Transformation is a central concern when studying 'The Bloody Chamber' and 'The World's Wife'. How far would you agree with this observation?

Transformation is a prominent theme in the 'The Bloody Chamber' and 'The World's Wife', with the transforming beast, the changing of man’s ideal of perfection and finally physical transformation occurring throughout both volumes. These 'transformations' are brought about via the chains of a patriarchal society which are imposed upon the female protagonists which causes them to have to leave their assumed role in society and assume a more independent and masculine role. Both authors use revisionism throughout their tales so as to allow both their feministic values to be expressed and to allow the female narrative voice to be heard and thus emphasise the sense of female empowerment and independence which permeates both volumes. As Sarah Gamble writes, both writers use the fairy tale as a vehicle for the perpetuation of female oppression in culture.[1]

Transformation is a traditional theme of the fairy-tale with it being a key aspect of Carter's 'Cat tales.' In 'The Courtship of Mr Lyon', the love of Beauty is a catalyst for the metamorphosis of Mr Lyon which causes a transformation from his strong bestial qualities with his “unkempt” looks and his “rough, hot, stiff stubble” into the stereotype of the gentleman who walks calmly in the garden with his wife. Her enduring love for Mr Lyon develops him from the “leonine apparition” into the “handsomest of all beasts.” In ‘The Tiger’s Bride’ Carter inverts the classic tale and instead, it is Beauty that undergoes the change. In this tale, we see the female protagonist objectified and “lost to the beast at cards.” In this tale, after the daughter releases the responsibilities of caring for her father, the girl sees her role in a masculine dominated society in the reflection of the doll maid and realises that she had been “allotted only the same imitative life that the doll maker had given her.” This realisation of her role in a patriarchal society allows her to see that if she is to have her own ‘identity’ she must shed “all the skins of a life in the world” and release her inner beast. It can be argued that this alteration of the fairytale(s) which have traditionally always been didactic has occurred so as for Carter to advice all women that to truly gain their own individuality they must ‘transform’ and unleash the inner tigerishness[2] which Carter believes lies in all of her protagonists. For example, in the ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’ it is Mr Lyon who transforms and consequently marries Beauty, however, we can see this as Beauty’s continuation of being trapped in the patriarchal society as she continues to fulfil the domestic role of the woman and turns into “Mrs Lyon.” The emphasis of the stripping or shedding of the outer “skins” of the protagonist’s identity can be likened to Duffy’s ‘Mrs Beast.’ In Duffy’s ‘Mrs Beast’, the theme of role-reversal is highlighted. Here, Duffy presents her protagonist in an empowered fashion and as a woman who is not ready to allow patriarchy to bind her. Whilst this is a clear revision of the tale ‘Beauty and The Beast’, there is one fundamental difference; there is no transformation for the beast. He retains his bestial nature and stays ‘ugly as sin.’ However, the Beast remains unmistakably masculine in his physical nature, despite the role-reversal which occurs and forces him to undertake more feminine duties such as ‘stay[ing] out of sight’ on poker nights. On the other hand, Mrs Beast is presented in a far more masculine manner where she treats the Beast with little compassion and care whilst he caters for her every need. These requirements for the female too assume the role of the male in society can be likened to Carter’s seeming view that the female characters must seek their own empowerment in order to survive in a patriarchal society.

