberty". Carter is perhaps here suggesting that men enjoy being the dominant sex, and enjoy repressing women and denying them freedom, which may fit into her previous criticisms of the male perceptive of women in her previous stories.

The Erl King.... So Far

Initially 'The Erl King' pulls the reader into a dream-like realm, with constant paradoxes and ambiguous language, making the narrative difficult to grasp onto. "Perfect transparency must be impenetrable", the juxtaposition of the contrasting ideas of light throws the reader into an unsettling world. The personification of the forest enhances this dream world which Carter creates; the light is "nicotine-stained fingers", the trees are "anorexic", and the wood seems conscious of itself, one "must stay there until it lets you out again". This creates feelings of entrapment, making the reader feel claustrophobic, and describes the foreboding and sinister characteristics of the wood.

The visual colour scheme - "brass-coloured", "sulphur yellow", "russet slime"- evokes the transition from autum to winter, a hard and dirty season where everything is "withered" and "discoloured". This may be a metaphor for the theme of mortality and death, which is a theme reffered to throughout the narrative. An awareness of the impermanent condition of exsistance is presented through the forest, where "all will fall still, all lapse", and "a haunting sense of the imminent cessation of being" is embodied, reinforcing the forest's connection with death.

The narrative seems to cling onto a state of certainty, trying to persuade the reader that the "ambiguities" of the forest are purely ones "own illusion", and that "everything in the wood is exactly as it seems". This seems contradictory to the pervasive personification of the wood previously, where "the trees stir with a noise like the taffeta skirts of women who have lost themselves in the woods and hunt round hopelessly for the way out". The narrative is claiming that although it is dreamlike, it is absolutely certain, suggesting it is the human imagination that creates supernatural ideas, and unlike the other stories in the collection, tries to allow no room for a suspension of disbelief. We are trying to be made to disbelieve the magical aura of the wood. However, when the image of "an imaginary traveller walking towards an invented distance" is presented immediately after this claim of reality, it is hard not to fall into the dreamlike, supernatural state of the story.

The narrative voice is also constantly shifting; the reader is positioned in various perspectives which creates an unsettling effect. The initial first person narrative adopts the ominous perspective of the third person, she knows everything about all the animals in the Erl King's garden, notices the "ash-soft doves", "diminutive wrens", and "freckles thrushes". She subtly shifts to the second person, addressing the Erl King directly; "I feel your sharp teeth", placing us in the perspective of the Erl King before we realise we have left the first person narrative. The cohesion of the events in the story are not chronological; no direct speech between the girl and the Erl King allows this, and the reader is shifted between past, present and future tenses, creating both a disorientating and entrancing effect.

The Snow Child- Alternative meanings

The Count wishes for a girl "as white as snow". This could mean that as the colour white symbolises purity and virginity, these are the characteristics he desires his girl to encompass. This idea is reinforced by the juxtaposition to the blackness surrounding his wife. She wears "high, black" boots and rides a "black horse", black symbolising darkness and evil, suggesting his wife embodies these characteristics. The contrast between the suggested darkness of his wife and the whiteness of the girl he longs for accentuate that this is perhaps the meaning behind this wish is the Counts desire for a "Madonna", rather than a "Whore".

However, this wish may also be symbolising the male visual obsession with women. He is only concerned with the visual elements of his fantasy girl, the colour of her as perfect as "snow". The male-gaze is a notion repeatedly referred to within Carter's previous stories, therefore it is possible that it is referred to again here.

Conversely, the unmissable intended contrast between the wife and the girl he wishes for strengthen the argument that the Count's main priority is a pure virgin, and not the evil, 'whore' of his wife. Therefore, this may undermine slightly the visual obsession element of this wish.

However, whilst considering that the man wishes for a girl who is the antitheses to his wife, we can note how Carter may be subtly criticising the unsatisfiable disposition of men. One woman is not enough for men, therefore he always desires a more beautiful, or in this case more innocent female.

Litgothic.com post

Ok so on the website I came across a link that lead to a page called "The Monstrous Woman", which I thought would have ideal references to what we were currently studying. However, most of the links were broken, yet I did find this information on Angela Carter explaining where her themes she includes in her stories came from, which I found really interesting.

