Exploring Gender Stereotypes Reversal in 'The Company of Wolves'

This essay explores Angela Carter's 'The Company of Wolves' and its subversion of traditional gender stereotypes. The essay traces the transformation of the female protagonist from a submissive, innocent girl into a self-reliant individual who challenges patriarchal norms. Initially, the protagonist is presented as obedient to male authority figures, particularly the wolf, but as the story progresses, she gains agency and reverses their roles. The essay highlights how Carter deconstructs conventional gender roles, presenting characters with fluid identities that defy societal expectations. The analysis suggests that the protagonist's embrace of her sexuality leads to a taming of the wolf, symbolizing a shift in power dynamics. Ultimately, the essay argues that Carter's work challenges male-dominated societal structures by questioning and revising traditional gender roles, offering a narrative where both male and female characters transcend pre-approved norms and discover new dimensions of desire and domination. Desklib provides a platform to access similar essays and study resources.

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Topic: Reversal of gender stereotypes in ‘The Company of Wolves’

2ENGLISH ESSAY
In the short story entitled, ‘The Company of Wolves’ Angela Carter revises gender
stereotypes. At the onset of the story, there are male and female characters that are clearly
distinguishes but as the narrative progresses, they become extremely similar to each other in
terms of their desires and their similarities cease.
The main protagonist in the story is an innocent teenage girl who is ignorant of the world
that surrounds her, yet she submits herself to the patriarchal structure of society and its inherent
power. The authorities that she obeys in the story are all male characters. As she decides to
undertake the journey into the forest in order to meet her grandmother, she completely trusts the
hunter, forgetting that she is in a perilous situation under circumstances that are hazardous in
nature. The writer, Angela Carter then gradually reverses the gender roles and makes the
characters equal. At the beginning of the story, the female protagonist plays a submissive role to
the point when the wolf calls her “my pet” (Carter ch.9) However later into the story, the female
protagonist realizes that “since her fear did her no good, she ceased to be afraid.” (Carter ch.9)
By this change of roles, wherein previously she was a puppet in the hands of the wolf into a
character who is self-reliant, the female protagonist reverses both their roles and instead of
letting the wolf master her mind and body, she gains the upper hand. According to critics, the
female protagonist uses the power of her sexuality by giving herself up to the wolf voluntarily
and taming him in the end. Therefore in the final scene, both the female protagonist and the wolf
come closer to each other by breaking their roles and desires and the female protagonist ends up
sleeping “sweet and sound” (Carter ch.9) “between the paws of the tender wolf.” (Carter ch.9)

3ENGLISH ESSAY
In the beginning of the story, the female protagonist was an innocent and submissive
young girl but when she breaks away from her gender role and the preconceived notions and
qualities that are expected from a woman, she not only ceases to be a submissive girl but also
discovers a longing that is different from her nature. She experiences an intimate longing that is
is not merely based to the subjection of a man but on her own sense of domination. According to
critics, ‘The Company of Wolves’ can be read as a portrayal of a wilder sexuality, a sexuality
that is beyond the borders of culture and hence is more natural than the conventional idea of
sexual identity.
The wolf represents a male figure (Nouri and Fatemah 105) . As reflective of most men,
the wolf symbolizes fear, violence and nature that is predatory. This thought is reiterated
throughout the story, stating that “the wolf is carnivore incarnate” (Carter ch.9) The wolf not
only wants to feed on the girl but also wants to possess her. However as the narrative progresses,
the wolf from being hungry for the flesh of the young girl and trying to establish dominance over
her, becomes a man who is in need of love and also becomes tender in nature and the girl
transforms from being an object to a subject.
Angela Carter challenges the rules of a male-dominated society and she does so by
deconstructing the conventional gender roles that is imposed by society on individuals. Angela
Carter revises them and they cease to conform to their preapproved norms. Angela Carter
through her works also shows the absurdity of the patriarchal creation of the world. Both the
male and female protagonists of her works are given a self that is questionable in nature and that
which does not fit the pre-established norms of society. Angela Carter gives her characters dual
identities, which help them to transgress fluidly into whichever identity they want and not what
society expects them to be.

4ENGLISH ESSAY
REFFERENCES:
Carter, Angela. Company of Wolves. Ireland Books, 1984.
Gracey, James. Company of Wolves. Columbia University Press, 2017.
Horsley, Katelyn. "The erotic transformation of Little Red Riding Hood from an object to a
subject: metatextuality Within “The company of wolves” and “Little Red Riding Hood”."
(2017).
Monteiro, Luiza de Melo. "Tales, tellers and authors: Angela Carter, the Complex Fairy Tale and
“The Tiger’s Bride”." (2015).
Nouri, Azadeh, and Fatemeh Aziz Mohammadi. "A gynocritical study of The Company of
Wolves by Angela Carter." International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences 48
(2015): 100-106.
Reid, Jennifer. "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing: Transgressive Sexualities in ‘Little Red Riding
Hood’and Angela Carter." Postgraduate English: A Journal and Forum for
Postgraduates in English. No. 29. 2014.