To what extent do the works of Shelley, Carter and Coleridge reinforce traditional masculine and feminine roles?

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To what extent do the works of Shelley, Carter and Coleridge reinforce traditional masculine and feminine roles?

Although the terms ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ are not easily defined, there are some key characteristics for both. Women in Gothic Literature that show feminine characteristics are usually; vulnerable, helpless, emotional, weak, defensive, easily led, victims of predators and are typically threatened by a powerful or impulsive male figure. Those that show masculine characteristics on the other hand, are typically; dominant, strong, assertive, powerful, sexual predators and are portrayed as heroes. Religion played a big part in ensuring that it was a male dominated society. The majority of people were Christians and God fearing. In the bible; males are always portrayed as the dominant sex and females regularly overlooked. Because of this, many people thought that they also had to live in a male dominated society in order to be seen as good Christians. Coleridge and Carter also conform to this stereotype in some of their writing in order to please society rather than going against it. Earlier Gothic texts; Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner, for example reinforces these stereotypes, by making the story male dominated and by including few female characters. Angela Carter’s ‘Bloody Chamber’ also reinforces these traditional masculine and feminine stereotypes as the female character in the novel is vulnerable and helpless while under the control of the Marquis. Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ however, attempts to challenge the traditional masculine and feminine roles by including female characters of high importance in the novel.

Angela Carter conforms to the traditional belief that females tend to have a dependency on men. In ‘Bloody Chamber’ the heroine of the story marries the marquis for wealth and social status as opposed to her loving him. When asked if she loves him, the heroine replies, “I’m sure I want to marry him” this shows her disappointing dependency on men. She is not convinced she loves him yet still sees it as beneficial to marry him, going against the example set by her “eagle-featured indomitable mother”, an independent, brave and heroic woman who eventually saves her daughter from certain death at the hands of her supposed husband. The heroin then goes on to say “In the midst of my bridal triumph, I felt a pang of loss… when he put the gold band on my finger, I had ceased to be her child in becoming his wife”. This suggests that marriage is a method of male ownership over women as she feels that, on wearing the “gold band” she no longer belongs to her maternal mother, but her husband instead. She, in turn, has lost her identity. Carter continues to portray male dominance when she reveals that the marquis had “had her expose her flat breasts and elongated thighs”. This is further evidence of his patriarchal control over her as it sounds as if she has been forced into being nude in order to please him. In addition to this, the marquis forces her to wear a choker which she says “clasped around my throat”. This choker becomes a symbol of oppression while also reinforcing feminine and masculine role. By using the choker, Carter has portrayed the heroine as helpless and weak while depicting the marquis as dominant and powerful. The heroine states that the choker “clasped” around her throat. This personification of an inanimate object implies that it is in fact the marquis hands that hold her around her neck, constraining and inhibiting her. The marquis in Bloody Chamber can be likened to the character Geraldine in ‘Christabel’. Samuel Taylor Coleridge uses Geraldine, to exhibit the masculine characteristics expected from a character such as the marquis. When in the bedroom with Christabel, she gives an order to her and Christabel, being a typical gothic woman obeys the order and does so. Geraldine says, “But now unrobe yourself” and in response to this, Christabel states, “so let it be”. Because Christabel agrees to do so, there are also parallels between herself and the heroine in bloody chamber. Once they are married, the Marquis is in total control over her and she obeys his every command. She is forced to wear a choker under his instruction and he also instructs her on which clothes she should wear. Gina Wisker states “Carter has been seen critically as part of the new wave of contemporary women writers of the Gothic for her use of paradox, irony, myth, fairy tale and horror tropes to critique the contemporary world. One of her favourite subjects for Gothic and horror writing is the gendered construction and representations of power which render woman as automata, puppets and femmes fatale.” The heroine can be seen as one of these ‘puppet’ characters as she is been controlled and manipulated by the marquis constantly.

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Carter decides to separate the portrayal of sex from the expression and ideology of romance in favour of a more sensual approach. This is clearly visible in the animal stories of The Bloody Chamber, especially in the ‘wolf’ tales. In ‘The Company of Wolves’, we see the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ figure adopt an entirely unfamiliar approach in her dealings with the wolf (actually a huntsman/werewolf in a twist which allows the male figure to simultaneously occupy the position of the hunter and the hunted) when she refuses to be sexually dominated by him. There seems to be a choice ...

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