This theme of innocence is also explored through the lexis of sexuality and has been used by Carter to portray the protagonist’s sexual desires, and relationship between the protagonist and her husband. The protagonist’s sexual desires are firstly shown through the personification of her ‘satin nightdress’.
“My young girl’s pointed breasts and shoulders… teasingly caressed me egregious, insinuating, nudging between my thighs.”
The positive verb choices ‘insinuating’, ‘teasingly’ and ‘nudging’ have been used by Carter to suggest the protagonists desire of corruption, however she uses the specific negative adjective choice ‘egregious’ to suggest that such an idea should be offensive. By juxtaposing this negative and positive lexis Carter implies that the protagonist has conflicting emotions of sexual desire, that she is still a ‘young girl’ and wants to remain a virgin, establishing the theme of purity.
Accompanying this theme comes the relationship between the protagonist and her husband which is displayed by Carter through the pornographic nature at which they encounter. Through the lexis of sexuality combined with the semantic of food, Carter describes their sexual ‘appetites’ and establishes that the relationship is male dominant as displayed through the husbands objectivity. In the simile ‘He stripped me…..as if he were stripping leaves of an artichoke’ Carter compares the husband stripping the protagonist to stripping an artichoke. By using the common food noun ‘artichoke’ Carter suggests that the protagonist’s husband objectifies sex, completely lacking love or tenderness, portraying a dehumanised figure. Furthermore Carter describes the protagonist’s body as meat with her husband consuming her, ‘bare as a lamb chop’. Lambs of course are young creatures so this simile also takes on the connotation of innocence. Carter also juxtaposes the image of the protagonist as ‘the child’ to the image of her husband as ‘the old, monocled lecher’ who ‘examines her’ to suggest a more pornographic picture. During this description Carter uses the third person mode of address with the protagonist referring to herself as ‘the child’ to signify that the she is trying to distant herself from such thoughts of pornography, with the noun ‘child’ connotative of innocence. Although overcome with sexual desires this pornographic picture, displayed through sexual lexis, is rejected by the protagonist as she still wants to retain her sexual identity. This theme of maintaining a sexual identity or innocence is thoroughly looked at by Carter through the eyes of a female protagonist, giving a more sincere look at the psychological emotions a woman faces in exploitation, linking to the feminist view of the story.
A system of symbols and representations are also used by Carter to set up in anticipation of the protagonist’s loss of innocence and to suggest her position in her relationship/marriage. This view is seen through Carter’s specific construction and description of their room as quoted:
“the grand, hereditary matrimonial bed,…with gargoyles carved on its surfaces of ebony, vermilion lacquer, gold leaf; and it’s white gauze curtains, billowing in the breeze. Our bed. And surrounded by so many mirrors! Mirrors on the walls…that reflected more white lilies”
The gothic ‘gargoyles’, the vivid but threatening colours of black, red and gold, and the lilies, which are funeral in their connotations signifying death, all suggest that a dark sexual act will take place there; the protagonist’s corruption. The view that the protagonists loss of innocence will take place in the room is furthermore suggested in this description by Carter through the juxtaposition of the colour ‘white’, having the connotations of purity linking to the protagonist’s virginity, to the word ‘billowing’ which is defined as a great swell, surge, or undulating mass, of water(link to the “amniotic ocean” again) or sound. In turn Carter develops the plot, setting the narrative in expectation of corruption.
Additionally the specific choice of the possessive pronoun “our” in the simple structured sentence ‘Our bed’ has been used by Crater as a modifier creating emphatic stress. Carter has structured this specific noun phrase in a minor sentence to create sarcasm, taking on the feminist view of equality and challenging the patriarchal system. Then she reverts back to the patriarchal archetype using the parataxis of ‘and’ in the exclamatory sentence to foreground the alliteration ‘many mirrors’ amplifying its symbolic meaning; the illusion that there are a “multitude of girls” there. This suggests that the protagonist is just another girl to satisfy his sexual desires, typical to the patriarchal system with male dominance, never giving the female (protagonist) an independent voice.
Carter uses the lexis of death and dread to express the protagonist’s imminent fear of her husband. Through a range of similes Crater creates an ominous tone. For instance:
‘My husband, who, with so much love, filled my bedroom with lilies until it looked like an embalming parlour.’
In this simile Carter uses the noun choice of ‘lilies’ to connote death, as the flower is iconic for funerals. It is then compared to an embalming parlour which further more suggests the theme of death. The verb choice of ‘filled’ has been used by Carter to suggest that death occupies the protagonist’s thoughts and is juxtaposed to the noun phrase ‘My husband’ and the emotive word ‘love’ to suggest the protagonist’s uncertainty in the marriage. The adverb ‘so’ in addition gives the simile a sarcastic overtone and has been used by Carter to propose that the protagonist will soon find out the true intentions of their marriage. Another example is the comparison of the ruby choker to ‘an extraordinarily precious slit throat.’ Here the adjective ‘extraordinarily’ foregrounds the following adjective ‘precious’, which is lexis of affection, and has been used by Carter to describe the ‘slit throat’ subsequently suggesting how valuable life is. In addition the consonance of this noun phrase has been cleverly used by Carter to stress the harshness and immediacy at which death can come. Carter moreover keeps introducing the disturbing image of the ruby choker throughout the story to stress that death is ever ominous, building the intensity storyline to the moment when the protagonist opens the bloody chamber.
