The Bloody Chamber - Notes - complete Flashcards
1
Q
Give 3 ways the Marquis dominates the narrator
A
Wealth, sexual dominance, dominates her in terms of experience (he is much older)
2
Q
How does the Marquis spiritually objectify the narrator
A
he Wants to reduce her to the martyrdom of saint cecilia, a frozen scene of canonisation
3
Q
how does the Marquis objectify his 3 wives
A
by displaying their dead bodies in the bloody chamber
4
Q
what about jean Yves prevents him from sexualising the narrator and seeing her through the male gaze
A
his blindness
5
Q
give one example of the marquis getting the narrator to conform to the male gaze and fetishes
A
making her wear the ruby choker
6
Q
why does Jean-Yves have less power
A
he is blind
7
Q
what does the mother use to kill the Marquis
A
her husband’s pistol
8
Q
the pistol could be a ___symbol
A
phallic
9
Q
give one feminist and one less feminist interpretation of the use of the pistol to kill the marquis
A
Feminist - power can easily be transferred from men to women by just transferring the pistol
Less feminist - women need to take male gendered traits in order to have power (there is no such thing as dominating female power)
10
Q
and important feature of the marquis from a Marxist perspective is that he is what
A
an aristocrat
11
Q
the narrator describes her innocence with what quote
A
‘I knew nothing of the world’
12
Q
the narrator wears a ___ dress which symbolises what but is described how
A
white,
Innocence
Sexualised
13
Q
The mother is the same/opposite as the daughter - why?
A
opposite
The mother knows allot about the world, she is wise and strong
14
Q
the description of the Marquis is what
A
animalistic - like a lion, predator
15
Q
What does the Marquis smell like
A
leather and spice
16
Q
the Marquis is un___and un___in his descriotion
A
Unsettling and uncanny
17
Q
How old is the narrator at the start
A
17
18
Q
Has the narrator grown up with a father
A
no
19
Q
what people has the narrator grown up with
A
mother and a nanny
20
Q
Give 3 descriptive words for the narrator at the start
A
talented pianist, poor, curious, virgin
21
Q
at the end the protagonist is rich/poor (until she gives the money away)
A
rich
22
Q
what does the protagonist do with the wealth
A
gives it to charity
23
Q
give 2 possible reasons teh narrator is nameless
A
- Carter wants the reader to see her as the Marquis did: a vulnerable, innocent object of desire
○ Her namelessness makes her position-less and thus vulnerable to manipulation, as she is seemingly isolated and has no ties to society- Carter wants to universalise her struggle, and highlight how the tale relates to real life and the harmful nature of the patriarchy
24
Q
What is a psychoanalytic interpretation of the start of the story
A
the narrator is repressing her sexuality, and this is shown by the phallic imagery whcih is a sign of her id surfacing
25
what is the desire of the Marquis’ id
to be sexually violent
26
what is the face of the Marquis like according to a psychoanalytic interpretation? Why?
A ‘mask’, as it is his superego covering his id
27
give 2 ways we are shown the Marquis is driven by his id (in a psychoanalytic interpretation)
animalistic description
- mouth referenced allot, showing he is all appetite
28
give 2 examples of the mother’s bravery, strength and experience
she shot a tiger and fought Chinese pirates
29
Give 2 key facts about the narrator’s parents
her mother was rich, and then married a poor soldier(the father), giving up her wealth for him
30
what is jean yves’s job
a piano tuner
31
jean yves could be the __of the marquis
foil
32
how is the power dynamic more equal between yves and the narrator
he is a similar age, similar interests and similar class
33
Who was the most recently deceased wife
a Romanian countess
34
who was the second most recently deceased wife
an artist’s model
35
who was the first wife
an opera singer
36
give 2 shared characteristics of the dead wives
creative, passionate and lively
37
what is a vampiric interpretation of the marquis
the deaths of the wives bring him life (in the same way that sucking the blood of victims give vampires life)
38
what did Angela Carter see fairy tales as doing
exposing dark elements of the human psyche
39
give one way the narrator and harker are similar at the start
they are naive/innocent to the danger they will face at the start
40
give similarities in the form of the bloody chamber and Dracula
- The multiple narrators in Dracula and the occasional lack of direct speech in the bloody chamber make the reader in both stories slightly unsettled - they are not omniscient, the eyes of god over the tale, but closer instead to the positions of the characters themselves
41
Give a similarity in perspectives in Dracula and TBC
in first person
42
give similarities between settings in Dracula nd TBC
traditional gothic settings (isolated castles, labyrinthine)
43
how does the castles in Dracula and TBC affect the characters and what could they symbolise
remove protagonists from familiarity and safety, and the labyrinthine nature of the castles could symbolise entrapment/internal struggle
44
how are Lucy W and the narrator similar
both have sexual curiosity
And it is punished in both cases