The transition from inexperience to experience is also a key motif throughout both volumes. In Duffy’s ‘Little Red-cap’ the virginal, naive child is led by the wolf “deep into the woods/away from home” and it is in the wolf’s lair which is “lit by the eyes of owls” that she loses her innocence with the “scraps of red from my [her] blazer” not only with representing the loss of her mindful innocence but also with the “red scraps” connoting sexual initiation and thus referring to the loss of sexual innocence. However, Duffy again alters the classic story which includes the subservient female protagonist and portrays her character in a much more ruthless manner. Here, the protagonist actively seeks to attract the wolf through the use of her virginal state “sweet sixteen, never been” as she wishes to explore the “edge of the woods” and be initiated into poetry. In this tale the character is oppressed by the wolf with her “white dove” (being a metaphor for her poetic voice) being eaten by the wolf “one bite, dead”, whilst he lies in bed. This image of the wolf eating his “breakfast in bed” is an allusion by Duffy of the society which the protagonist would be trapped in with the domicile role representing the social roles of women. Eventually, after ten years of being with the wolf, Duffy’s protagonist outgrows the wolf and having learnt all she could from him, slays him “scrotum to throat.” She leaves the tale as a woman who comes ‘out of the forest...singing all alone.’ This transition from inexperience to experience can be compared to Carter’s ‘The Bloody Chamber’ where the virgin bride is transformed into an experienced woman by marriage. Here, Carter sends her protagonist who “knew nothing of the world” into the “unguessable country of marriage.” The journey from innocence to experience is important for Carter’s protagonists, especially for her character in ‘The Bloody Chamber’. Carter gives her protagonist all the resources she would need for her success; her mother’s stories and a good education but to fully use these, she must make the journey to self-recognition of herself as a subject[3]. Carter allows this recognition of self to occur by putting her protagonist in various situations such as her journey into the heart of the Marquis’ trap and also through objectification so that the protagonist can see ‘herself’ through the eyes of the Marquis.

The notion of the transition from weakness to strength, from confinement to freedom is embodied in Duffy’s poem ‘Thetis.’ The poem begins with Thetis being trapped and inconsequential as “the size of a bird/in the hand of a man” and her vulnerability (and the whole of the female race) is shown by her being able to feel the “squeeze of his fist.” Thetis then transforms into an albatross yet she feels her “wings/clipped by the squint of a crossbow.” Her next transformation into snake but yet again she is foiled in her attempt of freedom as she “felt the grasp of his strangler’s clasp.” The concept of man’s ideal of perfection is yet again brought up through the reference to the “taxidermist” and the “stink of formaldehyde” which connotes the preservation and literal stuffing of the protagonists so as to confine her from her transformations and conserve her image. Her final transformation however, occurs through the triumphant birth of her male child where she is “turned inside out” and her crude attitudes to masculinity are tempered.

The notion of ‘Male Gaze’ and man’s ideal of perfection is a notion often encountered and explored throughout both volumes. Male Gaze is the concept which explains how women are often looked upon as art to be desired[4] .Certainly, in ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’, the beast looks upon the photograph of beauty with a “strange kind of wonder” and her beauty is objectified with the picture that was captured which had a “certain look” of “absolute sweetness and absolute gravity”. Furthermore, in ‘The Tiger’s Bride,’ the father who carries all the vicious traits of the Beast, gambles and subsequently loses beauty to the Beast at a game of cards. Male gaze is illustrated in the automation which resembles Beauty with “glossy, nut-brown curls rosy cheeks, blue, rolling eyes.” Carter allows the narrator to give a succinct summation of the feminist concept of the ‘male gaze’ in the line “the market place, where the eyes that watch you take no account of your existence.”[5] The ‘Male Gaze’ is illustrated in no more gruesome manner than in the description of the Marquis’ “little museum of perversity” whereby all the dead women are perfectly positioned; the dead opera singer is “embalmed” whilst he had manipulated her features so that her “dead lips smiled.” Furthermore, the severed head of the painter’s skull is attached from “unseen chords” so that her much famed beauty is forever preserved. Lastly, there is the aristocrat encased in the “iron maiden” and “pierced by 100 spikes.” Lastly, ‘The Male Gaze’ is illustrated in the moment of the consummation of the Marquis and Carter’s protagonist’s relationship in the room with the “gilded mirrors.” In this scene, the protagonist sees herself through the eyes of the Marquis, and reports the loss of her of her virginity from that view, making it as though she only exits through the eyes of the Marquis. However, Carter utilises this scene so as for the protagonist to come to terms with herself, here she sees how she is viewed with “sheer carnal avarice,” whilst she sees in herself a “certain potential for corruption” which “shocks” her. Through the use of this scene, Carter allows us to see the transition from inexperience and self-confusion to experience and self-recognition.

