My second instalment of reviews are 'The Tiger's Bride' and'Puss-in-Boot's', from Angela Carter's 'The Bloody Chamber'and other stories.
'The Tiger's Bride' explores the objectification of women and the transgression from human to beast and 'Puss-in-Boots'revolves around a cat whose flamboyant actions and involvement in mischievous plans play out throughout the story.
The Tiger's Bride:
The
very first line in Angela Carters 'The
Tigers Bride', is 'My
father lost me to The Beast at cards', this
suggests that the female has been physically sold highlighting the
objectification of women and the use of the word 'Beast' implies
that her father has sold her to something which is not human, which
adds another intriguing element to the story. She states that'my
father said he loved me yet he staked his daughter on a hand of
cards', he
has gambled her carelessly in a drunken stupor and objectifies her by
calling her 'my
pearl beyond price'; a
pearl is precious and 'beyond
price' could
suggest that he sees her as more precious than a pearl, however, I
believe that the use of the word 'price' indicates
the buying and selling of a physical object and in this case
the 'pearl' is
the heroine who is being sold for her fathers pleasure and financial
gain.
The heroine states that 'The Beast' is wearing a 'mask' which conceals all of his features but notices that he has 'yellow eyes', which allows us to realize that there is an animal/beast behind the façade of a man. She describes the mask as being 'too perfect' which has 'too much formal symmetry of feature to be entirely human', the abnormality of the mask 'appals'the narrator because it represents a model of idealized perfection which makes him appear as a 'carnival figure' making him look like an object himself. The narrator also notices that he looked as if he was 'fighting a losing battle with himself to remain upright when he would far rather drop down on all fours', which emphasizes 'The Beasts' awkward attempt to act human hiding behind his 'robe'.
Carter regularly brings elements of folklore and peculiar tales about the alleged antagonists in her collection of short stories. In 'The Tiger's Bride', the narrator recalls a story her nurse maid would tell her of 'the tiger man' to scare her into'good behaviour', claiming that the 'tiger-man' would come and take her away if she didn't eat her 'boiled beetroot' and that he would 'gobble' her up. Carter plays on the idea of 'old wife's tales' and 'nursery fears' which we were probably all told as a child to ensure 'good behaviour', but she also hints at civilizations misconception of 'the tiger-man', as they do not attempt to understand him, even the narrator retorted that she 'did not understand them' at the beginning of the story, but she in fact appears to not want to understand them; once she does this element of initial ignorance swiftly changes as her transformation from human to beast becomes closer.
'The Beast' summons the girl and the valet explains to her that his only wish is to see her naked and once he has then she is free to go and he will repay her father the money which he lost to him playing cards. The narrator retorts that he seemed 'ashamed of his own request' and at first she 'let out a raucous guffaw', exclaiming that 'no lady laughs like that', this could perhaps indicate her animalistic instinct scratching at the surface at 'The Beasts' request, which foreshadows her transformation.
The narrator agrees to his request, but only if he places her in a 'windowless room' with a 'sheet over [her] face', only then will she pull her skirt to her waist. As requested she is escorted to a 'cell' which is 'windowless', almost like a prison cell, where she encounters a clockwork maid which resembles the heroine herself, although she is the embodiment of purity with 'glossy nut-brown curls', 'rosy cheeks', the maid also has 'nut-brown curls' and 'rosy cheeks' along with 'white stockings'and 'frilled petticoats.' who powders the heroines cheeks to make her appear doll-like. The soubrette represents society's idealization of feminine beauty who needs someone to wind her up before she can complete her tasks, highlighting that women are seen as figures who are unable to act for themselves. Once the heroine realises her own inner beauty and desires, she no longer submits to gender stereotypes and states that she will dress her 'clockwork twin' in her clothes and wind her up to send back to her father.
We learn that the heroines reluctance to embrace her sexual desire at the beginning of the story stalled her transition into her true animal self. The valet states that she must 'prepare [herself] for the sight of [his] master naked', The Beast's request to see her naked was not purely to objectify her like society does but to accept him in his true form. The narrator states that 'the tiger will never lie down with the lamb' because 'the lamb must learn to run with tigers', I believe that she is suggesting women are made to feel like helpless lambs by male objectification, but they are actually tigers underneath, they just need to realise their own desires and embrace their true self to be free from patriarchal expectations.
The heroines sexual desire was present at the beginning of the story as she gave her father a 'white rose', this presents her virginal and pure self, however, when she pricks her finger on it and exclaims that it is 'smeared with blood', it foreshadows the loss of her virginity through her physical transformation into a beast, but also her transformation from purity (a white rose) to a lustful and sexual creature (a bloodied rose).
