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”
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
* 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
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
‘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
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
‘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?’
‘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
‘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
‘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
* 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
‘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