Carter was a notable exponent of magic realism, adding into it Gothic themes, postmodernist eclecticism, violence, and eroticism. Throughout her career, Carter utilized the language and characteristic motifs of the fantasy genre. "A good writer can make you believe time stands still," she once said. Her work represents a successful combination of post-modern literary theories and feminist politics.At the age of 20 she married Paul Carter, and moved with him to Bristol. Before starting her English studies at the University of Bristol.

The article also said how one of her early novels, 'The Magic Toyshop' first saw her developing themes of sexual fantasy, and revealed Carter's fascination with fairy tales and the Freudian unconscious. It tells a modern myth of an orphaned girl and the horrors she experiences, when she goes to live with her uncle and grows through a rite of passage into adulthood.

It then quotes Carter herself; "I can date to that time and to that sense of heightened awareness of the society around me in the summer of 1968, my own questioning of the nature of my reality as a woman. How that social fiction of my "femininity" was created, by means outside my control, and palmed off on me as the real thing."

In 1970, having separated from her husband, Carter went to live in Japan for two years. During this period she worked at many different jobs, among others as a bar hostess. The experience of a different culture had a strong influence on her work.In 1979 Carter published 'The Sadetan Woman', where she questioned culturally accepted views of sexuality, and sadistic and masochistic relations between men and women. Surprising some of her readers, Carter defended the Marquis de Sade's images of women. Maybe the Marquis she defends is the Marquis she refers to in 'The Bloody Chamber"?

"I am the pure product of an advanced, industrialized, post-imperialist country"

The article describes her as the "high-priestess of post-graduate porn." 'Wise Children" her last novel, which focused on the female members of a theatrical family, was was marked by optimism and humor.

The Tiger's Bride

"My Father lost me to The Beast at cards"
This initial sentence of the story epitomises many of the main themes Carter includes in her collection. This sentence addresses the taking of a child, a weak paternal figure, a reference to a beastial, powerful male figure, and also that women are purely objects of possession; foreshadowing 'The Tiger's Bride's' main issues.

Indeed, we are introduced to very weak paternal figure, who "beggars himself" of all his possessions. The spiteful condemning of the father by his daughter suggests our protagonist is not the naiive, sweet female we follow in the previous stories. She is astute and opinionated; looking down on her father as he "rids himself" of her inheritance. It is her who has to guide her foolish father away from casinos, and it is her that protects him from his own weakness, suggesting in this story, the power lies in females.

Her unprecedented power over men is reinforced by her humiliation and mocking of The Beast. With "heartless mirth" she lets out a "raucous guffaw" at The Beast's embarrassed request to see her naked. She further humiliates The Beast by shaming him, asking him to drop her "in front of the church" after he has had his way with her, to such an extent that she reduces him to tears.

However, despite her evident power over men, she is astute enough to show awareness of her social standing as a woman. She knows her father values her "at no more than a king's ransom", no more than an object he possesses. Her request to have her face covered whilst the rest of her body is bare suggests she wishes to have her identity separated from her body, as she realises her body, the female body, is just a mere object of usage without holding it's own identity.

Her awareness of the "male-gaze" is far more prominent than in any other story so far. She describes life as "a market place, where the eyes that watch you take no account of your existence". Women are bought and sold like objects in a market place, being constantly looked and objectified down to the status of "white meat".

Yet the ending of the story seems to give hope to women. She acknowledges that "the tiger will never lie down the with the lamb", if the tiger is symbolic of men, and the lamb represents women, this phrase suggests she believes men will never subject themselves to fall down to the same low standing as women. However, she states that "the lamb must learn to run with the tigers". This appears to be a strong, feminist message; that women must step up and become equals with men, a feeling which was very prominent in the 1960's at the time of publishing. Indeed, the ending of the story, where the protagonist does become equal to The Beast; acquiring "lovely fur" and turning into a tiger like her host, reiterating the main message of the story.

The setting of "The Tiger's Bride" contrasts with that of "The Courtship of Mr Lyon", to that this story follows classic elements of the Gothic, set in a foreign "sunless" and "treacherous" place far away, allowing us to suspend our disbelief and accept the magical happenings of the story. The Beast's home is also a classic Gothic, "ruined" setting; with "infinite complexity" and "broken windows", the palace seems "uninhabited", the place almost seems dream like, again allowing a suspension of our disbelief of the story, in comparison the modern, city setting of London in the previous story, which makes our suspension of disbelief less likely.

