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The fourth instalment of my reviews are 'The Lady of The House of Love' and 'The Werewolf', from Angela Carter's, 'The Bloody Chamber' and other stories.
'The Lady of the House of Love' depicts a supernatural being who is consumed by her need to feed on human blood, along with the necessity to shuffle her Tarot cards to reveal her future and 'The Werewolf' is based on the story of 'Red Riding Hood', but subverts the original tale so that the heroine in the story overcomes evil.
The Lady of The House of Love:
'The Lady of The House of Love', is based in a Romanian village and combines the use of vampire legends and fairytale's in the story. We are introduced to the Countess as a typical Gothic femme-fatal, however, Carter subverts this singular view of the character by describing her with the traits of a victim. She is trapped within the castle and wears a 'lace'wedding dress, which reminded me of 'Miss Havisham', in Great Expectations and the poem 'Havisham', by Carol Ann Duffy, which was based on the character. In addition, she is described as being 'so beautiful' that it is 'unnatural'; 'Her beauty is a symptom of her disorder, of her soulessness', because her face doesn't contain a single flaw, it is falsely human just like the mask the tiger-man wears in 'The Tiger's Bride.' Only when she is transformed at the end of the story does her face look 'far older' and 'less beautiful' and for the first time fully 'human', which highlights that love cannot survive in the Countess' supernatural world of torment.
The theme of entrapment is widely used in 'The Lady of The House of Love', not only is she trapped within the castle walls but she is also a prisoner in her own body; the Countess is trapped through her vampirism. Carter subverts the tradtional Gothic convention of women as victims, by making the women the predator and the male the prey. The countess is described in an anamalistic way when she would 'sniff the air and howl' then 'crawl on all fours' and is even likened to the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk, 'Fee, fie, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman', this highlights the Countess' supernatural and aggressive nature, foreboding her inevitable thoughts on killing the Englishman. Carter plays with the duality of animal and beast which causes us to feel unease and horror towards the Countess one minute and then sympathy and pity the next, which is ironic as she embodies the typical characteristics of a Gothic monster. Although the Countess seems as if she doesn't want to kill or harm anyone, her nature won't allow her to do anything else but kill; she even states that when she tried to think of 'any other' consummation she saw the paintings of her ancestors 'leer and grimace on the walls'.
The theme of entrapment is also shown through the lark that she locks in a cage to keep her company, 'she likes to hear it announce how it cannot escape', because the Countess does not have any control over her life or her vampirish nature, she keeps the bird locked in a cage so that she has control over it. She cannot free herself from her condition, so the lark could also represent the Countess herself and her entrapment. The imagery of the bird in a cage also links back to the larks that 'The Erl-King', kept in his 'golden' cages.
The Englishman is associated with the role of the victim as he connotes innocence and purity; he has 'blond hair', 'blue eyes'and is a 'virgin'. He rejects the belief of the supernatural as he does not 'shiver' when he enters the Countess' castle and seems to be unafraid of her.
Carter uses biblical imagery to describe the Englishman's actions as 'he gratefully [washed] his feet in the fountain', this alludes to the sacrament of Baptism in which the individual is protected from damnation. Not only does the religious lexis connote the Englishman's purity and innocence, but also his ability to stay protected from the Countess, as he leaves the castle unharmed as his pure nature saves him.
The Englishman uses a bike to travel around Romania, which represents rational thinking and reason, whereas the Countess represents the supernatural and superstition. The male in the story is shown as an innocent, which is unlike any other male character in Angela Carter's short story collection. He kisses her finger and puts the Countess to bed; he looks after her, rather than using her for his own sexual fulfilment. When the Englishman initially refuses the give the Countess his bike, it symbolizes his rejection of the irrational; he refuses to be separated from his human reason.
Light is a theme used throughout 'The Lady of The House of Love', to symbolize reason and is the embodiment of the Englishman himself; he is the 'light of reason' so much so that the Countess must wear 'dark glasses' in his presence. At the end of the story the light floods into the window of the Countess' room which symbolizes reason overpowering unreason or the irrational; it shows the 'macabre bedroom' to be false and cheap. Reason states that death is the ending to ones life, however the Countess defies reason because she is the living dead, when the light is let into her room it exposes her as an illusion and an impossibility.
Roses are usually used in literature to symbolize femininity, purity and beauty, however, in 'The Lady of The House of Love', the Countess' roses are symbols of the men she has slaughtered to quench her uncontrollable thirst for blood. At the end of the novel she gives the Englishman a 'fanged rose' which she has 'plucked from between [her] thighs'this symbolizes vagina detanta (a motif of a vagina with teeth, representing male fears of castration or the dangers of sexual intercourse); the rose portrays the Countess' inability to experience pleasure, as she could not even kiss the Englishman for fear of killing him. She describes the rose 'like a flower laid on a grave', the lexis of death connotes not only The Countess' 'death', but also the 'death' of her wish for sexual fulfilment and love. However, the fact that the rose is still alive at the end of the story may suggest that there is still room for the irrational and unexplainable in the world.
