“WHY is London like Budapest?
- Because it is two cities divided by a river.”
This makes reference to the number two, when twins are born there are two, and also it refers to the idea of the rich and the poor society reflected in North and South London. Dora lives in the South of London which must be the poorer side because Dora says explains how the North is such and extravagant part of London, “North speedily whisked to exclusive shopping by abundant public transport” and “Saabs,” this refers to the upper market. Dora’s area of London is referred to as ‘the side the tourist rarely sees, the bastard side of the old Thames.” Even though Dora lives on the poor side she still likes to dress up and make sure she looks elegant to a certain standard. They have a very old dress sense but still they choose to dress that way. She values her looks very much. Dora is a very direct character and this is proved with her attempt to introduce herself on the first page when she says “Good morning! Let me introduce myself. My name is Dora Chance. Welcome to the wrong side of the tracks,” so again it refers to the poorer side of London. In addition, her relationship is established with the world and she is not afraid to criticise it. A good reference to their poverty is “and finally snuff it disregarded on the street and blow away like rags,” this shows that their poverty affected their clothes in theory, because usually people who are poverty stricken tend to have tattered, old clothes and they are referred to as being ‘rags’.
Again touching on what I said in a previous statement, she likes to look after her appearance, this is proved when it says, “We put on our faces” and also “Max-factor panstick,” “the false eyelashes with the three coats of mascara” and the best quote I think is when she says, “our fingernails match our toenails match our lipstick our rouge”, this shows that she is that concerned about their appearance that they are bothered that their lipstick, toenails and fingernails all should be the same colour. We also have the theme of reality and illusion. Angela Carter has put together the combination of real, believable and fantastical events. The effect of this is to make us accept that the events that occur are true. An example of this is when Tiffany, Dora’s god daughter, nearer the end of the chapter when she stood at the top of a stairway and had no top on. This will show Tiffany’s attitude, she was a very sinister character she was very flirtatious and cheap, so getting her breasts out would not have been a problem.
Also there is a hint of realism and illusion in this concept because it says, “long, heavy breasts, with dark nipples, real breasts, not like the ones she’d shown off like borrowed finery to the glamour lenses. This was flesh, you could see that it would bleed, you could see how it fed babies.” This shows the realism of her because if she had fake breasts then that would be the illusion of trying to fool everyone into believing that her bosoms are real but because they are real it shows the realism side of it. Another event is when Ranulph Hazard murdered Estella, Cassius Booth, and himself. This is a very believable event because things like this go on in the world today, so you can believe that he has done that, also when they find Tiffany floating in the river, that also happens in today’s world. But the illusionist point comes in probably when it says that Dora puts on all of her make up to make herself look more elegant. She will be doing this probably to make herself look younger thus emphasising on the illusion that everybody else things that they are younger than they actually are. The treatments of the events are supported with use of asides. We have references of events and characters that we have no knowledge of. For example, Pretty Kitty, all we know is that she is the mother of Nora and Dora, and that she died giving birth to them. We know nothing else about her at all. Then that Tiffany was found floating in the river, we do not know if she was murdered and had been put there by someone else or if she had just committed suicide. The use of flashbacks fills in events by moving between past and present. They do this when they start to refer to Melchior and his theatre career and then coming back to the present with Dora doing some form of activity. Most of the events are also chronological.
The intertexuality is that much of the novel depends on the readers’ knowledge of one text in order to understand events and meaning in this one. An example of this is the significance of the references to Shakespeare’s plays.
The language used in the novel is very complex. There are idioms of the elderly and of the 1940’s, this shows Dora’s age and experience. In addition, the use of cockney rhyming slang gives us a sense of time and place. Also the use of French, “bête noire” and “rive gauche, rive droite,” this shows the intertextual references and the literary style all show that Dora could possibly be educated. Also the use of colloquialism gives a more conversational style, “If your from the states, think of Manhattan. Then think of Brooklyn. See what I mean?” it is almost as if she is talking directly towards you.
Angela Carter also introduces the idea of having the use of alternative narrators. She gives Nora a voice, she also gives Tristram a voice, and she gives Peregrine a voice, and finally she gives ‘Wheelchair’ (Lady Atlanta Hazard) a voice as well.
I think that Carter uses this format of language because I think that she was brought up in a very similar way to how Dora was raised. I think that she was a very simple and colloquial speaking woman. She was very common and raised in a common lifestyle. She has tried also, I think to reflect her family through the Hazards and Chances, because both families are very complicated, this is referred to in the novel when it says, “After all, the Hazards belonged to everyone,” this showed the distance within the family. Therefore, I think that she is trying to reflect her life through the novel, ‘Wise Children.’
