‘In the original Gothic, women were often presented as trembling victims pursued by predatory males.’ How far is this true of the first narrative in Angela Carter’s collection, ‘The Bloody Chamber’?

To some extent the women in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ fit the traditional role of ‘trembling victims’ in the Gothic, for example through the mostly passive role the narrator takes in the story; similar to the passive role of Isabella in Horace Walpole’s ‘The Castle of Otranto’. However, as a feminist, Carter also challenges this role and makes the women in her story stronger; even able to overpower the male characters. This is most noticeable in the character of the mother. In addition to this, Carter also explores the role of men in the gothic. The Marquis takes the archetypal role of the predatory male villain of a gothic novel; comparable to Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula in his brutality. Despite this, the role of the gothic male is also challenged, mainly through the character of Jean-Yves who offers a more comforting, vulnerable male character who is almost the complete opposite of the Marquis. 

One way in which the women in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ are traditional stereotypes of gothic females is through the way in which they are passive within the story. The narrator herself is a passive character throughout much of the story, following what the Marquis wants her to do, for example pretending to be surprised just to please him, ‘I was forced always to mimic surprise’, which shows how she tries to please him. Furthermore, the extent of his control over her, symbolised by the ‘ruby choker’, also emphasises her passivity within the story. This motif is echoed later on within the book in ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’, with the dog wearing chokers as collars. This control echoes the control men hold over women and their passive nature within the traditional gothic. Another way in which the women follow the traditional role of gothic females is in how they are objects of desire for the male characters. The narrator describes the Marquis having ‘the assessing eye of a connoisseur inspecting horseflesh’ whilst he looks at her; showing how she is an object of his desire. The word ‘horseflesh’ objectifies the narrator and makes her seem like a commodity. In addition to this, the narrator also objectifies herself through the parts of herself that she describes, such as ‘breasts’ and ‘thighs’. In doing this, she is almost becoming masculine in her description, as she is focusing on aspects of herself that men tend to focus on. This in turn shows her passivity and complacency in the role that she is set in as a weak female, and emphasises her lack of action. The women in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ are also shown to be typical of the traditional Gothic through their emotional responses. The narrator is portrayed as being somewhat petty towards her nurse when she says that ‘opals are unlucky’; and turns away ‘pettishly’. In addition to this, the narrator also follows the typical pattern of feeling sympathy for the monster, similar to that of Mina in Dracula, as she talks about the ‘atrocious loneliness of that monster’. This sympathy is typical of Victorian Gothic women; reflecting the compassionate and caring nature a Victorian woman was expected to have.

Despite this, Carter also challenges these stereotypes created by the traditional gothic. The main character within this story that challenges this is the narrator’s mother, who is described as having ‘shot a man-eating tiger’ when she was younger. By doing this, she is showing her strength and bravery as a character. Furthermore, her strength is shown through the fact that she is the one who saves the narrator. In the original story, the heroine is saved by her brothers. By changing this, Carter is showing the reader that women can also take on positions of power. However, the mother has to take on a phallic symbol, the gun, in order to have power, which suggests that women have to take on masculine aspects in order to be powerful. In addition, despite being passive for a majority of the tale, the narrator becomes an active agent by the end. This can be seen through how she ‘runs to the assistance’ of Jean-Yves and helps him to let her mother in. Furthermore, it could also be argued that through opening and embracing the bloody chamber she is being active. This embracing of the bloody chamber is the narrator embracing and accepting the dark desires that Carter argues are within all of us, as shown by the way in which she touches the body of the opera singer. Another way in which the women differ from the traditional gothic is the way in which they take away power from the men within the novel, without being the stereotypical femme fatale. The narrator does this by controlling Jean-Yves. She physically does this when she ‘leads’ him down to the courtyard. Furthermore, her control extends to after the Marquis is dead, as she defies social convention and takes control of the money she inherits. Women also take power away from men through the fact that the mother kills the Marquis. Through taking power away from the male characters, Carter is criticising the usual fairy tale, as well as the traditional gothic, for the lack of female strength and independence. It could also be interpreted that, by giving her female characters more power, she is also giving them more of a voice within fairytales, rather than making them passive characters. This is emphasised throughout the collection, which acts as one entire story.