Is The Courtship of Mr Lyon intended to be in the style of a traditional fairy tale?

Evidently, Carter employs explicit elements of traditional fairy tales into her story. We are initially introduced to a sweet, innocent “lovely girl” who completes “her chores” whilst her father is absent; the epitome of a traditional fairy tale character. Even her name highlights her characteristics and her purpose, “Beauty”. Even here, Carter is using the traditional narrative fairy tale tool of giving characters names which purely reflect their purpose. Her father is “Beauty’s father”, and Mr Lyon is initially merely “the Beast”; underlining his primary role and characteristic.
Expectantly, “the Beast” fulfils our expectations of an animalistic, violent figure of fairy tales. His hands are “claws”, and he speaks in a “renewed roar”. By employing such animalistic descriptions, we are led to believe that the Beast is indeed, a lion, not man; “for a lion is a lion, and a man is a man”. These supernatural, magical connotations are used frequently in traditional fairy-tales.
On the theme of magic, the alternative reality Carter places the Beast’s residence in reflects the setting outside of reality adopted in traditional fairy tales. His house “barred all within it from the world outside the walled, wintery garden”, and absorbs the reader into “a suspension of reality”. However, the modern city setting of London which Beauty returns to contrasts with the entirely magical fairy tale settings employed in traditional fairy tales. Carter seems to be, as she does in ‘The Bloody Chamber’, humanising her stories, and adding a twist to traditional fairy tales.
This modern twist seems to be reflected also in Carter’s characterisation. Beauty, as the plot develops, seems to move from her “inner light” and virtuous, innocent disposition into one of vanity and petulance. She develops in London, away from her fairy tale cottage and the magical Beast’s house into a “spoiled child”, with her father’s new found fortune. This contrasts with traditional fairy tales, through which the female character remains merely an object of innocence and virtue throughout. Again, Carter seems to be humanising the situation, as modern readers may expect a girl living a life of luxury in London to fall to vanity.
The Beast also seems to break away from his designated role of the violent animal. His actions resemble that of a respectful, yet shy gentleman when he is around Beauty. He flings himself “at her feet” to kiss her hands, and finds himself “hesitant” when he is around her. This idea is reinforced by his biblical descriptions; his “halo” and references to the “Gospel” evoke positive, heavenly connotations, suggesting the Beast is not intended to conform to the traditional fairy tale villain.
Perhaps the most significant, yet subtle contrast to traditional fairy tales is the effect Beauty has on the Beast. The women in fairy tales are usually objectified as objects of possession, to be claimed and married by the male hero. However, in ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’, it is the woman whose eyes “pierce appearances and see your soul”. The woman is the one looking at the man, almost an inverted option of the “male-gaze”, a notion describing the visual objectification of woman found in traditional fairy tales. Conversely, the Beast still “inspected” the photo with “wonder”, suggesting Carter intends to retain some elements of the male aesthetic appreciation seen in traditional stories; yet the emphasis on Beauty’s piercing look undeniably adds a certain twist to a traditional fairy-tale.
The other elements of traditional stories Carter intended to employ in her story are that of a condition; Beauty’s stay with the Beast is “the price of her father’s good fortune”, and also a happy ending. The phrase “Mr and Mrs Lyon” suggests marriage at the end of the story, an ending usually seen in traditional fairy tales. These elements, and the points above all point to the conclusion that Carter did intend her story to be in the style of a traditional fairy tale; however she still adds modern twists to break away and humanise the story.

OI HAAIII HANNAH

;)

Women in 'The Bloody Chamber'

The mother in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ embodies a feminist’s dream. The ‘indomitable’ woman is a figure of strength and courage; shooting ‘a man –eating tiger with her own hand”, and holding all the traits of a masculine hero. The passing down of her husband’s “antique service revolver” symbolises her possession of the power traditionally held by men. Yet she is equipped with ‘maternal telepathy’, which adds another dimension to her empowerment as it is a feminine strength, suggesting Carter is employing the notion that women may embrace their femininity whilst still retaining an advantage over men. However, her masculine qualities cannot be ignored. The windswept image is one of strength, portrayed towards the end of the novel, when she saves the damsel in distress, a role usually dominated by men. Her ‘white mane’ alludes to the image of a hunting lioness, a symbol of strength. She is the embodiment of “furious justice”.

