Like the chamber of secrets. I feel like reading Harry Potter. If only there was as much innuendo in it as there is in The Bloody Chamber.
So I finished last time on the character of the marquis. What a tw*t he was. A much nicer example of a man is the piano tuner. I won't go into detail on him cos I did a whole labour of love on him last week. Basically he rocks despite his blindness. Carter is widening access here. Nice one. Except the narrator doesn't need any wider access cos she's a ssshhhllaaagg. JOKES don't lynch me feminists (rosie f).
Anyway with the whole feminism thing, the character of the mother is a hugely powerful one. The other powerful figure in the story, the marquis, is a symbol of corruption and evil, whereas the mother's power is wholly good and admirable. From the very start we are aware that the narrator emulates her mother, and she is shown as strong and courageous, having shot tigers and fought pirates, even though those seem the kind of stories we are told as children which may not actually be true. My mum is weird like this. She used to tell us stories and change all the male heroes into female ones. Hence my confusion at seeing the film of the snowman...i was sure it should be the snowoman. Regardless, this mother figure actually is as powerful and wise as she seems. Her 'mother's intuition' tingles when she talks on the phone to the narrator. Because of course crying at gold bath taps means your daughter's husband is about to murder her. Duh. She rides in and saves the day. She is a great example of a powerful woman but I dislike the way she is portrayed as masculine, as if a woman has to be manly to be strong.
Another feminism thing is the 'shame' the narrator mentions at the end. I think this refers to shame at being a weak woman, having submitted to her husband's will, and accepting his decision to murder her. That's just insane. I would be ashamed of that. The narrator is comparing herself to her mother, who is powerful and independant, traits the narrator doesn't show.
I did have more to say but I'm hungry and my genius is spent.
I like the way you've compared the Marquis' power with that of the mother - how the two different concepts of power are presented as a kind of 'good power' and 'bad power'. This sort of ties in with what I've been blogging about - finding the 'fairytale links' - as does your point about the 'mother and the tiger' story being the sort of story you tell a child. I think the idea of childhood stories and beliefs runs throughout The Bloody Chamber as we hear the Piano Tuner saying he thought tales of the 'Castle of Death' were fabricated stories told simply to make children behave - in a way, the narrator is presented as a child or is, at least, considered by the Marquis to be a 'baby' and in this sense is the 'child' being forced to behave by the discovery of the 'Castle of Death' realities.
ReplyDeleteSorry for waffling...again.
"She used to tell us stories and change all the male heroes into female ones." tell eleri i approve! but how is the mother portrayed as masculine? and dya really think the stories about her killing tigers etc aren't true? aw :( then again, if the stories of the castle of death are true, then why not for the mother :D
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