Angela Carters ‘The Bloody Chambers’ challenges the way women are presented in fairy tales, yet is still able to retain the airs of convention through her descriptive prose.
Carter is able to draw out the theme of feminism by juxtaposing traditional tropes of Gothic fiction- which depicts females as weak ‘damsels in distress’- with strong female protagonists. By pairing the horrific situations and atmosphere found typically in gothic fiction, with the heroines in her stories, a contrast is formed. It thus creates sexually liberated females, that when set against the more traditional fairy tale backdrop, reinvents the outdated fairy tales and offers a fresh perception on the archetypes and stereotypes of women in these celebrated stories. The …show more content…
Then finally, the final climax of the relationship, as well as for him, he murders them in his ‘bloody chamber’. Here the domination over women portrayed by the Marquis allows for a feminist reading, as he manipulates and literally moulds them in order to satisfy his sexual fantasies and erotic tastes. This acts as a metaphor for women being simply a model for men to manipulate and build their lives around, alluding to the idea of a socialist feminism, where feminists believe in inequality in the social hierarchy.
Pornography in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ plays a predominate role in the book especially, in the story ‘the Bloody Chamber’. Robin Ann Sheets expressed that Carter ‘assumes pornography encourages violence against women’. This I believe is justified in the bloody chamber stories, especially in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ The Marquis asks ‘Have the nasty pictures scared baby?’. The language is patronising of her age and maturity, however is also ominous causing the reader to assume that violence is imminent, and there is a clear connection between violence and …show more content…
In ‘The Company of Wolves’ she burns her cape rejecting her virginal sacrifice in favor of her sexual enlightenment. Both are doing this out of their own choice for their own gratification. They take the initiative to being reborn as self-owning sexual beings. Carter is granting the heroines with self-discovery, which is promoting the feminist idea that a woman’s sexuality does not belong to a man, and woman should be able to express her sexual needs and desires just as much as men. Carter is liberating the heroines, letting them take control of their bodies.
In ‘The Bloody Chamber’ however, the heroine is undressed by the Marquis, referring to it as him ‘stripping leaves off an artichoke’ By referring to herself as a food, she is symbolizing how women resemble a possession to men instead of an actual human being. They are there, much like food, for men to keep going, almost supplying their bodies for men and their sexual desires. They are there to feed their sex
Carter is able to draw out the theme of feminism by juxtaposing traditional tropes of Gothic fiction- which depicts females as weak ‘damsels in distress’- with strong female protagonists. By pairing the horrific situations and atmosphere found typically in gothic fiction, with the heroines in her stories, a contrast is formed. It thus creates sexually liberated females, that when set against the more traditional fairy tale backdrop, reinvents the outdated fairy tales and offers a fresh perception on the archetypes and stereotypes of women in these celebrated stories. The …show more content…
Then finally, the final climax of the relationship, as well as for him, he murders them in his ‘bloody chamber’. Here the domination over women portrayed by the Marquis allows for a feminist reading, as he manipulates and literally moulds them in order to satisfy his sexual fantasies and erotic tastes. This acts as a metaphor for women being simply a model for men to manipulate and build their lives around, alluding to the idea of a socialist feminism, where feminists believe in inequality in the social hierarchy.
Pornography in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ plays a predominate role in the book especially, in the story ‘the Bloody Chamber’. Robin Ann Sheets expressed that Carter ‘assumes pornography encourages violence against women’. This I believe is justified in the bloody chamber stories, especially in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ The Marquis asks ‘Have the nasty pictures scared baby?’. The language is patronising of her age and maturity, however is also ominous causing the reader to assume that violence is imminent, and there is a clear connection between violence and …show more content…
In ‘The Company of Wolves’ she burns her cape rejecting her virginal sacrifice in favor of her sexual enlightenment. Both are doing this out of their own choice for their own gratification. They take the initiative to being reborn as self-owning sexual beings. Carter is granting the heroines with self-discovery, which is promoting the feminist idea that a woman’s sexuality does not belong to a man, and woman should be able to express her sexual needs and desires just as much as men. Carter is liberating the heroines, letting them take control of their bodies.
In ‘The Bloody Chamber’ however, the heroine is undressed by the Marquis, referring to it as him ‘stripping leaves off an artichoke’ By referring to herself as a food, she is symbolizing how women resemble a possession to men instead of an actual human being. They are there, much like food, for men to keep going, almost supplying their bodies for men and their sexual desires. They are there to feed their sex