Analyzing Angela Carters Feminist Fairy Tales English Literature Essay

Analyzing Angela Carters Feminist Fairy Tales English Literature Essay It is important to establish early on that there is no simple definition of what a fairy tale is; the simplest place to start is to explain why theyre called fairy tales at all. Taken from the French phrase contes de fà ©es a title used by women writers in the French salons in the 17th century for stories written as narratives for passing on wisdom to young women it was translated as tales of fairies. The first to use the phrase was Madame DAulnoy in 1697 as the title to her collection of stories, but was later used by the more familiar Brothers Grimm. Before that time fairy tales existed only in the oral tradition, a highly elusive medium of story-telling, which does not lend itself to consistency, often leading to each country, region, and even person having their own version of the same basic tale. Little is known about the history of fairy tales, only that from the 17th century they began to emerge as a popular literary convention and broke down into two main schools; that of Perrault and his pure French tales, and the Brothers Grimm, who concerned themselves with only authentic German folklore. Throughout the 18th and 19th century their popularity grew, with each culture apportioning its own unique narrator, most famously in the guises of Mother Bunch, Mother Goose, and Gamma Gettel. To speak loosely of fairy tales, they are a subgenre of folklore, but Lane argues: Although Lane has made some very sweeping generalisations about what a fairy tale it not, this is because, as Tolkien puts it, faerie [tales] cannot be caught by a net of words; for it is one of its qualities to be indescribable (Tolkien 1965:10). As Ive illustrated, those who have spent their academic careers trying to define what a fairy tale is have agreed that it contains certain elements, but the problem lies in that they cant agree which ones. For my purposes I am going to accept Thompsons definition: A tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creature and is filled with the marvellous. (Thompson 1977: 8) The fairy tale is a desirable form of literature for authors to manipulate. With its strict confines, extensive use of stereotypes, accessibility, and moral framework it can be used to create an environment within which authors can explore their own ideas and ideals. Angela Carter is such an author; with the The Bloody Chamber being, essentially, a feminist re-evaluation of the predominantly masculine-dominated fairy tales as presented by the Brothers Grimm. Although the Brothers Grimm were amongst the first to preserve fairy tales in the writing they were considerably re-worked from their original oral counterparts in order to make them more acceptable to society. Fairy tales began as a female-orientated tradition when Les Cabinet des Fà ©es was published over half the authors were women, whose tales offered gratifications that were already [] considered feminine: dreams of love as well as the sweets of quick and capital revenge (Warner 1996: xii-xiv). When the Brothers Grimm, and others, transferred the oral tales in written ones they transposed of an essentially feminine form and replaced it was a masculine one, as Holbeck observes, men and women often tell the same tales in characteristically different ways (Holbeck 1987). This tradition has been carried through to the 20th century, with Disney adaptations relying on the damsel in distress, with the inevitable Prince Charming character to rescue her (although recent productions such as Enchanted and the Shrek trilogy have been a movement away from such archetypes). The Bloody Chamber concerns itself with those changes and calls them to attention by: heightening the intertextuality of her narratives, making them into allegories that explore how sexual behaviour and gender roles are not universal, but are, like other forms of social interaction, culturally determined. (Kaiser 1994) It is a collection of short stories that extract the latent content from traditional stories (Carter in John Haffendens Novelist in Interview) and create new ones from a womans perspective, an exploration of the journey between girlhood and womanhood with all the trappings that entails. It is a de-Bowdlerisation of Grimms contaminated exercise of patriarchal power towards the pure tales of Perrault and, more importantly for Carter, Bruno Bettelheim, whose books, Uses of Enchantment, has been hailed by a holy grail for the understanding of fairy tales. Bettelheim was a distinguished psychoanalyst who applied his writing to the written fairy tale, concluding that they were a way for children to comfortably deal with separation anxiety and essential in the development of the unconscious; let the Fairy Tale speak to his unconscious, give body to his unconscious anxieties and relieve them without this ever coming to conscious awareness (Bettelheim 1977: 15). Bettelheims readings of fairy tales lie strongly in Freudian theory. Freud is most well-known for his championing of the oedipal complex, wherein a boy has desire for his mother and competes with the father for affection, or a girl who has desire for her father, sparking a rivalry with the mother. The latter is also referred to as the Electra complex, though Freud often disagreed on the existence of a female counter-part. In his book, Bettelheim states that: Oedipal difficulties and how the individual solves them are central to the way his personality and human relations unfold. By camouflaging the oedipal predicament, or by only subtly intimating the entanglements, fairy tales permit us to draw our own conclusions when the time is propitious for our gaining a better understanding of these problems. (Bettelheim 1977: 201) This excerpt comes from his essay on Snow White, which Bettelheim argues is a perfect fairy tale version of the oedipal conflict between