The Bloody Chamber Group

Question:

ciaran123
ciaran123
Student
High School - 12th Grade

I need some gothic conventions/themes for "The Bloody Chamber."

It would be great if someone could help, just for revision purposes.

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Posted by ciaran123 on Wednesday November 11, 2009 at 3:12 AM and tagged with angela carter, conventions, dark, gothic, marquis, sexual, the bloody chamber, themes.

Answers:

  1. kiwi
    kiwi Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The guide to "The Bloody Chamber" gives sound revision type summaries of the major themes in the work. They include:

    • Bestial versus spiritual imagery and action
    • Gender stereotypes
    • The linking of sex and death
    • Loss of innocence

    Carter makes use of gothic elements such as the setting - a castle on a remote island and the secret room. Women as victims to a powerful perpetrator is also a convention of Gothic characterization.  Elements of the mystical - such as the enchanted key - also indicate the Gothic tradition of transcending normal human concepts and understanding. The narrator's "branding" because of her near-fatal curiosity also alludes to the punishment of those who step outside their expected role or code of behaviour.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/bloody-chamber/summary
    http://www.enotes.com/bloody-chamber/themes

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    Posted by kiwi on Friday November 27, 2009 at 4:46 PM