The Bloody Chamber - By Angela Carter

The aspect of feminism is a focal point in Angela Carter's, 'The Bloody Chamber', with her feminist views being vehemently put forward across every story in the collection. Carter was brought up during the Second World War by her grandmother, during which time there was a clear patriarchal society, which likely contributed to her future feminist viewpoints. She was also largely influenced by surrealism, an aspect of which focussed on social and sexual relationships, which led to her view that male desire tainted the imagination, and that female desire was denied.

In the title story, 'The Bloody Chamber', the wives, past and present, are objectified by the Marquis, as he literally puts them on display, 'the opera singer lay, quite naked'. Here the domination over women portrayed by the Marquis allows for a feminist interpretation, because he manipulates and literally moulds them in order to satisfy his erotic tastes. This acts as a metaphor for women being purely a model for men to build their lives around, alluding to the idea of socialist feminism, where such feminists believe in inequality in the social hierarchy. In 'The Werewolf' however, this idea is contradicted, as the girl 'knows how to use' her 'fathers hunting knife'. Although the word 'father' allows for the assumption that she was taught by him, there is still an element of female equality. Objectification often derives from the female gaze, which can be seen in alignment with feminism, an example of which is where the girl in 'The Bloody Chamber' is 'surrounded by so many mirrors!' Here the self-critical nature of the girl conforms to the norms of the male gaze, and therefore it makes the gazed become an object, as opposed to a person, which causes patriarchy, and is thus deemed a feminist portrayal.

Similarly, objectification is used in 'The Snowchild', as the Count gets 'the child of his desire', with the possessive pronoun 'his' indicating his ownership of the girl. The patriarchal dominance portrayed here coheres to radical feminist views, that through gender there is a division of rights, privileges and power, resulting in the oppressing of women and privileging of men. An example of such a view is through the referral of the girl as, 'the girl', which would be viewed as demeaning by radical feminists because she has been categorised by her sex, this feeling is exemplified through 'the Count', whom is classed by his position of power and stature, causing him to appear more dominant. Furthermore the capitalisation of the 'C' in 'Count' and 'Countess', compared to the lower case 'g' in 'girl', draws attention to the idea that women are not "worthy" of a name, unless they have a man.

Pornography in 'The Bloody Chamber' is a hotly discussed topic, as expressed by Robin Ann Sheets' who says how Carter 'assumes that pornography encourages violence against women'. This idea, I believe, is proved throughout the bloody chamber stories, in particular 'The Bloody Chamber' where the Marquis asks 'Have the nasty pictures scared baby?' the language here is not only patronising of the age and maturity of his wife, but it's also ominous and the reader assumes that violence is imminent, and the connection between pornography and violence is obvious. This can be interpreted in a feminist manner because many feminists oppose pornography, as it is demeaning to woman who are used for male gratification, shown by 'prayer books', because without them men are not satisfied. This is depicted further by the girl finding the 'Reproof of Curiosity' and another pornographic image, which shows just how reliant the Marquis is of pornography, which could be said to show how he is not satisfied with what an actual woman can offer him. However, pornography does have its supporting feminists, Wendy McElroy states how 'Pornography benefits woman, both personally and politically.' She argues that it is good for woman, not only men, to be sexually curious, yet this idea seems to be completely juxtaposed by the girl, as she 'gasps' at the sight of the pictures. The sheer shock that the girl shows epitomises feminist ideals about pornography.

'The Bloody Chamber' can be deemed a bildungsroman, as it looks at the development of woman, and how society moulds them. The girl throughout the bulk of the story has wealth, power, and fame, but is almost killed for her troubles 'the whizz of that heavy sword.' Yet, afterwards the girl learns from her mistakes and consequently gives away her riches, and marries a piano tuner who can only judge her based on her personality, due to his blindness, 'busily engaged in setting up house with a piano tuner'. This also typifies social feminist's views on the economic stature of women.