The Countess pricks her finger on a rose, just like the Countess in 'The Snow Child', however, in 'The Lady of The House of Love', her death echoes the fairytale of 'Sleeping Beauty'. Carter subverts the original ending of the story as the Countess is permanently put to sleep in 'death', instead of being awoken from a deep sleep; she transforms from a supernatural creature of unreason to a human, capable of reason by succumbing to the inevitability of death.
The theme of entrapment is widely used in 'The Lady of The House of Love', not only is she trapped within the castle walls but she is also a prisoner in her own body; the Countess is trapped through her vampirism. Carter subverts the tradtional Gothic convention of women as victims, by making the women the predator and the male the prey. The countess is described in an anamalistic way when she would 'sniff the air and howl' then 'crawl on all fours' and is even likened to the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk, 'Fee, fie, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman', this highlights the Countess' supernatural and aggressive nature, foreboding her inevitable thoughts on killing the Englishman. Carter plays with the duality of animal and beast which causes us to feel unease and horror towards the Countess one minute and then sympathy and pity the next, which is ironic as she embodies the typical characteristics of a Gothic monster. Although the Countess seems as if she doesn't want to kill or harm anyone, her nature won't allow her to do anything else but kill; she even states that when she tried to think of 'any other' consummation she saw the paintings of her ancestors 'leer and grimace on the walls'.
The theme of entrapment is also shown through the lark that she locks in a cage to keep her company, 'she likes to hear it announce how it cannot escape', because the Countess does not have any control over her life or her vampirish nature, she keeps the bird locked in a cage so that she has control over it. She cannot free herself from her condition, so the lark could also represent the Countess herself and her entrapment. The imagery of the bird in a cage also links back to the larks that 'The Erl-King', kept in his 'golden' cages.
The Englishman is associated with the role of the victim as he connotes innocence and purity; he has 'blond hair', 'blue eyes'and is a 'virgin'. He rejects the belief of the supernatural as he does not 'shiver' when he enters the Countess' castle and seems to be unafraid of her.
Carter uses biblical imagery to describe the Englishman's actions as 'he gratefully [washed] his feet in the fountain', this alludes to the sacrament of Baptism in which the individual is protected from damnation. Not only does the religious lexis connote the Englishman's purity and innocence, but also his ability to stay protected from the Countess, as he leaves the castle unharmed as his pure nature saves him.
The Englishman uses a bike to travel around Romania, which represents rational thinking and reason, whereas the Countess represents the supernatural and superstition. The male in the story is shown as an innocent, which is unlike any other male character in Angela Carter's short story collection. He kisses her finger and puts the Countess to bed; he looks after her, rather than using her for his own sexual fulfilment. When the Englishman initially refuses the give the Countess his bike, it symbolizes his rejection of the irrational; he refuses to be separated from his human reason.
Light is a theme used throughout 'The Lady of The House of Love', to symbolize reason and is the embodiment of the Englishman himself; he is the 'light of reason' so much so that the Countess must wear 'dark glasses' in his presence. At the end of the story the light floods into the window of the Countess' room which symbolizes reason overpowering unreason or the irrational; it shows the 'macabre bedroom' to be false and cheap. Reason states that death is the ending to ones life, however the Countess defies reason because she is the living dead, when the light is let into her room it exposes her as an illusion and an impossibility.
Roses are usually used in literature to symbolize femininity, purity and beauty, however, in 'The Lady of The House of Love', the Countess' roses are symbols of the men she has slaughtered to quench her uncontrollable thirst for blood. At the end of the novel she gives the Englishman a 'fanged rose' which she has 'plucked from between [her] thighs'this symbolizes vagina detanta (a motif of a vagina with teeth, representing male fears of castration or the dangers of sexual intercourse); the rose portrays the Countess' inability to experience pleasure, as she could not even kiss the Englishman for fear of killing him. She describes the rose 'like a flower laid on a grave', the lexis of death connotes not only The Countess' 'death', but also the 'death' of her wish for sexual fulfilment and love. However, the fact that the rose is still alive at the end of the story may suggest that there is still room for the irrational and unexplainable in the world.
The Countess pricks her finger on a rose, just like the Countess in 'The Snow Child', however, in 'The Lady of The House of Love', her death echoes the fairytale of 'Sleeping Beauty'. Carter subverts the original ending of the story as the Countess is permanently put to sleep in 'death', instead of being awoken from a deep sleep; she transforms from a supernatural creature of unreason to a human, capable of reason by succumbing to the inevitability of death.