The male characters within ‘The Bloody Chamber’, particularly the Marquis, could be argued to be predatory for the way in which he ‘hunts’ for women. The narrator says that he ‘had been married before, more than once’ at the beginning of the story, which hints to the reader at his predatory nature. Furthermore, the range in type of woman he goes after, Romanian Countess, opera singer and model, hints at how he enjoys wooing and trapping them. His predatory nature can also be seen through how thought out and planned each murder is, for example he ‘strangles’ the opera singer and as a result takes away her voice; the thing that presumably drew him to her in the first place. This action could be interpreted as him trying to control them by taking possession of their best attributes or the things they enjoy the most. He also controls his wives through the jewellery he forces them to wear, in the ‘opal ring’ and ‘ruby choker’. The narrator says about the ring that ‘every bride who came to the castle wore it’, hinting not only at the Marquis’ need for control, but also at an ancestral need for control, which is further hinted at with the story Jean-Yves tells the narrator about an old Marquis who used to ‘hunt young girls’. The ruby choker, specific to the narrator, foreshadows the death that he plans out for her, as well as acting like a collar similar to that in ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’. Carter explores a need for control in her male characters later within the collection in ‘The Erl-King’ through his actions of turning women into birds. The Marquis is also predatory simply in his physical description. Carter uses leonine imagery, similar to that in ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’, for example his hair is described as a ‘curling mane’. Carter does this to evoke connotations of a predator, adding to his predatory nature, as well as making the narrator appear more innocent. 

However, as a feminist writer, Carter also challenges the gothic stereotype of a predatory male in order to make the characters more equal. The male character that most challenges this is the piano tuner Jean-Yves. As he is blind, he is unable to control the narrator through his male gaze, and therefore is less powerful than she is. Jean-Yves also offers comfort to the narrator, ‘I can be of some comfort to you’, in direct contrast to the threatening nature of the Marquis. It could also be argued that the Marquis somewhat challenges the gothic norm, as it could be considered that he cannot help but kill, or is reluctant to, much like the countess in ‘The Lady of the House of Love’. This is shown when the narrator says ‘it seemed to me he was in despair’, suggesting that he is stuck in his condition and, possibly, genuinely loved the narrator.

Overall, Carter uses a combination of modern and traditional gothic elements to create her characters. However, they mostly adhere to the stereotypes within the traditional Victorian gothic in order to lead the reader into the book, rather than simply starting with her more controversial ideologies. 

Lady of the House of Love Questions

Pages 11-112
How is the young man presented?
* innocent, somewhat naive “laughing, he sets out on his adventure”
* a virgin “has the special quality of virginity”
* rational “chosen the most rational mode of transport in the world”
* hope “Les Amoureaux”
* doomed “the trenches of France”

What is the significance of the bicycle?
* Carter uses it to represent “rationality”
* represents the modern world, whereas the Lady represents the old world
* phallic symbol- suggests that men will be the Lady’s downfall

Page 113
what might the significance of ‘he gratefully washed his feet and hands’ in the village fountain be?
*cleansing
*almost religious
*shows how innocent he is, and how oblivious he is to the evil in the village

Page 114
‘curiouser and curiouser’ what does this suggest about the young man? Which other character/s are you reminded of?
*suggests he is inquisitive, further shows his rationality
*Intertextual reference to Alice in Wonderland
*like the father in ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’ – lured into the house through food and drink

Page 116
the crone is described as bringing the young man to ‘Juliet’s tomb’. What is the significance of this Intertextual reference?
* ‘Juliet’s tomb’ suggests that they are both doomed
* element of fate – similar to the tarot cards, suggests that they were doomed from the start and can do nothing to stop it
* crone – keeping the Lady stuck in the cycle she is in

Page 117
‘What a grisly picture of a capering skeleton! He covered it up with a happier one – of two young lovers, smiling at one another ...’ how is the young man presented here? What might Carter’s purposes be?
*presented as innocent ‘what a grisly picture’
* rational – clearly doesn’t believe the tarot cards work
* two of the same cards that the Lady picks out – fate that he arrives
* Carter uses it to suggest that he will suffer the same fate as she will

Page 119
‘Can a bird sing only the song it knows, or can it learn a new song?’ ‘one kiss, however, and only one, woke up the Sleeping Beauty’ Carter makes significant use of repetition in this story. Why might this be? What is the significance of the examples above, both of which are repeated in the course of the narrative?
*repetition shows how the Lady is stuck in a constant cycle
* haunted by the past
*also shows that she doesn’t want to be the way she is, ‘can it learn a new song?’

Page 123
‘and so he puts his mouth to the wound. He will kiss it better for her, as her mother, had she lived, would have done’ what is the significance of this quotation?
*’he puts his mouth to the wound’ – makes him seem like the vampire, reversing their roles
* ‘as her mother . . .would have done’ – he wants to care for her

Page125
‘when he returned from the mess that evening, the heavy fragrance of Count Nosferatu’s roses drifted down the stone corridor of the barracks to greet him, and his Spartan quarters brimmed with the reeling odour of a glowing, velvet, monstrous flower whose petals had regained all their former bloom and elasticity, their corrupt, brilliant, baleful splendour. Next day, his regiment embarked for France’ how might we interpret this ending?
*the ending suggests that the soldier will die during the war
*revival of the rose – could be the Lady’s ‘spirit’ inhabiting the rose, the curse of Nosferatu will continue
*’monstrous flower’ still cursed to some extent