The ‘Male Gaze’ and the theme of transformation of women into pieces of art are further explored by Carter and Duffy. The use of the art enables women to be transformed into an object, caught at the moment of their utmost beauty. It transforms them into an object which can be viewed whenever and enables power to be given to the male. The best example this, can be seen in Robert Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’[6] whereby the duke has a picture painted of his murdered duchess. Furthermore, his absolute power is shown over the painting with the Duke being in control of whoever sees the portrait, thus obtaining complete control over her beauty. The girl of the Count’s desire can is again transformed into a image of perfection.’ This relation of the virginal girl to art takes away her identity and transforms her into an object, thus de-humanizing her and allowing the Count to continue in his perverse actions. This treatment and portrayal of the subservient female protagonist can be contrasted to Duffy’s ‘Mrs Midas.’ In this poem, Duffy continues her theme of presenting her protagonists as strong and independent and allowing them to overcome and triumph against the male antagonist. In ‘Mrs Midas’, Duffy’s character refuses the “the lips” which would objectify her into “a form of art.”

In both volumes, Duffy and Carter explore man’s ideal of perfection, in which men want for the perfect virginal girl. Carter explores this theme prominently in the shortest yet most disturbing of her tales ‘The Snow Child.’ In this tale the Count, wishes for a “child of his desire” as “white of snow” with lips as “red as blood.” For the Count, he wishes only one thing for girl, to take her virginity and innocence and once he has raped her dead body, she “melts” into the snow, thus signifying the fulfilment of the Count’s desires. This can be both compared and contrasted to Duffy’s ‘Pygmalion’s Bride.’ In this re-telling of Ovid’s Metamorphoses the transformation of Pygmalion’s bride from a stone with “stone-cold” lips into a real woman who “screamed [her] head off” is the key of the story. Once she is physically active, something which never occurs in ‘The Snow Child’, Pygmalion is no longer attracted to the sculpture as his image of her beauty is tarnished. This victory for Pygmalion’s bride shows the fundamental difference to both Carter and Duffy’s treatment of the fairy tale. Whilst Duffy presents her protagonists as triumphant and empowered finishing their stories in the classic ‘happy ever after’ manner, Carter’s stories end in a darker manner in which her characters may be empowered, but they do not live happily ever after.
In ‘The World’s Wife’ Duffy’s third age feministic views are brought to light through the presentation of her protagonists as ‘playful’, ‘ironic’ and ‘brash’[7] which enables them to evolve from subservient characters into empowered character and thus leave behind the phallocentric society which traps them. The women are presented in a ruthless manner, ‘using’ their male suitors until the correct time wherein they transform so as to evade the grasps of custom which pursue them. Duffy’s tales are a parable for transformation, which occurs in a rounded manner, with child becoming woman and woman to death. In ‘The Bloody Chamber’, transformation is also a key occurrence which envelops each character however Carter, whose renditions of the fairy tales are darker, strays away from De Beaumont’s[8] original ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and many other fairy tales finales in which there is a ‘happy ever after’ finish as whilst her characters are more empowered, they may never escape the confines of patriarchy. This can be seen as result of Carter’s second age feminism and the time she was writing in where whilst civil liberties had increased for women, they were still oppressed. Both poets revise their poems to turn them into a vehicle for their feminist views; however Carter retains the original didactic nature of the fairy tales so as to advice women to unleash themselves to reveal their inner identities.

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[1] Sarah Gamble, The Fiction Of Angela Carter, The Sadeian Woman And The Bloody Chamber P125
[2] Margaret Atwood, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Running with Tigers. (Sorry Dom has the book now and I can’t see who and when they published it)
[3] Kathleen E.B. Manley, The Woman In Process in Angela Carter’s ‘The Bloody Chamber’, Angela Carter and The Fairy Tale
[4] John Berger, Ways of Seeing, ( Penguin 1972)
[5] The Bloody Chamber, York Notes Advanced, The Tiger’s Bride, ( York Press 2008)
[6] Brooke, Stopford A, The Poetry of Robert Browning ( Libister and Company Limited,1903)
[7] Feminism, A Brief Introduction, from 50 ideologies (pg 91)
[8] De Beaumont, Jeanne-Marie Leprince:’Beauty and the Beast’ in The Classic Fairytales ed. Maria Tatar (Norton,1999) Pg 42