Protagonists In Gothic Literature
“Compare and contrast the presentation of female protagonists in Gothic Literature, in order to determine the validity of Gothic as a serious genre rather than the merely macabre”
The three texts; Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter and Selected poems by John Keats project images of female characters in very different ways. Much of the portrayal of females is in correlation to the attitudes and position of women within society at the time of writing. The preconception of many people is that the Gothic genre is based entirely upon supernatural motif’s which have been labelled “Gothic” such as: bats, castles on hillsides and full moons. The Gothic sensibility is seen by some as an attempt to deal with the feared and …show more content…
Her strong sentiment was that women need not and should not regress into the role, and she uses her collection to explore how that may be achieved. Carter’s controversial writings on the Marquis de Sade are related to the nature of the sadomasochistic relationship explored in “The Bloody Chamber”. The bride, aside from being the narrator of the story, is completely passive to the Marquis preconceived abuse for her. The character who remains anonymous, is a submissive female who allows Carter to delve into the desires of dominance as part of the sexual needs of human nature within relationships. As a young wife she is unaware of her circumstance, despite her testament that she is ‘innocent but not naive’.
Sexuality is clearly considered by Carter as a dangerous and animalistic human desire which is frequently demonstrated by the images of violence in “The Bloody Chamber”, the voyeurism and exhibitionism in “The Tigers Bride”; the entrapment of the female in “The Erl-King”; and the personal moments of metamorphosis in “The Company of Wolves” and “Wolf-Alice”. The differences Carter understands in male and female relationships are served alongside possible insights of resolve in the various endings of the
The three texts; Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter and Selected poems by John Keats project images of female characters in very different ways. Much of the portrayal of females is in correlation to the attitudes and position of women within society at the time of writing. The preconception of many people is that the Gothic genre is based entirely upon supernatural motif’s which have been labelled “Gothic” such as: bats, castles on hillsides and full moons. The Gothic sensibility is seen by some as an attempt to deal with the feared and …show more content…
Her strong sentiment was that women need not and should not regress into the role, and she uses her collection to explore how that may be achieved. Carter’s controversial writings on the Marquis de Sade are related to the nature of the sadomasochistic relationship explored in “The Bloody Chamber”. The bride, aside from being the narrator of the story, is completely passive to the Marquis preconceived abuse for her. The character who remains anonymous, is a submissive female who allows Carter to delve into the desires of dominance as part of the sexual needs of human nature within relationships. As a young wife she is unaware of her circumstance, despite her testament that she is ‘innocent but not naive’.
Sexuality is clearly considered by Carter as a dangerous and animalistic human desire which is frequently demonstrated by the images of violence in “The Bloody Chamber”, the voyeurism and exhibitionism in “The Tigers Bride”; the entrapment of the female in “The Erl-King”; and the personal moments of metamorphosis in “The Company of Wolves” and “Wolf-Alice”. The differences Carter understands in male and female relationships are served alongside possible insights of resolve in the various endings of the