'The Erl-King' is a dark, mystical being who lives in the woods surrounded by animals, death, decay and nature, whereas 'The Snow Child' is the creation of the Counts sexual fantasises, who represents the unmaintainable male image of female beauty.
'The Snow Child' is one of my favourite short stories in Angela Carter's collection as it uses the fairytale of 'Snow White' to confront the unrealistic and unachievable male ideal which women in society today seem to strive for.
The Erl-King:
The
story of 'The
Erl King' begins
in late October, just as the female narrator is about to embark on
her journey into the woods. She describes the cyclical nature of the
wood with 'withered
blackberries' and 'dead
bracken' strewn
across the forest which immediately gives the setting an impending
sense of death and decay. A 'brass-coloured
distillation of light [came] down from sulphur-yellow
interstices', the
use of the word 'sulphur' suggests
the theme of the supernatural as'sulphur' is
an element which is connected with hell and damnation, therefore,
giving the story an ominous tone.
'The Erl-King' is based on a folklore tale called 'Erlking', he is traditionally a sprite who lures young people with the intent of killing them. Carter uses this element in her version as the narrator herself has heard stories about 'The Erl-King' and states that 'The Erl-king will do you grievous harm', she is not naive as she knows of the stories of the 'Erl-King', but chooses to enter into the woods on her own accord, therefore, she is aware of the peril she will inevitably face once she enters the woods. The narrator describes the setting as enclosed as 'there is no way through the wood any more' as it 'swallows you up', this initial description suggests her entrapment as soon as she has entered the woods as she notices the 'vertical bars' of light; the 'bars' could foreshadow her physical entrapment within 'The Erl-King's cage.
We are first introduced to 'The Erl-King' when the narrator steps into a 'darkened clearing' and notices that all the animals in the wood obey him as he appears to be at harmony with nature. She describes his eyes as 'green as apples' and as 'green as dead sea-fruit', although they are both the colour of life and nature they are also dead, which suggests 'The Erl-King's link with the deathly force of nature. In addition, because his eyes are described as 'green as apples', this could allude to the story of creation in the book of Genesis in which Eve is tempted by the Devil, therefore, 'The Erl-King' becomes a symbol for temptation and damnation.
Carter uses the imagery of the supernatural to describe 'The Erl-King', as he has 'white pointed teeth' and 'eyes of a incomparable luminosity, the numinous phosphorescence of the eyes of lycanthropes', this description clearly links to the vampire and werewolf once again confirming that 'The Erl-King' is a supernatural, animalistic and dangerous being. His animalistic nature is also realised as Carter uses the tale of 'Red Riding Hood' in her version of 'The Erl-King' as the narrator exclaims, 'what big eyes you have', which emphasizes the innocence and curiosity of the narrator and also the predatory nature of 'The Erl-King' himself.
'The Erl-King' uses music to trap the young women in order to create a representation of his desire, transforming them from individuals with free will to those with none. Once the narrator is under his spell she visits him every time he calls her into the woods with his birdcall so that she can make love to him. Carter uses bird imagery to represent the transformation of the young girls which 'The Erl-King' traps. At first the narrator hears 'two notes of the song of a bird'which sounds as if her 'girlish' and 'delicious loneliness had been made into sound', this represents the sound of an independent, free bird. Later on in the story she describes the bird song 'as desolate as if it came from the throat of the last bird alive', in contrast to her initial description, this is the sound of a trapped and oppressed bird.
The narrator soon discovers that 'The Erl-King' is weaving a 'golden cage' because she has succumb to temptation and allowed the creature to consume her; he is the dominating male force and she is the submissive female who he intends to trap. He likens her naked body to that of a 'skinned rabbit', which arouses her and traps the narrator into wanting her own independence but also highlights her desire for sexual fulfilment. In the end the narrator wishes to kill him in order to free herself from the domineering male control of 'The Erl-King', she rejects her relationship with him and wishes to free all of the trapped birds so that they may transform back into their human form. By killing him she replaces his dominant role and takes control of her own destiny, the reader is aware that the narrator has achieved this as she cuts off 'The Erl-King's hair to string a fiddle leaving his hair to exclaim 'Mother, mother, you have murdered me!'.
'The Erl-King' is based on a folklore tale called 'Erlking', he is traditionally a sprite who lures young people with the intent of killing them. Carter uses this element in her version as the narrator herself has heard stories about 'The Erl-King' and states that 'The Erl-king will do you grievous harm', she is not naive as she knows of the stories of the 'Erl-King', but chooses to enter into the woods on her own accord, therefore, she is aware of the peril she will inevitably face once she enters the woods. The narrator describes the setting as enclosed as 'there is no way through the wood any more' as it 'swallows you up', this initial description suggests her entrapment as soon as she has entered the woods as she notices the 'vertical bars' of light; the 'bars' could foreshadow her physical entrapment within 'The Erl-King's cage.
We are first introduced to 'The Erl-King' when the narrator steps into a 'darkened clearing' and notices that all the animals in the wood obey him as he appears to be at harmony with nature. She describes his eyes as 'green as apples' and as 'green as dead sea-fruit', although they are both the colour of life and nature they are also dead, which suggests 'The Erl-King's link with the deathly force of nature. In addition, because his eyes are described as 'green as apples', this could allude to the story of creation in the book of Genesis in which Eve is tempted by the Devil, therefore, 'The Erl-King' becomes a symbol for temptation and damnation.