Carter also employs the lexis of death through imagery and symbolism to emphasise the horror of the bloody chamber. Upon opening the iron maiden the protagonist finds a ‘sculpted face of rictus pain’ pierced by ‘a hundred spikes’. Here Carter describes the body of ‘the child’ using an image of vampires, with the spikes that pierce her body signifying vampire’s teeth, sucking blood from their victims. This can also be an example of symbolism, being interpreted as phallic lexis with the spikes representing the male genitalis, piercing or corrupting the female, and with the loss of her innocence there is nothing left to live for; only death. Carter furthermore uses ellipses and the subordinate exclamatory clause ‘…Oh god!’ to establish the protagonist’s shocking realisation that her husband is a killer. Additionally the numerous rhetorical questions that follow stress her dread of death. In general, Carter’s use of the lexis of death and dread throughout the story implies gothic themes, adding a disturbing and grotesque image towards the plot.
To portray the image of the protagonist’s husband, Carter uses an array of similes to suggest his authority and masculinity, in turn portraying him as a powerful patriarchal character. For instance in the following simile his ‘dark and motionless eyes’ are compared to that of the paintings of ancient Egyptians:
‘A huge man, an enormous man, and his eyes, dark and motionless as those eyes that ancient Egyptians painted upon their sarcophagi, fixed upon me.’
The image of Egyptians, who were considered a very established and high class civilisation during their time, has been used by Carter to suggest the husband’s higher power status to his lower class wife. Later on Carter also describes his eye through religious lexis as “the eye of god”. With God being a symbol of patriarchal power the husband is once again shown as the dominant figure in their relationship. The use of this imagery associated to the eye suggests Carter’s attempt to project the soul of the character as powerful, domineering and ever watchful. Further more the reformulation of his ‘huge’ size suggests also suggests his greater authority and also perhaps signifies his masculinity.
Furthermore, Carter also portrays the husband’s masculinity through the simile ‘as fat as a baby’s arm’ which is in reference to the fat cigar he is smoking. This image could perhaps be interpreted as phallic lexis, with the male gentiles compared to a fat baby, which is connotative of innocence, therefore suggesting his dark and mysterious demeanour of corrupting the protagonist; giving her a ‘sharp premonition of dread’. Additionally Carter’s specific chose of the noun ‘fat’, which can be defined as the best or richest part, suggests his high class status and also in a phallic sense his powerful masculinity. This image of a male dominant, high class figure whose demeanour is corruption subsequently develops anticipation within the plot and also establishes a powerful male archetype, typical to the patriarchal system.
Carter however also uses other archetypes to instead challenge the patriarchal system and establish a more matriarchal story. The blind piano tuner adds a balance to the husband portraying a more defenceless and emasculated male character. Carter uses a more feminised approach when describing him, using adjectives such as ‘gentle’ and ‘tender’, and juxtaposes them against the more repugnant descriptions of the husband, such as the simile ‘like a grotesque carnival head’. This therefore suggests the ideology that masculine males are portrayed as brutal. Crater furthermore has specifically chosen the disability of the man as blind as it connotes a sense of innocence, subverting traditional gender roles and giving him equal status with the protagonist, presenting the idea of male and female equality.
In turn Carter also explores the archetype of the dominant female, the protagonist’s mother. At the beginning of the story Carter describes the protagonist’s mother through animal imagery of an ‘eagle’, which connotes power, and also through the noun ‘indomitable’ meaning strong. Carter then depicts how she ‘shot a man eating tiger with her own hand.’ This description ultimately sets up the mother’s character as a strong female figure that is always impending, which becomes very important for the resolution of the narrative. The resolution, where the mother rescues her daughter from a gruesome death which her husband intends, challenges the patriarchal system of a male ‘saving the day’. Carter changes the end of the original “Bluebeard” storyline, taking this matriarchal stance to furthermore support her feminist viewpoint, and superficially allowing the reader to visualize the complete image of the female; both dominant and subordinate.
Overall Angela Carter’s retelling establishes a wider sense of feminism and the power dynamics of sexual desire. Her vivid descriptions characterise the female and male archetypes portraying a more three dimensional matriarchal image. With the prominent themes of eroticism and death Carter is able to establish morals such as ‘do not be disobedient’ and ‘do not marry hastily’, as well as including a coda; ‘beware of men and becoming subservient to men. In due course Carter creates an original fascinating story.
(2277 words, not incl. title)