Overall, how would you explain Carter’s presentation of the lady and the soldier in this narrative?
* the lady is described as being predatory ‘takes them by the hand and leads them to her bedroom’, *‘her beauty is a symptom of her disorder, of her soulessness’ – her beauty is fake, means nothing
*’she likes to hear it announce how she cannot escape’ – like the Erl King, cruel, feels trapped as well
*’like reverberations in a cave’ – stuck in the past, echoing what has been said/done before
*he is the total opposite, innocent, virginal, rational
*he isn’t like the other men she meets ‘eyes that deny all erotic promise of her body’ – doesn’t want her in simply a sexual way
*not a typical Gothic hero, she isn’t a typical Gothic heroine
*roles are subverted – she is the experienced one, yet at the same time almost innocent and helpless in how she cannot break the cycle of destruction she is in. He is innocent, yet rational and brave

Consider the following quotation. How does it help you develop your own ideas about the narrative?
 ‘the heroines of these stories are struggling out of the straightjackets of history and ideology and biological essentialism. ‘there’s a story in The Bloody Chamber called ‘The Lady of the House of Love’,’ said Carter, ‘part of which derives from a movie version that I saw of a story by Dostoevsky. And in the movie ... the woman, who is a very passive person and is very much in distress, asks herself the question, ‘can a bird sing only the song it knows, or can it learn a new song?’ have we got the capacity at all of singing new songs? It’s very important that id we haven’t, we might as well stop now.’
*the Lady is struggling against the ‘straightjackets of history’ – she is stuck with the curse of the vampire from her ancestors – is she struggling all that much? She seems pretty complacent, just wants to change but does nothing about it
*is she even a heroine? She lures men to their deaths and tortures the lark
*does she even ‘sing a new song’ at the end? Not really – the man just interrupts the usual motions she goes through and she can’t cope with it ‘no room in her drama for improvisation’, but at the same time she doesn’t kill him as she usually does

Task 1

Define polarity – the possession or manifestation of two opposing tendencies, attributes or principles

Define postulated – suggest or assume the existence, fact or truth of something as a basis for reasoning, discussion or belief

Define androgyny – the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics

Define autonomy – freedom from external control or influence; independence

Define exigencies – an urgent need or demand

Define transposition – to cause two or more things to exchange places, transfer to a different place or context

Define bourgeois – belonging to or characteristics of the middle class, particularly perceived materialistic conventions

Task 2

·         Cater challenges social constructs of gender

·         Makes her characters both masculine and feminine

·         Suggests the deconstruction of femininity

·         Also suggests the deconstruction of masculinity

·         Argues that society forces these stereotypes upon us

§  Gender

§  Duality

§  Femininity

§  Masculinity

§  Stereotypes

Challenging gender stereotypes and traditional gender roles

Task 3

The article explains that Carter challenges the social stereotypes of masculine and feminine through the stories ‘The Tiger’s Bride’ and ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’. She does this through using the fairy tale genre, as this genre has been used for hundreds of years to install typical feminine values in women, for example the fear of men.  By taking these traditional tales and retelling them, Carter is exposing their flaws and is also creating a new set of androgynous, more realistic characters.

Bettelheim questions

11)      Bettelheim argues that fairy tales, such as Cinderella, teach children about morals and good vs. evil, through providing clear cut good characters, e.g. Cinderella herself, and bad characters, such as the evil stepmother. By doing this, children are able to learn that doing and feeling bad things, such as not liking a parent, is not a bad thing to do. Furthermore, they also allow children to come to these decisions themselves, rather than being forced into them.

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22)      Bettelheim describes the ‘duality’ of the fairy tale genre, which is also associated with the gothic. This idea of ‘duality’ explains why there are rarely purely good and purely bad characters in the gothic, as everyone is realistically a mix of both. The purpose of the gothic is similar to that of the fairy tale genre, i.e. to allow people to see the distinction between good and bad and to make their own decisions about it. However, the gothic does this in a more complex way than fairy tales.

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33)      Carter mixes the fairy tale and gothic genres in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ in order to show the reader the flaws within society, for example the way in which women are treated, and then to allow them to think about the wider implications of that issue and also to think about how to deal with it.

The Tiger's Bride - task 3

1. What are ‘the devil’s picture books’?

‘The devil’s picture books’ refer to the cards the Beast uses to beat the narrator’s father.

2. What type of language is Carter using when the narrator calls The Beast ‘Milord’?

Carter gives the word ‘Milord’ a sarcastic tone, therefore showing the narrator to be cynical and somewhat bitter towards her father and the situation he has put her in.