mothers and daughters. Certainly, the version he and Carter, in her tale The Snow Child, use heightens the oedipal tensions through its simplicity (Kaiser 1994). Carter furthers this by manipulating the popular themes and underpinning them with the notion of desire, a key theme throughout The Bloody Chamber. Colours are incredibly important in the Gothic genre, and due to the nature of Carters fairy tales, they can certainly be described as such. Carters count asks for a girl as white as snow [] red as blood [] black as that birds feather (Carter 2006: 105) without any appropriation of those colours, it is only after the girl appears that Carter redistributes them in the traditional style of white skin, red lips, black hair (Carter 2006: 105). Those three colours continually appear throughout all of Carters short stories and are used in a highly symbolic fashion. White is traditionally seen as the colour of purity, innocence, and wholeness, but red, the symbol of love, signals passion and sexual desire, whilst black represents death, destruction, and the decent into the unconscious. If we transfer these attributes to the Counts wishes, it is plausible to conclude that the Count is imagining a daughter who embodies all those things; a virgin who awakens sexual desire in him on the unconsc ious level. In doing so, he gives the girl multiple facets, and an ambiguous quality she is sometimes pure and perfect, sometimes passionate and sexual, or negative and deadly. Three sides, three colours, three aspects of the human soul. The theme of colours is similarly extended to the Count and Countess note that Carter provides the colours of their horses. The Count sits upon a gray mare (Carter 2006: 105) the only other colour mentioned in the tale, noticeably different to the surrounding contrast. If we see the Count as a representation of society, then the greyness symbolises a lack of self-examination, of stepping back from the coloured representations apparent in the rest of the scene, to which Carter is now attempting to hold a mirror up to. The counts horse also provides a back-drop for the Countess, giving significance to her riding a black one (Carter 2006: 105); she is also seen wearing glittering pelts of black foxes and black shining boots with scarlet heels (Carte r 2006: 105). My interpretation of her attire is one that suggests that to the Count his wife no longer represents the idea of purity (the absence of white), and that he has very little sexual desire for, as the colour red is contained to the lowest part of her body her heels. Instead, she represents the Counts mortality, of getting older, and what Klein describes as a bad object that a child will seek to expel by projecting negative emotions towards it, shown by the excessive use of black. This is highlighted by his wishes for the child, who is predominantly snow white when stark naked (Carter 2006: 105) the good object that a child seeks to join with and keep safe from the unpleasant influence of bad objects. Carters Count lifted her up and sat her in front of him on his saddle and thrust his virile member into the dead girl (Carter 2006: 105-106) perfect representations of that same joining and protecting. As mentioned, the oedipal complex is one concerned with transference not only of emotions, but, in the case of The Snow Child, a physical transference through clothing. In a similar style to the presence of the Counts grey horse, we are not given a description of the Counts clothing, giving strength to my argument that he is a representation of society, and therefore not clothed because it is the provider of clothes, or labels (e.g. mother, wife), for everyone else. Unlike the Brothers Grimm version, Carter does not have the Count decide between his wife and his daughter, instead she has him display his authority over them through the attribution of material constructs. The Countess, presumably acquiring her title from marriage, is wholly defined by her husband her title, her clothes, her horse, all representations of the social constructions of wealth and nobility. When the Countess is replaced in her husbands desires by the girl there is a transference of clothing, and of those s ymbols of society, the furs sprang off the Countesss shoulders and twined around the naked girl [] then her boots leapt off the Countesss feet and on to the girls legs (Carter 2006: 105). Here we see the deconstruction of the modern women a disrobing of the masculine confines imposed upon the Countess. Kaiser points out that it is a sign of their mutual dependence on his favour, the furs, the boots, and jewels fly off the Countess, onto the girl, and back again depending on the whims of the Count (Kaiser 1994). During the tale there is always a woman who is naked, drawing attention to the semantic field of clothes when women are not dressed they are reverted to a representation of Nature, in direct opposition to the man as culture, which in turn makes them appear vulnerable. In response to this criticism, Kaiser continues that although some feminist theorists claim to find a kind of liberation in the position of women as other in phallogocentric culture, Carter finds the situation morecomplex and more troubling (Kaiseer 1994).This can be seen reflection in the ambiguous ending Carter has created, when the Countess exclaims It bites! is she rejecting female sexuality through the symbol of eternal feminine sexuality of the rose? is she rejecting love itself? Or simply her husbands and therefore mens desires? Bacchilega suggests that the Countess recognizes the myth of the vagina dentate for what it is (Bacchilega 1988: 18). The ending leaves a lot to be desired for traditional readers of fairy tales, without the typical happily ever after finish Carter leaves the tale with no promise of happiness and it remains open for individual interpretation. To re-address my original question, one of Carters most avid