Analysis of Femininity Assignment PDF
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Added on 2021-04-16
Analysis of Femininity Assignment PDF
Added on 2021-04-16
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Word Count: 1311Name: InstructorSubjectDate: 23rd March 2018Analysis of Femininity, as represented in “The Bloody Chamber”Introduction Angela Carter inThe bloody Chamberpoints to the connection between women, wealth andstatus in a dark irony. A young woman recalls how she gets into a marriage at seventeen only torealize that marriage is not a bed of roses. She leaves her home to live in a castle and sheremembers 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, andlove. In contemporary world, it isdifficult to separate femininity from the love of money, wealth and status[ CITATION Com10 \l1033 ]. This is common of many young women who dream of having a wedding and living in acastle (Makinen). The author tries to convince herself and her mother of her capability towithstand marriage and adulthood. The joy of becoming somebody’s wife is a popularexperience 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 onfeminism[ CITATION The17 \l 1033 ]. The irony in the story highlights happiness and sorrowcharacterizedby some sense of loss of childhood innocence and material gains from the
newfound relationship. She 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 becominghis wife”(Carter 7). She assured her mother that she was ready to move in with a man as hiswife. Besides fears that the mother may have of losing her as she moves away, she was alsoaware that her daughter was marrying “...a man so recently bereaved...”(Carter 11). Mostwomen look forward to the best but remain oblivious of marital challenges such as domesticviolence, depression and sudden death of a spouse(Comley). The author’s mother is aware thatmarriage has the good and the bad. She refers to her matrimonial home as “...the legendaryhabitation...to which one day, I might bear an heir, our destination, my destiny”(Carter 8). At thesame time, she seems too naïve and ignorant to inquire about her husband’s lifestyle when heleaves 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 towhy she surrenders her innocence to a man she barely knows, choosing a lifestyle that does notconnect with her preference.Analytical ParagraphsThe unexpected endingThe authors tone suggests many ideas about death from the onset of the story with liliesappearing as a symbol of purity(Carter 7-10). Unexpected death in marriage comes withchallenges and history shows that women suffer accusations of murder and suspicion forthedeath of their spouses. Gordon Edmund in New York Times discusses Carter’s biographypointing out that carter is a feminist and sexist who had different marriages and valuedsex[ CITATION Gor17 \l 1033 ]. While discussing her husband with her mother she mentions
the death of some women. “A Romanian countess ...dead just three short months before I methim”(Carter 10) she says. She is also aware of the wedding gift given to the many wives and thestrange 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 herhusband’s bedroom to notice many mirrors and nasty pictures yet she pays no keen attention tothese unfounded fears. The story represents symbols from the past revealing aspects of the newlife 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 tothe private ‘den’. The narrator’sthoughts onthe wedding night and her new home symbolizea connection withan ancestry. Shepoints out that her new home has memories of the departed and she receives gifts from her newhusbands past. She meets a housekeeper who recalls something from his fosters mothers and thegigantic matrimonial bed is hereditary. Further symbolism emerges as she refers to her weddingnight as one “...which would be voluptuously deferred until we lay in his great ancestral bed inthe sea-girt...”(Carter 8).Women and MaterialismThe author supports the idea that women have a materialistic tendency and find themselvescraving for the status of a queen(Dunker). Carter receives a number of presents that make herfeel like a queen. As she inspects her husband’s collection of books with collections as old as the1748 “Adventures of Eulalie at the Harem of the Grand Turk”(Carter 17). The man refers to thisas one of his prayer books. Based on an ancient story of a fairytale marriage, the narratorsuggests that the marriage to a mature older man is admirable because of the wealth that he had.
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