3. When the Beast gives the girl a white rose. What do white roses symbolise in this collection and why are they used more than once (also in ‘The Courtship of Mr. Lyon’)?

In this collection of stories, a white rose symbolises purity and innocence, for example in ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’, Beauty asks for a simple white rose as a show of her innocence and purity.

4. What might be significant about the verb choice ‘fleeced’?

The verb ‘fleeced’ has connotations of sheep, which links to the way in which Carter describes the characters as sheep, for example the narrator refers to herself as a ‘lamb’. Furthermore, the fact that the narrator and her father are described as sheep indicates that the Beast has power over them, as he is a tiger.

5. Which fairy tale does ‘gobble you up’ come from and why is it referred to?

‘Gobble you up’ is a reference to ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and the Big Bad Wolf. Carter refers to this to emphasise how much power the Beast has over the narrator.

6. What tells the reader that the inhabitants are not driven by appearances or luxuries?

Carter shows the reader that the inhabitants of the town are not driven by appearances or luxuries by describing the town as ‘cruel’ and ‘malign’, indicating that they do not care for appearances. The fact that they do not care for luxuries is indicated by Carter’s description of their diet as being ‘poor food’.

7. What is the significance of the fresco ‘where fruit and blossom grew on the bough together’?

The significance of this fresco is that it is unnatural, therefore hinting at the magical realism genre of the book. Furthermore, it also references the Garden of Eden, indicating the fact that the house could be a place of paradise for the narrator.

8. What is the description of the soubrette supposed to suggest to the reader?

The description of the mechanical soubrette suggests to the reader that the Beast likes to have control, as the fact that she is ‘mechanical’ means she can be controlled easily.

9. How does the girl compare herself to animals?

The narrator ‘lirruped and hurrumphed’ at the other horses, therefore comparing herself to them.  This indicates her desire to be free of the Beast. Furthermore, the Beast treats his horses with kindness, having given them his ‘dining room’ to live in. This could show that the narrator wants the Beast to treat her as an equal.

10. In light of the end of this story, analyse the phrase, ‘The tiger will never lie down with the lamb; he acknowledges no pact that is not reciprocal’.

The phrase refers to the quote from Revelations, ‘and the lion will lie down with the lamb’, indicating that the Beast is unnatural in his feelings for the narrator, as Carter changes the lion to ‘tiger’. The fact that ‘he acknowledges no pact that is not reciprocal’ foreshadows the end of the story where the narrator turns into a tiger herself.

The Tiger’s Bride task 2 – definitions

•       obsequiousness – obedient or attentive to an excessive degree

•       ostler – someone who is employed to look after the horses of people staying at an inn

•       patina – 1) a green or brown film over oxidized metals, 2) a gloss or sheen over aged wooden furniture 3) an impression or appearance of something

•       preternatural – exceeding what is natural or irregular, existing outside of nature

•       Profligate – recklessly extravagant or wasteful, dissolute

•       settecento – a period of art and literature during the 18^th century

•       shagreen – sharkskin used as a decorative material or abrasive

•       simian simulacra – the imitation of the characteristics of an ape

•       soubrette – a minor female role in a comedy, usually a maidservant

•       spar – a stout pole used for masts, part of the framework of an airplane, to argue with someone in a friendly way, to fight as a form of training

•       spurious - false

•       tantivy – a rapid gallop or ride, a hunting cry

•       tintinnabulation – a ringing or tinkling sound

•       viscera – internal organs

•       assuage – make an unpleasant feeling less intense, to satisfy

•       awry – away from the usual or expected course, amiss

•       axiom – a statement or proposition which is regarded as being true, accepted or self evident

•       capisco (translate) – ‘I understand’

•       ciliate – a single celled animal

•       civet – a ring tailed cat

•       desnuda (translate) – ‘naked’

•       excoriating – damage or remove part of the skin, to criticize someone severely

•       expostulating – express strong disapproval or disagreement

•       eyrie – the large nest of a bird of prey, usually built high up

•       gavotte – a medium paced French dance that was popular in the 18^th century

•       gracile – slender or thin

•       megalomaniac  - a person who has an obsessive desire for power

•       metaphysical – trying to explain the fundamental nature of being

•       minuet – a slow ballroom dance for two in triple time, popular in the 18^th century

•       molto agitato (translate) – ‘very agitated’

•       Nascent – just coming into existence, beginning to display potential    

The Tiger’s Bride task 1 – research

Andrea Mantegna
he was an Italian painter and student of Roman archaeology. He experimented with perspective by lowering the horizon. He was a leading producer of print in Venice before 1500.

 Giulio Romana

He was an Italian painter and architect who was a pupil of Raphael. He helped to create the style of painting known as Mannerism, which deviated from the typical paintings of the high Renaissance.