The Werewolf:
'The Werewolf' is based on the tale of 'Red Riding Hood', however, in Carter's version she empowers the young girl to defeat the wolf. The reader is most likely aware of the tale of 'Red Riding Hood' and therefore, Carter plays on this knowledge the reader already has about the tale by drawing parallels between what we expect to happen in the traditional tale and what actually happens in her version.
Carter uses elements of the Gothic genre to describe the setting of 'The Werewolf', the harsh 'cold weather' of the severe 'winter' landscape sets the tone for an ominous narrative; by adding this element to the story Carter prepares the reader to expect a monster. This is emphasized by the use of folklore and superstition which represents the belief system of the civilians living in the town; they have 'wreaths of garlic on [their] doors to keep out vampires' and claim that 'the devil is as real as you or I', by setting this unnerving tone it suggests that the supernatural is more real to the villagers than to the reader. The narrator goes on to explain about the witch hunts that have been undertaken in the past; they 'strip the crone'and search for her 'marks' and once they find them they 'stone [them] to death.'
The heroine in 'The Werewolf' is rather unlike the traditional character of 'Red Riding Hood' one has come to expect; she is not a defenceless girl but in fact 'a mountaineer's child' who carries a knife when venturing into the woods. She hears the'freezing howl of a wolf', 'seized her knife' and 'turned on the beast' as she 'slashed off it's right forepaw.' The heroine soon realises that the paw 'was no longer a wolf's paw' but 'a hand toughened with work', 'freckled with old age' with a 'wart on the index finger'. Clearly, Carter is hinting that the paw is actually a human hand belonging to her grandmother which bears the 'mark' of a witch, because she has combined the character of 'The Werewolf' and the heroines grandmother to create one character, it brings the dichotomy of human and beast into play. In addition it also links back to 'The Snow Child', as it suggests that women exist as rivals and can only survive if one eliminates the other.
Carter plays with opposing ideas of hatred and sympathy; can we fully blame the werewolf/her grandmother for attacking her own flesh and blood when she cannot control her animal instinct? Although the heroine attacks the werewolf in self-defence, it seems as if she becomes as violent as the werewolf when she ferociously chops off their hand, assists the villagers to stone her own grandmother to death and then 'prospers' by taking her house and belongings. Carter makes the reader criticize the actions of the wolf but also that of the heroine and townspeople, perhaps to question our morality and judgement on what we perceive is right or wrong; Who is the true beast in 'The Werewolf'?
Carter uses elements of the Gothic genre to describe the setting of 'The Werewolf', the harsh 'cold weather' of the severe 'winter' landscape sets the tone for an ominous narrative; by adding this element to the story Carter prepares the reader to expect a monster. This is emphasized by the use of folklore and superstition which represents the belief system of the civilians living in the town; they have 'wreaths of garlic on [their] doors to keep out vampires' and claim that 'the devil is as real as you or I', by setting this unnerving tone it suggests that the supernatural is more real to the villagers than to the reader. The narrator goes on to explain about the witch hunts that have been undertaken in the past; they 'strip the crone'and search for her 'marks' and once they find them they 'stone [them] to death.'
The heroine in 'The Werewolf' is rather unlike the traditional character of 'Red Riding Hood' one has come to expect; she is not a defenceless girl but in fact 'a mountaineer's child' who carries a knife when venturing into the woods. She hears the'freezing howl of a wolf', 'seized her knife' and 'turned on the beast' as she 'slashed off it's right forepaw.' The heroine soon realises that the paw 'was no longer a wolf's paw' but 'a hand toughened with work', 'freckled with old age' with a 'wart on the index finger'. Clearly, Carter is hinting that the paw is actually a human hand belonging to her grandmother which bears the 'mark' of a witch, because she has combined the character of 'The Werewolf' and the heroines grandmother to create one character, it brings the dichotomy of human and beast into play. In addition it also links back to 'The Snow Child', as it suggests that women exist as rivals and can only survive if one eliminates the other.
Carter plays with opposing ideas of hatred and sympathy; can we fully blame the werewolf/her grandmother for attacking her own flesh and blood when she cannot control her animal instinct? Although the heroine attacks the werewolf in self-defence, it seems as if she becomes as violent as the werewolf when she ferociously chops off their hand, assists the villagers to stone her own grandmother to death and then 'prospers' by taking her house and belongings. Carter makes the reader criticize the actions of the wolf but also that of the heroine and townspeople, perhaps to question our morality and judgement on what we perceive is right or wrong; Who is the true beast in 'The Werewolf'?
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