The Bloody Chamber
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The Bloody Chamber is an anthology of short fiction by Angela Carter. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1979 and won the Cheltenham Festival Literary Prize. All of the stories share a common theme of being closely based upon fairytales or folk tales. However, Angela Carter has stated:
My intention was not to do 'versions' or, as the American edition of the book said, horribly, 'adult' fairy tales, but to extract the latent content from the traditional stories. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Content
Many of the stories in this book are reprints from other sources, such as magazines, radio and other books.
The short stories included within are as follows.
- The Bloody Chamber
An adaptation of Bluebeard.
A young woman marries an older, French aristocrat; but she discovers that he has perverse and murderous tendencies. A talented pianist, the woman also forms a relationship with a blind piano-tuner.
- The Courtship of Mr Lyon
An adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. This story originally appeared in the British version of Vogue magazine. [2]
A woman moves in with a lion-like beast. The two eventually fall in love and the beast's humanity is revealed.
- The Tiger's Bride
This story is also based on Beauty and the Beast.
A woman moves in with a beastly creature after her father loses her to him in a game of cards. In a reversal of the ending of The Courtship of Mr Lyon, the end of this story reveals the heroine's inner bestial nature.
- Puss-in-Boots
This story is closely based on the classic Puss in Boots. This story also appeared in the 1979 anthology The Straw and the Gold, edited by Emma Tennant. [3] According to The Curious Room, this was originally written as a radio play.
Figaro, a cat, helps a young man who has fallen in love with a woman kept in a tower by a miserly, older husband.
- The Erl-King
An adaptation of the Erlking in folklore; a sort of spirit of the woodlands. This story originally appeared in Bananas. [4]
- The Snow Child
Loosely based upon the story of Snow White. This story was originally broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 programme Not Now, I'm Listening. [5]
A Count and Countess go riding in midwinter and the Count's wishes cause a beautiful young girl to materialise; making the Countess especially jealous.
- The Lady of the House of Love
Loosely based upon Sleeping Beauty. This story originally appeared in The Iowa Review. [6] According to The Curious Room, this was originally written as a radio play.
A virginal English soldier, travelling through Romania by bicycle, comes across a mansion inhabited by a vampiress.
- The Werewolf
An adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood. This story originally appeared in South-West Arts Review. [7]
A girl goes to visit her grandmother, but encounters a werewolf on the way.
- The Company of Wolves
A closer adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood. This story originally appeared in Bananas. [8] According to The Curious Room, this was originally written as a radio play.
A girl meets and flirts with an apparently charming young man whilst wandering through the forest towards her grandmother's house.
- Wolf-Alice
This tale explores the journey towards subjectivity and self-awareness from the perspective of a feral child. This story originally appeared in Stand. [9]
A feral child, whom some nuns have attempted to civilize, is left in the care of a monstrous, vampiric Duke.
[edit] Style and themes
Angela Carter's short stories challenge the way women are represented in fairy tales, yet retain an air of tradition and convention through her voluptuously descriptive prose. For example, in the opening tale "The Bloody Chamber" which is a retelling of Bluebeard, Carter plays with the conventions of canonical fairy tales; instead of the heroine being rescued by the stereotypical male hero, she is rescued by her mother.
The stories deal with themes of womens' roles in relationships and marriage, their sexuality, coming of age and corruption. Stories such as The Bloody Chamber and The Company of Wolves explicitly deal with the horrific or corrupting aspects of marriage and/or sex and the balance of power within such relationships.
The stories are updated to more modern settings. The exact time periods remains vague, but they are clearly anchored rather intentionally. For example, in "The Bloody Chamber" the existence of transatlantic telephone implies a date 1930 or later. On the other hand, the mention of painters such as Gustave Moreau and Odilon Redon, and of fashion designer Paul Poiret (who designs one of the heroine's gowns) all suggest a date before 1945. "The Lady of the House of Love" is clearly set on the eve of the First World War, and the young man's bicycle on which he arrives at the tradition-bound vampire's house is a symbol of the encroaching modernity which fundamentally altered European society after 1914.
[edit] Adaptations
The 1984 film, The Company of Wolves by Neil Jordan was based upon the werewolf stories in this collection, in particular the Little Red Riding Hood analogy The Company of Wolves. Carter also directly contributed to the screenplay of this film.
The Company of Wolves is also a popular subject for adaptation by amateur/student theatre groups (e.g. by this Welsh drama college). The Bloody Chamber has also been similarly adapted for the theatre.[1]