 Benvenuto Cellini

He was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, draftsman, soldier, musician and writer. He wrote a famous autobiography and an important artist of the Mannerism style

How is the father represented by Carter? What values does he stand for and how far do they contribute to the development of the plot?


Carter represents the father as being somewhat superficial, shown through the way in which he chooses to spend the money he gains with the Beast's help on things such as 'the opera, theatres and a whole new wardrobe for his darling'. This also reinforces how unreliable he is with money, having already been 'ruined' twice in the past.The father is also represented as being of a lower social class than the beast, evident through the description of his 'squirearchal' sheepskin jacket in comparison to the Beast's 'smoking jacket of dull red brocade'. Carter highlights this difference to show that, from a Marxist perspective, the Beast has all the power. This is further enforced through the description of the father as a 'doll', as the beast is controlling him, both physically and through society and social status.The father stands for the typical values of Capitalism, again shown through the fact that he spends his money on typically capitalist things, such as going to the 'theatre', which in the long term are of no real use to him.

Which characters and themes is the father associated with? How is he connected with them?






Beauty's father is associated with the theme of money; both gaining and losing it. From a Marxist perspective he starts of as powerless, having been 'ruined' financially, and over the course of the story gains money, and therefore power, thanks to the Beast. This perspective also criticises capitalism, as the father and Beauty become superficial, and spend their newfound fortune on trivial things; therefore showing that capitalism corrupts people.




In addition to this, Beauty's father can be associated with the theme of patriarchy, most evident through his relationship with Beauty. Carter shows this through his description of her as his 'pet'. The word 'pet' shows that he controls her. This is further shown through the fact that she is doing 'chores' at the start of the story, thereby placing her in a stereotypically feminine role in the household.




Furthermore, the father is also associated with the theme of class. It can be inferred that he is of a fairly wealthy class, despite his lost fortune, due to the fact that he wears a 'sheepskin jacket'. However, he is clearly not of the same social class as the Beast, shown through the way in which the Beast dominates him and orders him around, 'bring her to dinner'. Beauty's father also re-emphasises his own lower status by admiring the Beast's higher status. The word 'comforting' is used to describe the Beast's wealth, therefore showing that the father is 'comforted' by the fact that there is someone of a higher status than him.


Beauty's father represents the stereotypical fairy tale father, usually loving but unreliable and unable to take care of his family. This is shown through the fact that he has been financially 'ruined' twice, emphasising his lack of responsibility when it comes to money. His loving nature is shown through his description of her at the beginning of the story, 'his Beauty, his girl-child, his pet. However this description is still lawed, as it is overly possessive.

Task eleven: final task, form of The Bloody Chamber

Magical realism: magical realism is a genre in which magic elements are natural within the mundane world, which is otherwise realistic. It is often used in fairy tales.

Task ten: more complex

The appearance of clothing within this text is important. Carter describes the Marquis dressing the narrator up in rich clothes, ‘sinuous shift of white muslin tied with a silk string under the breasts’. This description shows how the narrator has been taught to please her husband, as she focuses on areas of her body that appeal to men. In addition to this, the narrator also describes the ruby choker in lots of detail, ‘two inches wide, like an extraordinarily precious slit throat’. The choker represents the control the Marquis initially has over her, as well as foreshadowing the way in which he tries to kill her at the end of the story.

Appearance is also important in the way in which characters look. For example, Jean-Yves is described as looking both ‘young’ and ‘innocent’, traits that the narrator herself has. However, unlike the narrator, Jean-Yves is blind and therefore cannot hold the power of the male gaze over the narrator, thus allowing her to hold the power in their relationship.

Task nine: developed questions

11)      Carter’s description of their first sexual encounter is thoroughly unpleasent. The word ‘impaled’ implies pain rather than pleasure. It also has connotations of force rather than willingness. Furthermore, the narrator adopts a third person tone, showing that she is telling a retrospective tale.

22)      Carter uses language with connotations of entrapment, ‘chains’, in order to show the control and power the Marquis holds over his wives. This theme of entrapment is also recurrent in the gothic genre. The painting symbolises the Marquis’  greed for material possessions as well as his desire for control.

33)                             – ‘reddenned’, shows the embarrassment of the wife, told from the Marquis’ perspective                         so it is used to sexualise the woman, also a very sexualised description of her, shows he                       had power over her

-          ‘brown girl’, gives the impression that the girl is plain, from a Marxist persepctive makes the narrator seem harsh, lower class than the narrator and Marquis

-          ‘thin white face’, gothic, mirrors the skull in the bloody chamber

-          ‘green flame’, seems supernatural, another gothic feature, green for jealousy over other wives

-          ‘red firelight’ , sounds initially romantic, could also be hellish fire, foreshadowing the bloody chamber itself

44)      The phrase ‘all the better to see you’ comes from the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. Carter uses it here to emphasise the fairy tale genre of the story, and also to reflect how predatory the Marquis is. It also reflects the innosence of the narrator.

