“The Bloody Chamber” by Angela Carter reimagines the fairy tale “Bluebeard.” Her rendition creates more dimensional characters and builds stronger relationships by thoroughly detailing interactions. She uses thorough prose to explore the depth of a romantic relationship and its accompanying obligations. However, the central characters remain the same, and the plots mirror one another despite different settings. The timeline of events varies drastically, the period of a month condensed to two days. One particular element maintained by Carter is the choice to keep the characters nameless. By not naming the newly weds in “The Bloody Chamber”, Angela Carter creates characters that cannot be compartmentalized into fictional individuals. “The Bloody Chamber” presents a seemingly normal relationship’s progression. There is the courtship, where a man expresses interest in a woman and goes to great lengths to impress her. Trips and expensive dates are planned, featuring opulent material gifts, such as a dress and accompanying jewelry, each a symbol for a later occurrence. A ruby choker introduces the husband’s desires, and an unlucky stone is set in
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Affection evolves into manipulation as the husband makes an impossible demand of the wife. He begs of her, “promise me you’ll use all the keys on the ring except that last little one I showed you” (Carter 20). She is not to satiate her innate curiosity to open a specific door with a particular key. He describes exactly where it is she is not supposed to use the key, and down plays the contents of the room. Specificity is key without regards to character. Detailed descriptions and instructions are included, but not relayed to a named individual. It is only to the wife as a general entity, and the first person point of view includes readers in the address. Curiosity intensifies for all parties involved in the experience, and eventually answers are found in the form of
Affection evolves into manipulation as the husband makes an impossible demand of the wife. He begs of her, “promise me you’ll use all the keys on the ring except that last little one I showed you” (Carter 20). She is not to satiate her innate curiosity to open a specific door with a particular key. He describes exactly where it is she is not supposed to use the key, and down plays the contents of the room. Specificity is key without regards to character. Detailed descriptions and instructions are included, but not relayed to a named individual. It is only to the wife as a general entity, and the first person point of view includes readers in the address. Curiosity intensifies for all parties involved in the experience, and eventually answers are found in the form of