Contradicting societies’ expectations of women again, the mother promotes choice, a luxury not enjoyed by most young females at the time. She asks her daughter “Are you sure you love him?”, offering her daughter the choice of marrying the “richest man in France”. The fact that she is concerned over the issue of love, not money, illuminates her romantic side. She is not merely concerned with using marriage as an excuse to better oneself and provide security, as many women were concerned over at the time, but suggests she believes marriage is for love, a quality admired by strong, independent women.

Another more minor female character who holds significance is the Marquis’ Grandmother. She wore her “ruby choker” as a symbol to represent her escape from the guillotine. As the action of removing a head resembles Freud’s castration theory, it may be interpreted that the Grandmother is wearing the choker in “luxurious defiance” of her femininity, that she is not just a being defined by her lack of male genitalia. She is also described as the “woman who had escaped the blade”, suggesting her role is to foreshadow the fortune of our narrator who also “escapes” the Marquis’ blade. As the “blade” connotates to fallac symbolism, the grandmother may also represent women who escape the male dominance prevalent at the time, showing feministic qualities.

The character who is void of feministic qualities however, is our narrator. She epitomises the dependant, naive female void of any strength of character of her own. Merely an object of possession, she “ceased to be her child in becoming his wife”; she is always owned by somebody else. She is condemned to be objectified by all those around her, her husband asses her as if he was “inspecting horseflesh”, and even in what should be a passionate first sexual experience, she is merely described as an “artichoke” who’s leaves need to be stripped.

Her nativity is shown through her “potential for corruption”, and her childish characteristics. Her husband calls her a “little girl”, and she repeatedly refers to her lack of maturity; “Child that I was, I giggled when she left me.” She has the tendency to place herself in fairy-tale like stories, with “castles” and “mermaidens”, suggesting she lacks a mature grip on reality and highlighting her childlike dependence. Even when about to be killed, instead of trying to escape, she merely obeys the wishes of her husband, and like an obedient dog; “descended down the spiral staircase” to meet her death. This depicts her lack of independence, and how she conforms to the traditionally seen view that women submit themselves to men, whatever the circumstance. She is the complete antitheses to her mother.

Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898)

French poet and leader of the Symbolist movement in poetry with Paul Verlaine; Mallarmé was a provincial school teacher who came to Paris to live a bourgeois life on the rue de Rome, but published allusive, compressed poems, which suggested rather than denoted.

From the 1880s Mallarmé was the centre of a group of French writers in Paris, which had such members Gide, Paul Valéry, and Proust. Mallarmé's ideas on poetry and art were considered difficult and obscure. When Mallarmé started to write poetry in the 1850s', French poets were still rather obedient to certain conventions concerning rhyme, metre, theme, etc. Victor's Hugo's notion that 'pure poetry' is essentially 'useless' was widely accepted. Proust wrote once: "How unfortunate that so gifted a man should become insane every time he takes up the pen".

Challenging his readers, Mallarmé sought out from a dictionary the long-forgotten meanings of common words and used these. Naturally this provoked a hostility, that followed Mallarmé through his career.

According to Mallarmé's theories, nothing lies beyond reality, but within this nothingness lie the essence of perfect forms. It is the task of the poet to reveal and crystallize these essences. Mallarmé's poetry employs condensed figures and unorthodox syntax. He believed that the point of a poem was the beauty of the language. "You don't make a poem with ideas, but with words."

Each poem is built around a central symbol, idea, or metaphor and consists of subordinate images that illustrate and help to develop the idea. However, he preferred to hint between the lines at meanings rather than state them clearly. The reader must return over and over again to the lines, concentrate on the music of the words rather than the referential meaning. Once he stated: "I become obscure, of course! if one makes a mistake and thinks one is opening a newspaper."

Portrayal of Men

Carter's prominent male character in 'The Bloody Chamber' takes the form of the sadistic, "weighted" and powerful Marquis. His "dark mane" and "leonine" qualities highlight the animalistic, preditorial nature of his character. His seduction of our protagonist resembles a hunter stalking it's prey as he would "creep up" behind her.

The extent of the Marquis' power is shown through his exercising of control over his new, young wife. He can order her to wear the clothes he wishes her to wear, and by procrastinating bedding her, with no regard for her desires hints at a controlling sadism. If we consider the 1970's feminist discussion of the notion of the 'male-gaze', which depicts the aesthetic objectification of women as merely sexual, we can see how the marquis conforms to this notion. He "inspects" and "assesses", and she catches him looking at her with lust, illuminating his tendency to objectify her. Even the chauffeur "eyed" her, reinforcing that she is constantly judged through the "male-gaze".