55)      Carter’s use of florid prose emphasises the fact that the narrator, whilst of a lower class than the Marquis, is not quit working class. From a Marxist perspective this would be a reason why she can have power of Jean-Yves, as she is of a higher social status. Furthermore, the use of florid prose makes the structure of the story flow more. Her use of intertextual references adds another dimension to the story, and allows the reader to draw the meaning from what Carter is saying more easily.

Task eight: basic questions

11)      Carter describes the ruby choker as being ‘like an extraordinarily precious slit throat’, foreshadowing the way in which the Marquis tries to kill her later on in the story. The fact that it is a ‘ruby’ necklace shows how rich the Marquis is. From a marxist perspective he gives her a choker made of rubies because it is a way in which he can control her, as she is of a lower class than he is. In addition to this, Carter also describes the choker as a ‘cruel necklace’, which shows how the narrator acknowledges the control he has over her.

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22)      Through the narrator’s description of herself as an ‘exile’ in marriage suggests that she is reluctant to become married, as exile is forced. From a feminist perspective, the narrator would be unhappy about marriage because it is a social expectation for a woman to get married, whether she wants to or not. Furthermore, from this the reader can infer that she is not marrying the Marquis for love, but rather for social position.

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33)      The girl gains power and confidence from the Marquis’ ‘chaffing’. However, this confidence could simply be a show, as she would be expected to act in such a way by the Marquis. The girl also gains this confidence from the presence of the key, as it symbolises the forbidden knowledge she will find within the bloody chamber.

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44)      The usual hero structure is altered during this scene because Jean-Yves, who the reader would expect to be the hero, is passive, simply stating the obvious, ‘you have no more time’. However, the narrator is the active one, ‘I dealt with the keys’, therefore inverting the usual stereotypes of a hero.

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55)      The Marquis views women simply as objects. This is evident through the bloody chamber itself, and the way in which he displays the bodies of his dead wives, ‘ he had embalmed her’. This shows that, even after they die, the Marquis feels the need to control them and to have power over them. 

Task seven: more definitions

Aesthete- A person who appreciates arts and beauty.

Aigrette- A headdress made of white Egret feathers and elaborately decorated, usually with jewels

Avarice- Extreme greed for material possessions and wealth

Baroque- A detailed movement in art, music and decoration during the 17^th and 18^th century following Mannerism, most recognisable for the intricate scrollwork

Bier- A movable frame on which a coffin sits in before burial to be carried to the grave.

Billets-doux- Love Letters

Carillon- Bells playing on an automatic mechanism attached to a keyboard

Carnal- physical, usually sexual, needs and desires

Catafalque- Wooden framework decorating or supporting the coffin of a distinguished person

Chthonic- An inhabitant of or someone related to the underworld

Dolorous- feeling or expressing great sorrow or distress

Eldritch- Weird, sinister or ghostly

Enfer- French for ‘Hell’

Gourmand- Someone who is gluttonous, French for greedy

Immolated- Sacrificed or killed, specifically by burning

Importunate- persistent to the point of being annoying

Interdiction- the military act of delaying, disrupting or destroying enemy forces/supplies en route to the battlefield

Jinn- An Arab or Muslim spirit believed to possess humans and appear in human or animal form. They are intelligent but lower form of angels

Lisle- black cotton thread used in stockings

Loge- A private enclosure or box in the theatre

Loquacity- Quality of talking a lot

Lustratory- relating to the ceremony of purification

missal- A book containing the Catholic mass texts used in church

nacreous- iridescent, luminous and changing colour

parure- A collection of jewels intended to be worn as a set

rictus- A fixed grimace or grin

sacerdotal- relating or priests or the doctrine the empowers priests

sadomasochistic- deriving pleasure from the physical or mental pain of oneself or other people

sardonic- Grinning in a mocking or cynical way

trousseau-  clothes and linen collected by a bride for her marriage

vellum- paper made from the skin of a lamb or calf

vicuna- a species of llama in South America known for its silky wool

viscera- Internal organs

voluptuary- A person dedicated to luxury or sensual pleasure

Task six: intertextual references 

Mark of Cain: the mark of protection God put on Cain after he killed Abel. The mark made it so that no man could harm Cain without feeling the same effects multiplied

Catherine de Medici: daughter of Lorenzo de Medici II, Italian noblewoman, queen of France, also ruled as regent of France for one of her sons, was mother of three kings of France, essentially kept the family in power due to all the civil wars in France at the time

Croesus: an extremely rich ancient king, one of the first kingdoms to mint coins, said to have gotten his wealth from King Midas who, in Greek mythology, could turn things into solid gold with one touch, lost his kingdom to the Persians after misinterpreting something the oracle said to him

Tristan and Isolde (opera): the tragic story of two lovers, Tristan a knight and Isolde a princess, who fall in love and ultimately die

Felicien Rops (artist): a Belgian artist, best known for his printmaking. Hiw work mainly features sex, death and satanic imageray

La-Bas (novel) : a book by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans. The title translated as Down there or The Damned. The plot centres around a writer called Durtal who is dusgusted by the vulgar nature of modern society, and so turns to studying the Middle Ages. Through this research he discovers that satanism is still alive in France and, with his lover, begin to investigate. The story ends with a black mass.

