How radical are the changes to the gender roles in Carter’s ‘The Company of Wolves’?
How radical are the changes to the gender roles in Carter’s ‘The Company of Wolves’?
Carter herself says that ‘All the mythic versions of women, from the myth of the redeeming purity of the virgin to that of the healing reconciling mother, are consolatory nonsense.’ It is clear that Carter believes in the reinvention of the typical woman - however she does not believe in the retelling of these stories, but rather 'to extract the latent content from the traditional stories and to use it as the beginnings of new stories'. The Company of Wolves converts the classic character of Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood from a naïve, gullible and helpless young girl to a ‘strong-minded child’ who has an awareness of the world around her while possessing the innocence and purity of a young woman also. Carter’s protagonist is described as being ‘strong-minded’ which is radical in itself, as the classic gender role for a girl her age is the exact opposite – her innocence is a given, but it does not affect the way she thinks about things or how aware she is of her surroundings. This is also evident in her ‘[laying] a carving knife’ in her basket, as it conveys her mind set is one that knows of the dangers of the woods and the stories she has been told and still she ‘insists’ on going anyway with her own protection. This is a radical change to the gender role because it shows a woman thinking for herself and putting herself in a position of danger by choice, because she knows how to protect herself without a man having to do it for her, as is so frequently the case in the usual gender construction. When this is contrasted with Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood, it is clear that the protagonist does not follow the conventions of fairy tales; Perrault’s protagonist ‘did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf’ which is an example of typical gender construction again, as she is naïve and does not understand danger. Carter also radically adapts the quality of
Carter herself says that ‘All the mythic versions of women, from the myth of the redeeming purity of the virgin to that of the healing reconciling mother, are consolatory nonsense.’ It is clear that Carter believes in the reinvention of the typical woman - however she does not believe in the retelling of these stories, but rather 'to extract the latent content from the traditional stories and to use it as the beginnings of new stories'. The Company of Wolves converts the classic character of Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood from a naïve, gullible and helpless young girl to a ‘strong-minded child’ who has an awareness of the world around her while possessing the innocence and purity of a young woman also. Carter’s protagonist is described as being ‘strong-minded’ which is radical in itself, as the classic gender role for a girl her age is the exact opposite – her innocence is a given, but it does not affect the way she thinks about things or how aware she is of her surroundings. This is also evident in her ‘[laying] a carving knife’ in her basket, as it conveys her mind set is one that knows of the dangers of the woods and the stories she has been told and still she ‘insists’ on going anyway with her own protection. This is a radical change to the gender role because it shows a woman thinking for herself and putting herself in a position of danger by choice, because she knows how to protect herself without a man having to do it for her, as is so frequently the case in the usual gender construction. When this is contrasted with Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood, it is clear that the protagonist does not follow the conventions of fairy tales; Perrault’s protagonist ‘did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf’ which is an example of typical gender construction again, as she is naïve and does not understand danger. Carter also radically adapts the quality of