Carter uses the imagery of the supernatural to describe 'The Erl-King', as he has 'white pointed teeth' and 'eyes of a incomparable luminosity, the numinous phosphorescence of the eyes of lycanthropes', this description clearly links to the vampire and werewolf once again confirming that 'The Erl-King' is a supernatural, animalistic and dangerous being. His animalistic nature is also realised as Carter uses the tale of 'Red Riding Hood' in her version of 'The Erl-King' as the narrator exclaims, 'what big eyes you have', which emphasizes the innocence and curiosity of the narrator and also the predatory nature of 'The Erl-King' himself.
'The Erl-King' uses music to trap the young women in order to create a representation of his desire, transforming them from individuals with free will to those with none. Once the narrator is under his spell she visits him every time he calls her into the woods with his birdcall so that she can make love to him. Carter uses bird imagery to represent the transformation of the young girls which 'The Erl-King' traps. At first the narrator hears 'two notes of the song of a bird'which sounds as if her 'girlish' and 'delicious loneliness had been made into sound', this represents the sound of an independent, free bird. Later on in the story she describes the bird song 'as desolate as if it came from the throat of the last bird alive', in contrast to her initial description, this is the sound of a trapped and oppressed bird.
The narrator soon discovers that 'The Erl-King' is weaving a 'golden cage' because she has succumb to temptation and allowed the creature to consume her; he is the dominating male force and she is the submissive female who he intends to trap. He likens her naked body to that of a 'skinned rabbit', which arouses her and traps the narrator into wanting her own independence but also highlights her desire for sexual fulfilment. In the end the narrator wishes to kill him in order to free herself from the domineering male control of 'The Erl-King', she rejects her relationship with him and wishes to free all of the trapped birds so that they may transform back into their human form. By killing him she replaces his dominant role and takes control of her own destiny, the reader is aware that the narrator has achieved this as she cuts off 'The Erl-King's hair to string a fiddle leaving his hair to exclaim 'Mother, mother, you have murdered me!'.
The Snow Child:
'The Snow Child', by Angela Carter is a subversion of the Snow White fairytale, in which the father not the mother wishes for a child. The Count wishes he had a child 'as white as snow', 'red mouth' and hair 'as black as a birds feather' and 'stark naked', his wish materializes as a child appears displaying all the physical features he desires. This not only emphasises the Count's masculine control of The Snow Child's female identity as he has the power to create anything he wishes, but the child is also is a manifestation of his physical and sexual desires. The fact that the Count asks for a child whilst describing her as a physical object, 'bird's feather', further emphasises his objectification of the helpless child and when she evaporates into the snow all that is left is 'a rose', 'a feather' and a 'bloodstain', once again only amounting to a small collection of objects. .
The Countess becomes overwhelmingly jealous and plots kill the child by asking her to retrieve objects which place her in danger hoping that she will die upon completing her requests. The two females cannot exist together so one must die; they cannot advance themselves as they are powerless against the Count. However, when the Countess requests that 'The Snow Child' may have a rose, to which the Count cannot object to, she is pricked on the finger by a thorn and dies.
The Count created 'The Snow Child' as a sexual object, but because she is just a little girl she had not fully matured or come of age yet. When The Snow Child dies she bleeds, the 'blood stain' could symbolize her transgression into womanhood, her menstruation and therefore, her ability to engage in sexual intercourse. Sex is purely for the enjoyment of the male, not the female, therefore, once she has completed her purpose of existing solely as a sexual object then she is allowed to die. This unrealistic masculine representation of sexual desire is unattainable as she represents the unrealistic masculine ideals of female beauty and perfection as she 'melts' when the phallus touches her.
Whilst the Count is raping 'The Snow Child', the Countess merely watches; she refuses to intervene as she is powerless against the Count's wishes, emphasizing that the only way woman can exist is if they compete against each other for the male's attention and affection, ultimately annihilating each other.
The Countess then picks up the rose and exclaims, 'It bites!', this 'bite' could represent the vagina, female beauty and the suffering that women have to endure.
The Countess becomes overwhelmingly jealous and plots kill the child by asking her to retrieve objects which place her in danger hoping that she will die upon completing her requests. The two females cannot exist together so one must die; they cannot advance themselves as they are powerless against the Count. However, when the Countess requests that 'The Snow Child' may have a rose, to which the Count cannot object to, she is pricked on the finger by a thorn and dies.
The Count created 'The Snow Child' as a sexual object, but because she is just a little girl she had not fully matured or come of age yet. When The Snow Child dies she bleeds, the 'blood stain' could symbolize her transgression into womanhood, her menstruation and therefore, her ability to engage in sexual intercourse. Sex is purely for the enjoyment of the male, not the female, therefore, once she has completed her purpose of existing solely as a sexual object then she is allowed to die. This unrealistic masculine representation of sexual desire is unattainable as she represents the unrealistic masculine ideals of female beauty and perfection as she 'melts' when the phallus touches her.
Whilst the Count is raping 'The Snow Child', the Countess merely watches; she refuses to intervene as she is powerless against the Count's wishes, emphasizing that the only way woman can exist is if they compete against each other for the male's attention and affection, ultimately annihilating each other.
The Countess then picks up the rose and exclaims, 'It bites!', this 'bite' could represent the vagina, female beauty and the suffering that women have to endure.
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