45
both TBC and Dracula deal with ____people/movements
amoral -
○ With the bloody chamber, carter is responding to the famous libertine Sade
○ In Dracula, Stoker could be exploring the rise of secularism, or the decadent movement as amoral forces at work in society
Dracula is a secular decadent, and the idea of seeing him gorged on blood links to the hedonism and gluttony of the decadents
46
Give a difference in the use of eroticism in TBC and Dracula
- Carter uses eroticism to highlight the perversion of male desire and the harm it causes women, while stoker uses eroticism to uncover male desire and condemn it as a moral failing in the man, rather than a possible cause of harm for women
47
Give a difference in attitudes to female sexuality in Dracula and TBC
- Carter doesn’t punish her narrator for exploring her sexuality, whereas all women in Dracula are punished for being unchaste
48
Give a difference in the treatment of heroism by carter and stoker
- Carter subverts the stereotypes of the heroes of the story, stoker doesn’t
○ Stoker presents male heroes saving a damsel in distress
○ Carter has a female hero instead of a male one
49
What does carter use gothic fiction to do
to subvert gender roles and ideas
50
the marquis is the gothic__
villain
51
give 2 instances of eroticism in TBC
- The narrator is objectified and made to be submissive
- She discovers pornography in the library
52
Give 5 gothic tropes used in TBC
- Gloomy settings
- Supernatural
- Omens/curses
- Emotional distress (nightmares/feverish dreams)
- Death and decay
- Madness/possession
- Unknown supernatural being/villain
- Good vs evil
- Eroticism
53
What do the lilies symbolise
death
54
how does Carter subvert male heroism
Jean-Yves cannot save the narrator from the Marquis, even though he should be fulfilling the fairy tales Prince Charming trope
55
what type of story could TBC be read as?
A Bildungsroman
56
how could TBC be read as a traditional gothic tale reinforcing conventional morality?
- The ending could be read as a punishment/outcasting of the narrator for her sin/transgression of sexual desire, curiosity about the bloody chamber and sex
○ She is punished with the mark of cain, and eventually forced into a normal life which adheres to convention
57
give 2 ways carter subverts the gender roles of the fairy tale form
has a female heroine, and the conventional male hero character (jean-yves) cannot save the narrator)
58
what fairy tale is TBC based on
Bluebeard
59
give 1 way TBC conforms to the fairy tale form
happily ever after? To a nice man at the end
60
Give 4 ways the fairy tale form is subverted
- Money is given to charity at the end
- no progression for the narrator (still lives in Paris, and not rich)
- doesn’t live in a castle, instead it becomes a school for the blind
- still has the mark of Cain
61
give 4 possible reasons for the narrator feeling ‘shame’ about her mark of Cain
- her curiosity which caused her to get the mark is bad by the standards of the patriarchy
- her sexuality is bad by the standards of the patriarchy and is being punished
- her passivity is bad by carter’s standards and is being punished
- she was made vain when she married the Marquis
62
what is the main debate over the reason for the narrator’s ‘shame’ over her mark of Cain
□ Overall, is she rightly ashamed of her passivity? Or is she ashamed because she has internalised patriarchal standards of femininity
63
Dates of the Marquis de sade
1740-1814
64
sade was a French ____ who wrote novels such as ___which contain pornography, violence and ____
aristocrat
Justine
Blasphemy
65
What ideology did Sade subscribe to
radical freedom - unconstrained by morality, religion or law
66
give 4 principles of Sade
libertineage
Atheism
Defence of aristocratic privilege
Opposition to death penalty
67
what did Camus define Sade’s views on the sex drive and when did he do this
he saw the sex drive as the force dominating male nature 1951
68
According to Camus, why did Sade argue for the enslavement of the majority to serve the desires of the few
He believed humans should be ruled by their passions, and hence there is a struggle to dominate (have your desires satisfied) and there is only a limited number of people who can dominate
69
why did Sade believe that libertines couldn’t be held morally responsible for being libertines
Humans dont have free will, so they are consigned to being libertines
70
Sade could be seen as the first ___
nihilist
71
what did Sade see morals as
human Conventions, which could be ignored if they were unnatural
72
according to Sade, ___is against nature and __ is a natural impulse
charity
Murder
73
give a true story about Sade which links to the Bloody chamber, and use it in an interpretation
the father of a servant girl who Sade abused arrived at his house and tried to murder him with a pistol - suggesting that the mother’s heroism could be a symbol of female rejection of the patriarchy, standing for wronged women of the past
- it also aids the interpretation that he Marquis is a depiction of Sade himself due to the parallels
74
when did Sade write Justine and Juliette
justine - 1791
Juliette - 1797
75
what 3 things did carter praise Sade for?