Grand Guignol: a theatre in Paris, France that specialised in horror shows

Rape of Sabines: an event in ancient Roman history where the first generation of Roman men kidnapped women from neighbouring Sabine families to take as wives.

St Cecilia: the patron saint of musicians. Her name means ‘blind’. She became a martyr after being struck three times on the neck by a sword and then living for three days afterwards

Pandora’s box: a box was given to Pandora that contained all the evils of the world. Despite having been told not to open it, she does open it and releases all the evils. However, hope had also been put into the box.

Paul Poiret: a French fashion designer, best known for ‘freeing women from corsets’

Bluebeard – Charles Perrault:
THERE was a man who had fine houses, both in town and country, a deal of silver and gold plate, embroidered furniture, and coaches gilded all over with gold. But this man was so unlucky as to have ablue¹ beard, which made him so frightfully ugly that all the women and girls ran away from him.

One of his neighbors, a lady of quality, had two daughters who were perfect beauties. He desired of her one of them in marriage, leaving to her choice which of the two she would bestow on him. They would neither of them have him, and sent him backward and forward from one another, not being able to bear the thoughts of marrying a man who had a blue beard,² and what besides gave them disgust and aversion was his having already been married to several wives, and nobody ever knew what became of them.

Bluebeard,³ to engage their affection, took them, with the lady their mother and three or four ladies of their acquaintance, with other young people of the neighborhood, to one of his country seats,⁴where they stayed a whole week.

There was nothing there to be seen but parties of pleasure, hunting, fishing, dancing, mirth, and feasting. Nobody went to bed, but all passed the night in rallying and joking with each other. In short, everything succeeded so well that the youngest daughter began to think the master of the house not to have a beard so very blue, and that he was a mighty civil gentleman.

As soon as they returned home, the marriage was concluded. About a month afterward, Bluebeard told his wife that he was obliged to take a country journey for six weeks⁵ at least, about affairs of very great consequence, desiring her to divert herself in his absence, to send for her friends and acquaintances, to carry them into the country, if she pleased, and to make good cheer wherever she was.

"Here," said he, "are the keys⁶ of the two great wardrobes,⁷ wherein I have my best furniture; these are of my silver and gold plate, which is not every day in use; these open my strong boxes, which hold my money, both gold and silver; these my caskets⁸ of jewels; and this is the master-key to all my apartments.⁹ But for this little one here, it is the key of the closet¹⁰ at the end of the great gallery¹¹ on the ground floor. Open them all; go into all and every one of them, except that little closet, which I forbid you, and forbid it in such a manner that, if you happen to open it, there's nothing but what you may expectfrom my just anger and resentment."¹²

She promised to observe, very exactly, whatever he had ordered; when he, after having embraced her, got into his coach and proceeded on his journey.

Her neighbors and good friends did not stay to be sent for by the new married lady, so great was their impatience to see all the rich furniture of her house, not daring to come while her husband was there, because of his blue beard, which frightened them. They ran through all the rooms, closets, and wardrobes, which were all so fine and rich that they seemed to surpass one another.

After that they went up into the two great rooms, where was the best and richest furniture; they could not sufficiently admire the number and beauty of the tapestry, beds, couches, cabinets, stands, tables,and looking-glasses,¹³ in which you might see yourself from head to foot; some of them were framed with glass, others with silver, plain and gilded, the finest and most magnificent ever were seen.

They ceased not to extol and envy the happiness of their friend, who in the meantime in no way diverted herself in looking upon all these rich things, because of the impatience she had to go and open the closet on the ground floor. She was so much pressed byher curiosity¹⁴ that, without considering that it was very uncivil to leave her company, she went down a little back staircase, and with such excessive haste that she had twice or thrice like to have broken her neck.¹⁵

Coming to the closet-door, she made a stop for some time, thinking upon her husband's orders, and considering what unhappiness might attend her if she was disobedient;¹⁶ but the temptation¹⁷ was so strong she could not overcome it. She then took the little key, and opened it, trembling, but could not at first see anything plainly, because the windows were shut. After some moments she began to perceive that the floor was all covered over with clotted blood,¹⁸ on which lay the bodies of several dead women, ranged against the walls. (These were all the wives whom Bluebeard had married and murdered, one after another.) She thought she should have died for fear, and the key, which she pulled out of the lock, fell out of her hand.