In contrast, the piano-tuner is prevented from looking at women in the way that the 'normal' sighted man sees her. His blindness is at once symbol of his weakness and the possibility of a non-threatening relationship, one not based on selfish, primarily visual gratification for the man alone, as seen in her relationship with the Marquis. She later refers the the piano-tuner as her "lover", yet they have not shared any sexual experiences, highlighting that he symbolise a loving relationship can form without sexual objectification, as with the Marquis.

The piano-tuner in other forms is the antithesis to the Marquis. The latter is cruel, voyeuristic and blasphemous; the piano-tuner is gentle, blind and trained in his trade by a 'good priest'. It is significant that later on in the story, his gentle manner provokes a far greater reaction in her that the violent Marquis. In a romantic interlude, she faints, suggesting Carter is championing the gentle manner of men, while condemning the controlling, patriarchal tendency embodied by the Marquis.

The piano-tuner is identified with the natural order of the world; he is a natural man, speaking with the "rhythms" of the land and sea. Contrastingly, the Marquis with his "grotesque", "waxen" face, "deathly" composure and calm detachment project inhuman and unnatural characteristics. This portrayal of the two men in 'The Bloody Chamber' explicitly show Carter's perception of men, and which one she considers to be preferable.

Todays lesson..........

So we started on page 7, looking at the way our narrator has "exiled" herself from the everyday world, which suggests almost she will endure almost a punishment through the transition into her new life; for shadowing what is about to come.

We then explored the arousal she experiences around her new husband; "the train began to throb again as if on delighted anticipation", "my heightened, excited senses". She is inexplicitly expressing her sexual awakening again, through her language, not directly addressing it.

Following this is another description of her husband, and the pervasive deathly imagery is inescapable. His "dark, motionless" eyes are void of any life, and interestingly, a "sarcophagi" reference is included; a mask used to cover up the dead, reinforcing this aura of death surrounding him. He is also describes as having "too much in common" with white lilies, the funeral flower, again highlighting his connection with death.

The "male-gaze" theory concerning the objectification of women is prevalent in the pages we read earlier. Our narrator constantly mentions how men look at her; on page 7 she catches him "gazing" at her, the chauffeur "eyed" her, yet she seems to enjoy this sexual objectification. This is highlighted in the bedroom, after he has stripped her "as if he was stripping the leaves off an artichoke", or unwrapping his "bargain". She is objectifying herself, but instead of feeling degraded, she is only "disgruntled" and frustrated when her husband does not bed her after. This implies the narrator does not embody feminist qualities or views, yet embraces her status.

"Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema"

Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature, In popular imagination the term is used in a more general sense to refer to someone who habitually observes others without their knowledge, with no necessary implication of sexual interest.

Feminist Film Thoery: In considering the way that films are put together, many feminist film critics have pointed to the "male gaze" that predominates in classical Hollywood filmmaking.

What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest importance."

Laura Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" expands on this conception of the passive role of women in cinema to argue that film provides visual pleasure through scopophilia, and identification with the on-screen male actor.

"In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness," and as a result contends that in film a woman is the "bearer of meaning, not maker of meaning." Mulvey argues that Freud's psychoanalytic theory is the key to understanding how film creates such a space for female sexual objectification and exploitation through the combination of the patriarchal order of society, and 'looking' in itself as a pleasurable act of voyeurism, as "the cinema satisfies a primordial wish for pleasurable looking.

"Psycho" 1960; One of the most notable horror films, the female victim is indeed, attractive.

This theory is highlighted in film series such as the "James Bond", and "Indiana Jones" series. The extensive list of ""Bond Girls", all attractive and objects of the male characters desire proves many of Mulvey's arguments concerning the perceptions of women in films.

Mulvey identifies three "looks" or perspectives that occur in film which serve to sexually objectify women.
1) The perspective of the male character on screen and how he perceives the female character.
2) The perspective of the spectator as they see the female character on screen.
3) The third perspective allows the male audience to take the female character as his own personal sex object because he can relate himself, through looking, to the male character in the film.

