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.