An Interpretation Of The Magic Toyshop From The Perspective Of Gothic Feminism

As one of the most productive writers,Angela Carter wrote nine novels and various collections of short stories in her distinctive style.To exaggerate horrible atmosphere,she managed to rewrite classical fairy tales and combine reality with imagination together.Moreover,the publication of The Magic Toyshop which was her second novel won her first literary honor—The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.It told a story about the journey of self-discovery and subjectivity construction experienced by 15-year-old Melanie,which marked that she has opened a unique way for magical realism in British style.At home and abroad,The Magic Toyshop has been examined from different aspects especially from narratology,carnivalization,and intertextuality.Therefore,an interpretation on this novel from the female Gothic perspective is a brand new attempt.Except for introduction and conclusion part,this thesis includes four chapters in all.The introduction mainly talks about the living experience,writing style as well as her work The Magic Toyshop in brief.And the research status at home and abroad of The Magic Toyshop is included to state the academic value of this thesis.The first chapter is the narration of the theoretical foundation about the application of the feminist theories in female Gothic novel.First of all,it's the introduction of the origin,development and features about female Gothic novel.In addition,there is a brief interpretation about Gothic Feminism.The second chapter combines the text with Gothic Feminism to discuss the female Gothic elements featured from the environmental aspect in detail.This chapter tends to talk about the setting and some images including the toy shop,necklace,puppets and wedding dress,which aims to unfold the constraint to females as well as their miserable fate.In addition,it reveals the anxiety and fear of Melanie caused under Uncle Philip's oppression by analyzing the supernatural elements—dream and illusion.The third chapter is an interpretation about its female Gothic characters in this novel.Based on Gothic Feminism,how Angela Carter reveals female oppressive living status with the Gothic elements is explored.It discusses the cold-blooded behavior of Uncle Phillip as a bluebeard and Jonathon as a patriarchal inheritor as well as narrates the painful sufferings of both Margaret and Melanie.The fourth chapter is the part reflecting the theme of the female Gothic novel,which analyzes awakening of female consciousness and revolt against the patriarchal authority in The Magic Toyshop.Faced with the masculine oppression and hegemony,the heroines show their bravery and independence during the process from burgeon and awakening of female consciousness to the revolt against the paternity fearlessly.The conclusion part aims to make a summary about the whole paper.With the help of the chapters above,we can know that Angela Carter tends to expose the tragic fate of women through the description of The Magic Toyshop and seek a way attentively so as to build up a harmonious relation between both genders when expressing her feminist views.