The image of rebirth is present when the heroine transforms into a creature, she can already feel herself changing when she states that she is 'stripping off [her] own underpelt'. She exclaims that 'He will lick the skin off [her]!' as 'each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin after successive skin' leaving her with 'beautiful fur'. Her 'skin' could represent her past life in the domineering world of masculine control which is being 'ripped off' allowing her to be reborn into her true skin, a tigress.
The heroine states that 'The Beast' is wearing a 'mask' which conceals all of his features but notices that he has 'yellow eyes', which allows us to realize that there is an animal/beast behind the façade of a man. She describes the mask as being 'too perfect' which has 'too much formal symmetry of feature to be entirely human', the abnormality of the mask 'appals'the narrator because it represents a model of idealized perfection which makes him appear as a 'carnival figure' making him look like an object himself. The narrator also notices that he looked as if he was 'fighting a losing battle with himself to remain upright when he would far rather drop down on all fours', which emphasizes 'The Beasts' awkward attempt to act human hiding behind his 'robe'.
Carter regularly brings elements of folklore and peculiar tales about the alleged antagonists in her collection of short stories. In 'The Tiger's Bride', the narrator recalls a story her nurse maid would tell her of 'the tiger man' to scare her into'good behaviour', claiming that the 'tiger-man' would come and take her away if she didn't eat her 'boiled beetroot' and that he would 'gobble' her up. Carter plays on the idea of 'old wife's tales' and 'nursery fears' which we were probably all told as a child to ensure 'good behaviour', but she also hints at civilizations misconception of 'the tiger-man', as they do not attempt to understand him, even the narrator retorted that she 'did not understand them' at the beginning of the story, but she in fact appears to not want to understand them; once she does this element of initial ignorance swiftly changes as her transformation from human to beast becomes closer.
'The Beast' summons the girl and the valet explains to her that his only wish is to see her naked and once he has then she is free to go and he will repay her father the money which he lost to him playing cards. The narrator retorts that he seemed 'ashamed of his own request' and at first she 'let out a raucous guffaw', exclaiming that 'no lady laughs like that', this could perhaps indicate her animalistic instinct scratching at the surface at 'The Beasts' request, which foreshadows her transformation.
The narrator agrees to his request, but only if he places her in a 'windowless room' with a 'sheet over [her] face', only then will she pull her skirt to her waist. As requested she is escorted to a 'cell' which is 'windowless', almost like a prison cell, where she encounters a clockwork maid which resembles the heroine herself, although she is the embodiment of purity with 'glossy nut-brown curls', 'rosy cheeks', the maid also has 'nut-brown curls' and 'rosy cheeks' along with 'white stockings'and 'frilled petticoats.' who powders the heroines cheeks to make her appear doll-like. The soubrette represents society's idealization of feminine beauty who needs someone to wind her up before she can complete her tasks, highlighting that women are seen as figures who are unable to act for themselves. Once the heroine realises her own inner beauty and desires, she no longer submits to gender stereotypes and states that she will dress her 'clockwork twin' in her clothes and wind her up to send back to her father.
We learn that the heroines reluctance to embrace her sexual desire at the beginning of the story stalled her transition into her true animal self. The valet states that she must 'prepare [herself] for the sight of [his] master naked', The Beast's request to see her naked was not purely to objectify her like society does but to accept him in his true form. The narrator states that 'the tiger will never lie down with the lamb' because 'the lamb must learn to run with tigers', I believe that she is suggesting women are made to feel like helpless lambs by male objectification, but they are actually tigers underneath, they just need to realise their own desires and embrace their true self to be free from patriarchal expectations.
The heroines sexual desire was present at the beginning of the story as she gave her father a 'white rose', this presents her virginal and pure self, however, when she pricks her finger on it and exclaims that it is 'smeared with blood', it foreshadows the loss of her virginity through her physical transformation into a beast, but also her transformation from purity (a white rose) to a lustful and sexual creature (a bloodied rose).
The image of rebirth is present when the heroine transforms into a creature, she can already feel herself changing when she states that she is 'stripping off [her] own underpelt'. She exclaims that 'He will lick the skin off [her]!' as 'each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin after successive skin' leaving her with 'beautiful fur'. Her 'skin' could represent her past life in the domineering world of masculine control which is being 'ripped off' allowing her to be reborn into her true skin, a tigress.
Puss-in-Boots:
'Puss' is presented to the reader as a typical hero in fairy-tales, a flamboyant character who displays his male sexuality and sexual bravado with a bawdy sense of humour; he is also humanised wearing 'boots', which serve as a visible manifestation of his chauvinistic character.