critics, Patricia Duncker read the ending of The Bloody Chamber as carrying an uncompromisingly feminist message, whilst the other tales merely recapitulate patriarchal patterns of behaviour. Duncker is right in her reading of the texts as remaining within the patriarchal sphere of thought, but as Kaiser parallels with my own opinion what Dunkcer perceives as an inconsistent application of feminist principles is, I believe, merely a reflection of Carters project in this collection, to portray sexuality as a culturally relative phenomenon (Kaiser 1994). It is my personal belief that Duncker is not in possession of a sense of humour, or merely cannot grasp Carters sense of irony in her insistence on staying within the already accepted boundaries, in order to question the nature of reality one must move from a strongly grounded base in what constitutes material reality (Carter 1997: 38). With The Bloody Chamber Carter has conc erned herself not simply with pointing out the problems with conventional patriarchal views of gender, but rather has created a series of different representations, that although dont directly challenge the traditional fairy tales, they provide alternative models. She does not, as the title suggests, capitulate the idea of a masculine-dominated or phallaogocentric representation of the fairy tale, but rather highlights the single-mindedness of those tellings by displaying stories with the same basic building blocks that have hugely different influences. Ours is a highly individualised culture, with great faith in the work of art as a unique one-off, and the artist as an original, a godlike and inspired creator of unique one-offs. But fairy tales are not like that, nor are their makers. Who first invented meatballs? In what country? Is there a definite recipe for potato soup? Think in terms of the domestic arts. This is how I make potato soup. (Carter 1987: 3) The culinary allegory serves her purpose of exemplifying the fairy tale; a recipe will seldom have an individual source and are prepared in a multitude of ways, varying with the ingredients available and the person preparing it, evolving over time, just as female subcultures adapted to suit personal, cultural, and historical needs.

Life as a Mom Essay

Although the media depict most women as housewives and stay-at-home mothers, in reality many women work full time and put their children in daycare. Stay at home moms and working moms have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, a stay at home mom is able to give greater attention to the family while working moms are able to provide financial stability although they are not able to assure greater care to their children. I experienced both, being at home and working outside the home. I personally believe having my husband and me working has made my family happier. According to a recent study by the American Psychological Association of over 1,300 moms the happiest moms are, perhaps unsurprisingly, those who work part-time (Bindley 1). Comparing and contrasting being a stay at home mom vs. a working mom along with the modern economic and social reality has led to the emergence of various social changes and one such social change is the emergences of two kinds of mothers namely stay at home mothers and working mothers (Bindley 1). In this essay, an attempt is made to study the similarities and differences between the working mothers and stay at home mothers; also the term `stay at home moms ‘ refers to those mothers who do not work outside their homes. They prefer to stay at home. This is due to their care for their children and family, also these stay at home moms before they became mothers were working women. Gradually there is transition of working women to becoming stay at home moms. However, after they became mothers, it was very difficult to manage both house and work. Consequently, they decide to quit their jobs and stayed at home for the sake of their family. Leaving the financial stress on their husbands. Stay at home moms usually enjoy their status as being house wives and do not crib at the fact that they are staying at home. The children of such stay at home moms are also happy that their mom is staying with them. In the modern society this is a very difficult decision for the mother to leave her job as it put stress on families financially. Thus only when single income parents could manage with their limited income, the mothers could leave their jobs. Currently there are many work at home jobs which are tailor made to serve the stay at home moms so that they also could obtain extra income and they could make use of their spare time. These jobs are usually telecommuting in nature which means that mothers are not expected to go their work place (Bindley 1). As for why they might be happier, the authors theorized, â€Å"a mother’s participation in employment provides her with support and resources that a mother who spends full time at home does not receive.† (Bindley 1) The main advantage with stay at home moms is that they are able to take perfect care of their family. The main disadvantage with this system is that such families need to depend on single income which then can put a lot of strain on a relationship between husband and wife. As I grew up my mom was a single parent, until I turned 13 when she met my step-father Grant. She worked, went to nursing school full time, and still managed to find time to make it to all of my sporting games. She also was gone a lot too. This then made me have to raise myself a little bit. My mom never let me go without; I always had what I needed when I needed it. I always said that when I was a parent someday, that I would make sure I could provide for them like she did for me. â€Å"There is nothing I would change about how I did things when you were a child; I made sure you had everything you needed.† (Shumaker) â€Å"Things did get much easier when I met Grant and we put our finances together.