An Analysis of Marriage and Materialism in The Bloody Chamber

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The assignment is an analysis of marriage and materialism in Angela Carter's short story 'The Bloody Chamber'. The story revolves around a young bride who marries a wealthy older man and inherits his castle. However, she soon realizes that her purpose in the marriage is to serve her husband and that she has lost her virginity. The story highlights themes of luxury, naivety, and exploitation in a fairy tale marriage. It also excludes contemporary issues faced by women in marriage such as domestic violence, rejection, exploitation, rape, and unwanted pregnancies.

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Word Count: 1311
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Date: 23rd March 2018
Analysis of Femininity, as represented in “The Bloody Chamber”
Introduction
Angela Carter in The bloody Chamber points to the connection between women, wealth and
status in a dark irony. A young woman recalls how she gets into a marriage at seventeen only to
realize that marriage is not a bed of roses. She leaves her home to live in a castle and she
remembers how a wedding changed her life from being a child into being someone else’s wife.
At a tender age, she feels ready for companionship, trust, and love. In contemporary world, it is
difficult to separate femininity from the love of money, wealth and status (Comley). This is
common of many young women who dream of having a wedding and living in a castle
(Makinen). The author tries to convince herself and her mother of her capability to withstand
marriage and adulthood. The joy of becoming somebody’s wife is a popular experience desired
by many women.
Contextual Paragraph (Marriage is not a bed of Rosses)
The author was a celebrated novelist and media personality with a keen eye on feminism (The
Famous People). The irony in the story highlights happiness and sorrow characterized by some
sense of loss of childhood innocence and material gains from the newfound relationship. She

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states that “…in the midst of my bridal triumph, I felt…loss as if, when he put the gold band on
my finger, I had, in some way, ceased to be her child in becoming his wife” (Carter 7). She
assured her mother that she was ready to move in with a man as his wife. Besides fears that the
mother may have of losing her as she moves away, she was also aware that her daughter was
marrying “…a man so recently bereaved…” (Carter 11). Most women look forward to the best
but remain oblivious of marital challenges such as domestic violence, depression and sudden
death of a spouse (Comley). The author’s mother is aware that marriage has the good and the
bad. She refers to her matrimonial home as “…the legendary habitation...to which one day, I
might bear an heir, our destination, my destiny” (Carter 8). At the same time, she seems too
naïve and ignorant to inquire about her husband’s lifestyle when he leaves her on a wedding
night stating that he had serious business to attend to. In her little mind, she does not understand
what “pressing commitments” (Carter 18) were. Questions arise as to why she surrenders her
innocence to a man she barely knows, choosing a lifestyle that does not connect with her
preference.
Analytical Paragraphs
The unexpected ending
The authors tone suggests many ideas about death from the onset of the story with lilies
appearing as a symbol of purity (Carter 7-10). Unexpected death in marriage comes with
challenges and history shows that women suffer accusations of murder and suspicion for the
death of their spouses. Gordon Edmund in New York Times discusses Carter’s biography
pointing out that carter is a feminist and sexist who had different marriages and valued sex
(Gordon). While discussing her husband with her mother she mentions the death of some
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women. “A Romanian countess …dead just three short months before I met him” (Carter 10) she
says. She is also aware of the wedding gift given to the many wives and the strange necklace or
ruby choker offered by a widow, which seems to carry a bad omen of short-lived marriages. The
choker is an imagery of oppression faced by women. She inspects her husband’s bedroom to
notice many mirrors and nasty pictures yet she pays no keen attention to these unfounded fears.
The story represents symbols from the past revealing aspects of the new life of a married woman.
It brings out fairy tale stories of what fascinates women (Dunker). “Keys, keys, keys. He would
trust me with the keys to his office…keys to his safes… (Carter 21) she says. She receives
restrictions about the key leading to the private ‘den’. The narrator’s thoughts on the wedding
night and her new home symbolize a connection with an ancestry. She points out that her new
home has memories of the departed and she receives gifts from her new husbands past. She
meets a housekeeper who recalls something from his fosters mothers and the gigantic
matrimonial bed is hereditary. Further symbolism emerges as she refers to her wedding night as
one “…which would be voluptuously deferred until we lay in his great ancestral bed in the sea-
girt…” (Carter 8).
Women and Materialism
The author supports the idea that women have a materialistic tendency and find themselves
craving for the status of a queen (Dunker). Carter receives a number of presents that make her
feel like a queen. As she inspects her husband’s collection of books with collections as old as the
1748 “Adventures of Eulalie at the Harem of the Grand Turk (Carter 17). The man refers to this
as one of his prayer books. Based on an ancient story of a fairytale marriage, the narrator
suggests that the marriage to a mature older man is admirable because of the wealth that he had.
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When she calls her mother, she brags of the gold bath taps instead of mentioning the loneliness
that she felt (Carter 24). At one point, she comes across photos of her husband’s numerous wives
and she listens to him bragging, “See…I have acquired a whole harem for myself” (Carter 14).
The young bride look away in shyness and pride. In her case, it is even better when the marriage
comes with countless and priceless gifts. The idea of materialism is clear as the story begins and
progresses. This is common with women in their youth today (Comley). She receives fine clothes
made from fine linen and she begins life in a home designed for a queen. Her food comprises of
exquisite delights and the best wine. The castle has workers to handle all her chores. The Russian
leather seats and purple velvet curtains represent royalty and luxury. She gets married at
seventeen years of age when she is still a minor and it seems as though the relationship is mutual.
She likes it as much as the man enjoys her naivety and she gives her body to her husband.
Although this seems enjoyable, she associates his body with lilies that ‘stain’ (Carter 14). This is
a wealthy man with businesses, estates, and a busy life. A life that a modern woman would
prefer. He receives a business call on their honeymoon and he has to leave pointing out that the
deal is worth “several millions” (Carter 18). He leaves the new bride lonely with no activities to
keep her occupied except to wait for her husband’s return. It seems as though her purpose for
marriage as a woman is to serve her husband in bed. She surrenders her virginity to the man
despite his old age as most women still do today. However, it is unfortunate that though she
inherits the castle, she keeps nothing to herself, donates it all to charity, and settles with the piano
tuner.

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Conclusion
The story reveals the hidden truths about most marriages representing a façade of happiness. As
soon as the man gets what he wants, he shifts his focus. The revelation of the horrors of dead
women with one body embalmed, another strangled, a skull and a pool of blood destroys every
good memory that the author had of her new husband. She wishes that she could reverse the tide
of time and gain her virginity back but it is too late. The limitation in this story is in the
exclusion of contemporary issues faced by women in marriage such as domestic violence,
rejection, exploitation, rape and unwanted pregnancies. The story might also consider the plight
of men and betrayal in marriage as brought out in the unity between Jean Yves, the blind piano
tuner and the author.
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Works Cited
Carter, Angela. The Bloody Chamber. Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1979. Print.
Comley, N, R. "Henry Adams Feminine Fictions: The Economics of Maternity." American
Literary Realism 22.1 (1870-1910): 3-16. Web.
Dunker, P. "Re-imagining the fairy tales: Angela Carter's Blood Chambers." Literature and
History 10.1 (1984): 3.
Gordon, Edmund. "The invenion of Angela Carter." New York Times (2017). web. 23 March
2018. <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/21/books/the-invention-of-angela-carter-
biography.html>.
Makinen, M. "Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber" and Decolonization of feminine
sexuality." Feminist Fictions (1992): 2-15. Print.
The Famous People. Angela Carter. 10 November 2017. Web. 26 March 2018.
<https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/angela-carter-715.php>.
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