my essay :) lol

Drawing upon at least two stories from ‘The Bloody Chamber’ explore the ways in which Carter might be considered to re-interpret gothic conventions.


Angela Carters describes her stories as being ‘gothic mode but with narratives suggested by traditional western European fairy tales.’ By mixing these two very different genres Angela manages to twist the typical gothic elements, which readers are used to, and instead make up her own structure of gothic elements.

The main gothic element which Angela uses is exotic scenes. As many of her stories are based on fairy tales the twist of adding in exotic sex scenes can make the readers feel very uncomfortable and creates the gothic atmosphere which Angela is after. This is best shown within the story ‘The Snow Child’ which is based upon the fairy tale Snow white. It is only a page long but includes a vicious murder then rape which shocks the readers. ‘Weeping, the Count got off his horse, unfastened his breeches and thrust his virile member into the dead girl.’ After showing so much love for the girl this incident comes out of nowhere and shocks the audience. During the tale the Count is very protective and acts like a father figure towards her making this seem even more perverse, like an account of incest. Just within this short sentence Angela manages to take the audience on the emotional rollercoaster that they would expect from a normal gothic story. She creates heroes and villains and also the gothic atmosphere of surprise and horror. She has therefore changed this element to make the response one of a usual gothic element reaction.

An act which Angela appears to use in many of her short stories to add a gothic effect is by adding in a scene of closeness by characters licking one another. This appears in three of her stories ‘The Tiger’s Bride’, ‘The lady of the house of love’ and ‘Wolf-Alice.’ It is not the licking itself but what it leads to which makes it give off the gothic reaction. For example, in ‘The Tiger’s Bride’, which is based upon the fairy tale beauty and the beast, the transformation from human to tiger is done by licking off her skin. ‘Until I felt the harsh velvet of his head against my hand, then a tongue, abrasive as sandpaper he will lick the skin off me!’ This turns the simple action in to one of Angela’s re-interpreted gothic elements. The way that the action is described also adds a gothic twist as she describes his tongue to be like ‘sandpaper’ which is an indication to the audience that this may be hurting her as sandpaper is very rough against the skin. This action reoccurs within the other two texts when it again symbolises the transformation of characters.

Angela regularly adds in humoristic characters in her stories to add in another side to them. This probably being her main achievement as she manages to make humour moments have a twist of gothic within them. For example, in ‘Puss’in’Boots’ the cat is regularly making sarcastic comments which lighten up the mood. However, what he is joking about is not always funny and is what makes this feature appear gothic. For example, he jokes about the death of the man who was originally married to the women his master loves.

The snow child

i reckon that maybe the reason that only the countess clothes are described could be that maybe her clothes are her identity?? some people express themselves through their clothes and this could be what the countess does. This could also explain how every time the count takes the girls side she loses an item of clothing. It is like she is being ignored and the girl is taking away parts of her, which the clothes symbolises (sorry if this sounds confusing but i no what i mean lol :D) it does seem to be a power struggle story. for example, how the count takes power over the girl by not given her a name, making her out of his desire and in the end having sex with her when she's dead. Also there is the power struggle between the girl and countess. The girl is becoming the counts prised posession pushing his wife out the way and everytime that she tries to kill her - and fails - she is trying to gain back her power and position from the girl. i think that maybe the story could be the countess dream as that would explain all the weird supernatural stuff but it would also explain why her husband has sex with the girl. it's like the countess nightmare, her worst fear, losing her place to someone else and slowly being pushed out. the girl is everything she's not but at the same time everything the count wants. this could explain why the girl melts away as she is just imagined by the countess and it could symbolise that the countess knows he is cheating on her but she is willing to turn a blind eye as long as she gets all the treats and sweet things e.g. the rose.