† (Shumaker). Now as an adult not only do I make sure my children are taken care of day and night, I also attend school, work part-time, and I find time to spend with my husband. Having a husband is such a big help. Not only for our family financially, but also for my children to have a father, and he helps do things for them when I’m not able to. I was a stay at home mom at one point in my life with our oldest daughter when she was a newborn. It was nice, although I felt like I had no adult interaction. I feel that interaction with other adults is critical to say â€Å"sane†. I never felt pretty because I was always wearing sweatpants, and no make-up. Even if I went out to do grocery shopping and run errands it wasn’t enough adult interaction. Because my husband worked all day he wanted to get things done around the house, and I wanted him to watch the kids so I could go do something by myself. We also didn’t have enough money to do anything, he solely paid the bills. That put a lot of stress on our relationship. I would want to go out to dinner, but we didn’t have the extra money. I realized quickly how much more important it was to work. I know that being there for my children is priority. However, interacting with other adults is also very important. Now that I work and my husband works we have enough money to do fun things with our children when we are not working. We bought a brand new camper to take them camping. It also gives us enough money to go out by ourselves and hire a babysitter for the night. Our lives are much more enjoyable for our children, my husband, and me. Having me work instead of staying at home. I still find time to make healthy dinners, and take care of our children. It has made my marriage stronger and it has made me feel better about myself because I contribute to our bills.

American History Native American Religion - 1615 Words

American History: Native American Religion The North American community in today’s worlds has embraced Christianity, Muslim and other popular religious beliefs. Finding the ancient religious practices in action is rare, but not impossible. The communities had their own believes concerning gods and philosophies of good and evil before they were colonized. The communities have lost most of their beliefs and practices as they took place in the earlier community to popular religions which were introduced during and after the colonialism periods (Bonvillain and Porter 23-43). However, all is not lost yet. The community still has some traditionalists who continue to carry on with the religious practices of ancient America before the coming of the missionaries from other countries, such as Christopher Columbus (Bonvillain and Porter 23-43). It is very delicate to touch on such historic topics, since the members of these subcultures tend to think that they are being attacked, or they are exposing sacred information to the world, which is mostly not taken kindly by the people of these tribes. However, there are researchers who successfully, and respectfully researched intoo this religion, documenting their major practices, doctrines and beliefs (Erdoes and Ortiz 24-34). Topics of importance and emphasis that I will go over in this paper will include transcendence, the ability to show thanks for what one has, the ability to transform individually, cultural beliefs, as well as theShow MoreRelated Native American and The US government Essay1169 Words   |  5 PagesNative American and The US government The Iroquois Nation was a nation of five tribes, which was comprised of Mohawks, Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, and Onondagas. 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Ethical Scrapbook Part Ii Cja/324 - 1486 Words

Ethical Scrapbook Part II CJA/324 November 29, 2012 Virginia Swisher Our first questions and issue discussed deals with the subject â€Å"Good Samaritan.† We as a team had to decide should jurisdictions have a â€Å"Good Samaritan† law requiring an individual to help another if he or she is able. Without thought or time wasted debating one another, we all agree (except Frank) that no there should not be â€Å"Good Samaritan† law. We believed that if individuals want to assist when someone is in distress he or she would do so no matter what. Also our team (except Frank) feels if it were a law that would promote vigilantism. Frank believes if individuals knew there was a law that allows them to help others in a time of need, perhaps more†¦show more content†¦With all the money and fame at risk in sports, it should come as no surprise that some of these athletes make unethical decisions to ensure a higher success rate and in turn more money for themselves. The unethical decisions made by athletes involve their choice to use anabolic steroids. Sports are officiated in fairness where the same rules apply to both teams. Athletes who use steroids gain a strength, speed, and performance boost. The increase in physical attributes for an athlete allows them to have an edge against athletes who do not use the drugs. Athletes that engage in performance enhancing drug use are cheating in the sport, but it is difficult to blame them given the incredibly large salaries a successful athlete potentially could make. The average NBA player has a five million dollar salary, the average MLB player has a three million dollar salary, the average NHL player has a 2.4 million dollar salary, and the average NFL player has a salary of 1.9 million dollars. Athletes must perform very well to earn these multimillion dollar salaries and anabolic steroids allow an athlete earn these large sums of money because of positive effects the drugs produce for them. Steroids have a low cost but high reward ratio; a couple of hundred do llars spent on an anabolic steroid cycle could easily help the athlete make hundreds of thousands of dollars in return with the boosts in the performance for the sport they play. This