A Study Of The Female Gothic Elements In The Bloody Chamber

Angela Carter(1940-1992), an English novelist, has been praised as “the high sorceress” in English literature. She is good at rewriting the classic fairy tales. Her works, especially The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, have attracted attention of many critics. The Bloody Chamber has been studied from different perspectives of feminism, Gothic and the pornography,but there are not enough systematic studies from the perspective of Female Gothic. Therefore,this thesis will interpret the stories from this perspective.No clear-cut definition has been given to the Female Gothic, but there are two standards to identify it — “Female” and “Gothic.” These standards fit well in The Bloody Chamber. In view of the conservatism reflected in some ideas of Female Gothic tradition, Carter develops the tradition while inheriting it. The Female Gothic elements in The Bloody Chamber include the following three aspects. First, almost each story in the book features a heroine as the narrator,except the “Puss in Boots.” Although Carter’s heroines are young, beautiful virgins who lack properties, they are no more completely passive victims. Besides, in contrast with the self-divided heroines in traditional Female Gothic, Carter creates hybrid heroines, either a hybridity of “angel” and “witch,” or of “animal” and “human.” In doing so, Carter attacks the prescribed roles of the female and imparts the female the power to subvert patriarchal society.Second, the image of the male characters and the family members in the Female Gothic tradition are modified in Carter’s works. Heroes can no longer protect the female while the personalities of male villains aren’t flat any more. The parental home is no more a refuge which can shelter the heroines from the persecution in the patriarchal society. The roles of fathers and mothers vary in Carter’s rewriting. The last but not the least, Carter inherits but develops the traditional Female Gothic plots which can be roughly divided into three stages: confinement, escape and marriage. Carter revises it into a new pattern of confinement, quest and open ending. In the stage of confinement, the persecution imposed on the female by the patriarchal society is exposed. In the stage of quest, the female construct their self-identities. And by creating the open ending,Carter mocks the conservatism and hypocrisy of the marriage in patriarchal society.In a word, Carter inherits but revises the Female Gothic tradition to express her reflection on the male-female relationship and the female situation in reality.