In the paper, Mulvey calls for a destruction of modern film structure as the only way to free women from their sexual objectification in film, arguing for a removal of the voyeurism encoded into film by creating distance between the male spectator and the female character. The only way to do so, Mulvey argues, is by destroying the element of voyeurism and "the invisible guest" Mulvey also asserts that the dominance that men embody is only so because women exist, as without a woman for comparison, a man and his supremacy as the controller of visual pleasure are insignificant. For Mulvey, it is the presence of the female that defines the patriarchal order of society as well as the male psychology of thought.

Mulvey calls for an eradication of female sexual objectivity in order to align herself with second-wave feminism. She argues that in order for women to be equally represented in the workplace, women must be portrayed as men are: as lacking sexual objectification.

Feminism in the first few pages of The Bloody Chamber

Initially, there is a subtle feminist metaphor portrayed through the young female narrator's language. The sexual language, such as the "ecstasy of excitement", "thrusting", "pounding", "teasingly caressed me", is used to describe matters other than sex. These sexual connotations are repressed beneath a surface of alternative meanings, which could symbolise how a women's sexuality must also be repressed; a factor which enrages many feminists.

The passage of the young women from "her child", referring to her mother, to "his wife", suggests the girl is merely an object of possession, passed from person to person, holding no identity or true freedom for herself, which is another matter attacked by feminists.

However the Mother stands as a feminists champion, as she embodies the powerful female, who "shot a man-eating tiger with her own hand". Also, the fact that her husband left her an "antique service revolver" highlights the power the matriarchy holds, which should belong to a man. This elevates her to a position equal to men, under no repression at all; the epitomising the feminist ideal. The fact that she offers her daughter a choice in marriage; a pleasure not enjoyed by many poor women of the time, which suggests she believes in a women's right to free will and Independence.

Yet, we see from the young bride more qualities feminists disagree with, such as the fact her priority is to "bare an heir" for her new husband. This illuminates how women embrace the stereotypical version of adult femininity, losing any purpose in life but to bare children. Again, what delights her the most is that she is purely an object of desire; "how he must want me!". She sacrifices her own sexual identity for the wants of a man, a very 'un-feminist' characteristic.

"She was suprised as the prince came into her" BAHA: themes in Fairytails

- Use of the number "3": Repetition three times.
- Beauty, especially within young women
- Evil Matriarch
- Conditions/Oaths
- Desire for children/ loss of children.
- Climbing the social and financial ladder
- Weak paternal figure
- Forests
- Magic
- Night/sleep
- Names serving only as roles
- Stealing
- Sexual undertones
- Clear perception of good and evil
- Gruesome, yet overlooked deaths
- Virtue
- Greed
- Marriage
- Instant love
- Talking animals

Evil Matriarch
Freud holds that tensions between a mother and daughter stem from the fact all daughters are in love with their fathers, thus jealousy on the mothers part drives a wedge between them and their child. These tensions between women and daughters are highlighted within most fairy tales: In "Hansel and Gretel" the step-mother wants to leave the children to starve, in Snow White, and Cinderella there are evil mothers and step-mothers both of whom hate their daughters and are jealous of their beauty. Plenty of fairy-tales do include a female villain.

The desire for children, and the fear of losing them.
Before the development of pensions, safe childbirth and treatments such as IVF, many children died in childbirth, aswell as their mothers. It was even more important to produce a healthy child as a women's primary role was to provide children. Children also were the sole carer for their parents when they became too old to care for themselves. All of these reasons made adults even more desperate to conceive and deliver, and there was a genuine fear of the loss of a child. Fairy tales often address this fear. Rapunzel's parents were desperate for a child, the woodcutter in Rumpelstiltskin was immensely proud of his child. Also, Fairy tales often include the taking of a child, usually through a previous deal, again addressing the fear of losing a child in previous years.

Beauty and virtue of women
A women's virginity and virtue were sometimes the only credit they possessed, and virginity was sacred to women and young girls; often a compulsory asset for marriage. Freud's "Madonna/Whore complex" underlines the importance of virtue and beauty, as once a women loses her virginity, she is an evil whore. Fairy tales often accentuate the beauty, good nature and virtue of the young women; Beauty's beauty and kindness is emphasised in "Beauty and the Beast", explicitly through her name.

