Key
Question: How does Carter
synthesise the symbols and characteristics of transformation from The
Bloody Chamber in
‘Wolf-Alice’?
In
‘Wolf-Alice’, Carter’s use of mirrors and natural cycles reveals cultural
anxieties about discovering identity through transformations. Wolf-Alice ‘would
have called herself a wolf’ despite being a human because she identifies
herself as a wolf. When she first encounters a mirror, ‘she tried to nuzzle her
reflection’, demonstrating that she does not recognise her reflection. As a
symbol of rationality, the mirror shows her physical transformation from girl
to woman. Following her first menstruation cycle, Wolf-Alice recognises
herself: ‘her relation with the mirror was now far more intimate since she saw
herself in it’. The use of comparative language shows how Wolf-Alice changes as
she begins puberty. Often seen as a taboo subject, Carter uses Gothic tropes of
naive, virginal females and wolves to highlight the problem of talking about
and exploring menstruation cycles.
Write the next paragraph answering the same question. Remember to cover all AOs.
Carter's use of transformation is essential to her portrayal of genders, and their importance to society. this is clearly seen in both of the tiger story's. In "The tiger's bride" the transformation is of the woman's transformation into a tiger. "as each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin after successive skin" this method of transformation could be implying the male's dominance and their wish for the male to alter themselves for the man's desire, furthermore the use of the word "successive" could represent the fact that this transformation born from the will of men happens repetitively throughout the world. although in "the courtship of Mr Lyon" the transformation is from a beast to a human being, this could be Carter's representation of male lambhood, and subserviance to the tigerish females.
ReplyDeleteRay T
In The Company of Wolves, Carter utilises a method of transformtation to reveal the girl's adolescence in starting her mesntruation. Through the extensive use of metaphors, Carter emphasises the girl's virginity and her starting to require sexual desires. This can be seen through Carter's repetetive language; "she is an unbroken egg".
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