After having somewhat recovered her surprise, she took up the key, locked the door, and went upstairs into her chamber to recover herself; but she could not, she was so much frightened. Having observed that the key of the closet was stained with blood,¹⁹ she tried two or three times to wipe it off, but the blood would not come out; in vain did she wash it, and even rub it with soap and sand;²⁰ the blood still remained, for the key was magical²¹ and she could never make it quite clean; when the blood was gone off from one side, it came again on the other.

Bluebeard returned from his journey the same evening, and said he had received letters upon the road, informing him that the affair he went about was ended to his advantage. His wife did all she could to convince him she was extremely glad of his speedy return.²²

Next morning he asked her for the keys, which she gave him, but with such a trembling hand that he easily guessed what had happened.

"What!" said he, "is not the key of my closet among the rest?"

"I must certainly have left it above upon the table," said she.

"Fail not to bring it to me presently," said Bluebeard.

After several goings backward and forward she was forced to bring him the key. Bluebeard, having very attentively considered it, said to his wife, "How comes this blood upon the key?"

"I do not know," cried the poor woman, paler than death.

"You do not know!" replied Bluebeard. "I very well know. You were resolved to go into the closet, were you not? Mighty well, madam; you shall go in, and take your place among the ladies you saw there."

Upon this she threw herself at her husband's feet, and begged his pardon with all the signs of true repentance,²³ vowing that she would never more be disobedient. She would have melted a rock, so beautiful and sorrowful was she; but Bluebeard had a heart harder than any rock!²⁴

"You must die, madam," said he, "and that presently."

"Since I must die," answered she (looking upon him with her eyes all bathed in tears), "give me some little time to say my prayers."²⁵

"I give you," replied Bluebeard, "half a quarter of an hour, but not one moment more."

When she was alone she called out to her sister, and said to her:  "Sister Anne"²⁶ (for that was her name), "go up, I beg you, upon the top of the tower, and look if my brothers are not coming over; they promised me that they would come today, and if you see them, give them a sign to make haste."

Her sister Anne went up upon the top of the tower, and the poor afflicted wife cried out from time to time: "Anne, sister Anne, do you see anyone coming?"²⁷

And sister Anne said: "I see nothing but the sun, which makes a dust, and the grass, which looks green."

In the meanwhile Bluebeard, holding a great sabre²⁸ in his hand, cried out as loud as he could bawl to his wife: "Come down instantly, or I shall come up to you."

"One moment longer, if you please," said his wife, and then she cried out very softly, "Anne, sister Anne, dost thou see anybody coming?"

And sister Anne answered: "I see nothing but the sun, which makes a dust, and the grass, which is green."

"Come down quickly," cried Bluebeard, "or I will come up to you."

"I am coming," answered his wife; and then she cried, "Anne, sister Anne, dost thou not see anyone coming?"

"I see," replied sister Anne, "a great dust, which comes on this side here."

"Are they my brothers?"

 "Alas! no,²⁹ my dear sister, I see a flock of sheep."

"Will you not come down?" cried Bluebeard.

"One moment longer," said his wife, and then she cried out: "Anne, sister Anne, dost thou see nobody coming?"

"I see," said she, "two horsemen, but they are yet a great way off."

"God be praised," replied the poor wife joyfully; "they are my brothers; I will make them a sign, as well as I can, for them to make haste."

Then Bluebeard bawled out so loud that he made the whole house tremble. The distressed wife came down, and threw herself at his feet, all in tears, with her hair about her shoulders.

"This signifies nothing," says Bluebeard; "you must die"; then, taking hold of her hair with one hand, and lifting up the sword with the other, he was going to take off her head. The poor lady, turning about to him, and looking at him with dying eyes, desired him to afford her one little moment to recollect herself.

"No, no," said he, "recommend thyself to God," and was just ready to strike . . .

At this very instant there was such a loud knocking at the gate that Bluebeard made a sudden stop. The gate was opened, and presently entered two horsemen, who, drawing their swords, ran directly to Bluebeard. He knew them to be his wife's brothers, one a dragoon,³⁰the other a musketeer,³¹ so that he ran away immediately to save himself; but the two brothers pursued so close that they overtook him before he could get to the steps of the porch, when they ran their swords through his body and left him dead. The poor wife was almost as dead as her husband, and had not strength enough to rise and welcome her brothers.

Bluebeard had no heirs,³² and so his wife became mistress of all his estate. She made use of one part of it to marry her sister Anne to a young gentleman who had loved her a long while;³³ another partto buy captains commissions³⁴ for her brothers, and the rest to marry herself to a very worthy gentleman, who made her forget the ill time she had passed with Bluebeard.