The number "3"
There is a common use of the number three in many classic fairy tales; three main characters, three incidents or three tasks. in "The three little pigs", there are three main characters. In "Cinderella", there are three daughters, Cinderella and her two stepsisters. In "Snow White", the Queen tries three times to kill Snow White. In practice, the number "three" symbolizes perfection and completeness. For instance, the Holy Trinity is made up of three members: God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. In Geometry, a figure cannot be formed without three distinct points. Also, "three" is considered as the basic unit of a family- father, mother and child. The number gives security to the narrator, and the reader,because it is a "perfect and complete figure"

Forests
Forests are, in stories, a place of magic and the supernatural. Most contemporarily seen in "Harry Potter", where the students are scared to enter the "Forbidden Forest" in fear of the magical creatures who live there. Vast forests are an ideal setting to place magic, as you are isolated, away from civilisation, and allows verisimilitude to occur, especially as most fairy tales include magical elements such as witches and talking animals. "Hansel and Gretel", "Goldilocks", and "Beauty and the Beast" all are set in forests, perhaps for this purpose.

Introductions

Introductions are a major part of the essay, primarily because they set out the key concepts, ideas and arguments you will address within the essay; giving you a clear vision of what you are going to write about. You can refer back to your introduction to help structure the essay, and a precise introduction will prevent you form going off on a tangent, so basically, keeping you focused on the task of the essay.
Also, if the introduction shows sophisticated, relevant vocabulary with clear, precise ideas and a good grasp of the concepts the title is asking you to address, the examiner may initially realise you are a strong candidate, and perhaps will mark positively throughout the essay.

A good introduction needs:
- If relevant; background to the concepts referred to. For instance, in Dracula, when considering science and religion, it would be useful to acknowledge the tensions between these two ideas at the time of writing.
- The main arguments you will debate within the essay.
- Precise, focused, yet sophisticated vocabulary.
- Ideas you will address within the arguments?

Elements of the Gothic in Chapter 21

Firstly, the whole action ridden chapter takes place at night, setting up the scene in the classic Gothic setting.

The aspect of religion and the supernatural is introduced initially through the operation Van Helsing conducts on Renfield. The trephening reminds us that both Dr Steward and Van Helsing are medical surgeons, as well as natural philosophers; a reality check used by Stolker to perhaps prevent the reader get lost in the supernatural elements of the novel. Other connotations to religion are the pronouns used for Dracula. Renfield ironically refers to him as 'Lord and Master', a reference to the Christian deity or God, suggesting implications of Dracula epitomising the anti-Christ. This therefore, would make Renfield a practitioner of devil-worship, clearly threading more Gothic elements into the chapter.

Sexual references are strong within this chapter, another classic Gothic aspect. Mina describes how as Dracula began to bite her, she was in a "half-swoon", which evokes a romantic feeling despite the horrific setting. She also "did not want to hinder him", suggesting she also succumbed to Dracula's seduction, just as Lucy had. The exchange of bodily fluids, this time by both characters again shows strong connotations to sex. By Mina seeing the blood "spurt out", then being forced to "suffocate or swallow", Stolker exhibits a clear parody of oral sex. The emphasis on her mouth reinforces this reference, as afterwards Mina rubs her lips to try and remove the "pollution".

However, there is an element of force in this scene that suggests rape rather than seduction, which is an important distinction for Mina portraying the innocent victim, as women being presented as victims is another significant element of the Gothic. Dracula is "forcing her face down on his bosom" and restraining her by holding her arms away, all while Mina's sleeping husband is next to her. This is also significant, as Dracula has invaded a marital bedroom, and the sexual references therefore would implicate adultery; resulting in the corruption of marriage, and therefore the corruption of Christian tradition, another Gothic element.

Symbolism of light and dark is also used in this chapter. Mina is describes as a "white-clad figure", white symbolising innocence, whilst Dracula is "clad in black", the use of the word "clad" in both descriptions explicitly provokes the direct contrast between the natures of the characters; innocent and evil.

Fear, perhaps the most significant element of the Gothic, is also evoked to the reader through primarily the horror of Dracula. He is strong enough to overcome the "unnatural strength" of a madman, and then when finally, for the first time since Harker's experience in Transylvania, we see Dracula in the flesh. His "devilish passion", "white sharp teeth" and "blood-dripping mouth" portrays a horrific character designed to induce fear. His power is reinforced as his mouth is "champed together like those of a wild beast", animalistic references suggesting how dangerous he can be.