The narrator of the 'The Bloody Chamber' is the girl; this is rather ironic of the fairy tale genre, which usually has a male or omnipotent narrative voice. By giving the girl this role Carter allows her to put across her own first-hand views and opinions; alternatively it could be argued that the girl is now taking the role of a typical male protagonist, as it is he who usually gives his account of the story, and what she says could be bias and manipulative, and therefore could be seen as a mockery of the feminist viewpoint. This is compared to the omnipotent narrative voice, and in particular the openings. In 'The Snow Child' and 'The Werewolf', the imagery to lead the plot in is a lot more colourful, 'they have cold weather, they have cold hearts' and 'Midwinter - invincible, immaculate.' The use of winter and white acts a metaphor for virginity and innocence, and the narrative voice emphasises this so much that the reader almost assumes that it is from a male perspective, as the focus seemingly is on how men see women as just sexual objects. This is evident through 'the child of his desire', despite this the hyperbolic language about virginity is done to such an extent that it becomes nearly meaningless, and in fact turns into more of a burlesque of the feminist tradition, which could cause the reader to argue against a feminist interpretation, because Carter just wanted to mock the extreme views of some feminists.

In 'The Snow Child' passive male dominance is shown in the way that the Countess never argues against the Count: 'Is she a fish to swim in such cold water?'; and 'I'll buy you new gloves.' Because the Countess doesn't argue she recognises that the Count has the final say, which is metaphorical for the patriarchal society in which Carter grew up, as the Countess is submissive and knows her place in the eyes of the Count. Having said this, the Count 'boughs and hands' the rose to his wife, which could be said to show how it is the Countess who holds the power, and can be authoritative when needed, this conforms to Simone de Beauvoir's, 'The Second Sex', in which she opens with, 'One is not born but becomes a woman'. This to me means that a woman has a choice whether or not to be dominated, and this is perfectly demonstrated here by the Countess's complete change in persona, which depicts her as being a masochist, because she chooses to be subjugated by the Count. This idea is further put forward by the loss of her clothes, 'dropped her glove', 'furs sprang off the Countess's shoulders', and 'boots leapt off the Countess's feet'. At each stage, it is the Countess who begins the cycle, showing how she gets enjoyment over being so cold, thus is deemed masochistic. The need for a man as a source of protection and security is clear throughout a majority of the stories, in 'The Werewolf' the girl has to use her 'fathers hunting knife', this shows how even if a male character isn't present they still have to protect the female, which shows how dependant women are on a man. The 'knife' also acts a phallic symbol, and through this I think that woman's dependence on men is just further highlighted.

A key theme of feminist texts is the idea of female subjugation, the girl coheres to the theme, shown by, 'Then he sharply ordered: 'Kneel!' I knelt before him'. This is relatable to liberal feminism, where feminists argue that women aren't getting enough "top-end" jobs, because of the submissive nature of women to men. The fact the girl complies so freely also indicates how she is perhaps a masochist, which would mean she embodies few feminist traits, considering the two are very lightly linked. Subjugation is a reoccurring theme amongst 'The Bloody Chamber' stories, and not always from men, in 'The Snow Child' the Countess demands that the girl 'picks' her 'a rose', to which she complies, this leads to the child's death, and this shows how women are just as scheming as men, as further shown by 'The Countess had only one though: how shall I rid of her?' The blunt nature of the question leaves no doubt in the readers mind that she will get her way, and it is because of her persevering nature that she does.

In conclusion, there are clear aspects of 'The Bloody Chamber' that allow it to be interpreted as a feminist text, with the metaphors subtly hinting at how women are mistreated and dominated by men, and in addition the obvious submissive nature of the female characters in relation to the male characters, with demands being constantly given. Alternatively there are parts that allow for a non-feminist interpretation, such as the masochistic nature of the girl in 'The Bloody Chamber' and the female rivalry being the bigger evil in 'The Snowchild' and in 'The Werewolf'. However overall, in my mind I believe that there is a clear feministic overtone to each of the stories, whether it is subtle or flamboyant.