Carter uses the traditional fairytale story of a princess trapped in a tower to explore the objectification, subjugation and imprisonment of women. The virginal women is trapped in the middle of the town square in a tower whilst the townspeople ignore her plight for freedom, this may be because they accept the confining role of a woman and the dominant role of the man in marriage. Her husband 'Signor Panteleone', only allows his wife to look out of the window each day 'for one hour, and one hour only', she is a prisoner to chauvinism and patriarchal control; her husband views her as his 'prize possession' and calls her his 'bargain', which links to The Marquis' objectification of the young heroine in 'The Bloody Chamber'.
'Signor Panteleone' consents 'to finger her a little', this suggests that he believes he is doing his wife a favour, ironically he is doing the opposite by treating her as an object. His name 'Signor Panteleone' translates to 'Sir pants', pants are a symbol of male power, just as the 'boots' are on 'Puss', however, Carter uses irony as he is impotent, he doesn't want to 'profligate his natural essence' and therefore doesn't engage in sex with his own wife; he treats her like an animal every time he touches her and she is powerless to his actions whilst her sexuality is stifled.
'Puss' is likened to 'Signor Panteleone' when he engages in casual sex with a tabby cat, she welcomes Puss' advances whilst he 'grasped the slack of her neck', he considers it a sexual favour which she should be honoured to have experienced just as'Signor Panteleone' 'consents to finger' his submissive wife. 'Puss' even describes his Master having sex with 'Signor Panteleone's wife as a sport; she shows him 'the target' as he 'displays the dart', the phallic imagery emphasizes the male as the dominant force and the submissive female as mere equipment.
Although the ending of 'Puss-in-Boots' appears unified and happy, 'Puss' still possesses the same chauvinistic qualities as before exclaiming 'So may all your wives, if you need them, be rich and pretty; and all your husbands, if you want them, be young and virile', although he seems to be giving the female a choice, that they can choose a husband if '[they] want', he also emphasizes gender stereotypes, that women should be 'young and pretty', whilst men should be 'young and virile.'
'Puss-in-Boots', is my least favourite short story from the whole collection, I believe it may be because the representation of women is a lot less dominant than in Carter's other stories. This may be due to the fact 'Puss' is the narrator, which gives a male voice throughout 'Puss-in-Boots' which therefore, denies the feminine voice of the heroine.
Carter uses the traditional fairytale story of a princess trapped in a tower to explore the objectification, subjugation and imprisonment of women. The virginal women is trapped in the middle of the town square in a tower whilst the townspeople ignore her plight for freedom, this may be because they accept the confining role of a woman and the dominant role of the man in marriage. Her husband 'Signor Panteleone', only allows his wife to look out of the window each day 'for one hour, and one hour only', she is a prisoner to chauvinism and patriarchal control; her husband views her as his 'prize possession' and calls her his 'bargain', which links to The Marquis' objectification of the young heroine in 'The Bloody Chamber'.
'Signor Panteleone' consents 'to finger her a little', this suggests that he believes he is doing his wife a favour, ironically he is doing the opposite by treating her as an object. His name 'Signor Panteleone' translates to 'Sir pants', pants are a symbol of male power, just as the 'boots' are on 'Puss', however, Carter uses irony as he is impotent, he doesn't want to 'profligate his natural essence' and therefore doesn't engage in sex with his own wife; he treats her like an animal every time he touches her and she is powerless to his actions whilst her sexuality is stifled.
'Puss' is likened to 'Signor Panteleone' when he engages in casual sex with a tabby cat, she welcomes Puss' advances whilst he 'grasped the slack of her neck', he considers it a sexual favour which she should be honoured to have experienced just as'Signor Panteleone' 'consents to finger' his submissive wife. 'Puss' even describes his Master having sex with 'Signor Panteleone's wife as a sport; she shows him 'the target' as he 'displays the dart', the phallic imagery emphasizes the male as the dominant force and the submissive female as mere equipment.
Although the ending of 'Puss-in-Boots' appears unified and happy, 'Puss' still possesses the same chauvinistic qualities as before exclaiming 'So may all your wives, if you need them, be rich and pretty; and all your husbands, if you want them, be young and virile', although he seems to be giving the female a choice, that they can choose a husband if '[they] want', he also emphasizes gender stereotypes, that women should be 'young and pretty', whilst men should be 'young and virile.'
'Puss-in-Boots', is my least favourite short story from the whole collection, I believe it may be because the representation of women is a lot less dominant than in Carter's other stories. This may be due to the fact 'Puss' is the narrator, which gives a male voice throughout 'Puss-in-Boots' which therefore, denies the feminine voice of the heroine.
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