§ Sade was one of the first writers to present women as more than sexual objects/breeding machines
§ Presented woman as active participants in sex, who had the potential to enjoy sex
§ He presented the reality of life for women - that passivity leads to their downfall and death (Justine)
76
When was the Sadeian woman published
1978
77
why did carter say pornography was of interest to feminists?
Reveals the nature of male sexual desire
78
what is a libertine
a wealthy/aristocratic man who devotes himself to pursuing pleasure without concern for morality
(Pleasure could be aesthetic, physical or sexual)
79
in Bluebeard, why dont women find Bluebeard attractive
his blue beard
80
Who saves the narrator n Bluebeard
her two brothers
81
at the end of Bluebeard, what des the narrator do with all the money she inherits
marries her sister to a man she loves
Buys her brothers commissions
Marries herself to an honest man
82
How does the fairy tale Bluebeard reinforce the patriarchy
she uses the money from the death of Bluebeard to pay for herself nad her sister to find husbands
83
who created the theory of the male gaze and when
1975, Laura Mulvey
84
what is the idea of the male gaze
- it presents women as sexual objects, at the service of the pleasure of the male viewer
- it has 3 perspectives (man behind camera, male characters in text, reader gazing at the image)
85
Explain what Freud’s model of the id is
- Id is impulsive and unconscious elements of the psyche
- Responds directly to instincts
- Demands immediate satisfaction regardless of consequences (the pleasure principle)
86
What is the pleasure principle
the id demanding immediate satisfaction regardless of the consequences
87
what does the ego do
mediates between the unrealistic id and the external real world
- works out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands
88
What does the superego do
- Incorporates the values and morals of society
- Controls the id, especially those which society strictly regulates like sex and aggression
89
The id is ___and the super ego is ___
unconsiocus for both
90
things that the superego says are wrong are ___
repressed
91
repressed feelings manifest in what 3 ways
dreams
Freudian slips
Physically
92
what is a Freudian slip
sating a word you aren’t meant to which is similar to another (like when I said that over lunch ifykyk)
93
give an example of a physical manifestation of repression
female hysteria
94
what is female hysteria
psychosexual disorder caused by conflict between natural sex impulses and repression of sexuality by society
- including sexual hallucinations, nausea and vomiting
95
who was the most famous case of female hysteria
Anna O
96
what is Jungian analysis
a branch of psychoanalytical interpretation which interprets each character as an archetype which exists in society’s collective unconscious
97
What is Tristan und Isolde about
its an opera by Wagner (1857) about a forbidden love between a knight and princess - its a tragedy
98
What is the liebestod
the final dramatic song from Tristan und isoldewhich is about the consummation of their love in death. Tristan dies and then Isolde dies in his arms after rushing to come and see him
99
what do you have to do to eat an artichoke
strip off the leaves to leave the heart of the artichoke to eat it
100
what is the only edible part of an artichoke
is the buds before the flowers bloom
§ Once the buds bloom it becomes coarse and inedible
101
Give an example of a satanist book in the Marquis’ library
la bas
102
what is immolation
sacrificial killing
103
carter was a __wave feminist
second
104
what is liberal feminism
explores gender equality
The equal rights to dignity, thoughts freedom wealth and property
105
what is radical feminism
The idea of removing the gender binary (having particular masculine or feminine characteristics)
106
TBC explores ___and ___feminism
liberal
Radical
107
give an example of radical feminism in TBC
The mother taking on masculine roles like riding a horse and saving the damsel in distress
108
By the end of teh 1970s, over __% of women had jobs outside of the home, but were paid ___% less than men on average
50
60
109
women working changed what structure
the family structure - as women deferred marriage in favour of working
110
when is TBC set
1920s - very explicitly as a famous 1920s designer is mentioned as making the narrator’s white dress
111
what do the lilies symbolise/associated with
Associated with death/funerals
Could show death of narrator’s innocence and virginity
Or be an omen of the marquis’s murderous intentions
112
How does the marquis brand the narrator
presses the key to her forehead
113
give 3 things the mark on the narrator’s forehead could link to
the ash cross on the forehead on Ash Wednesday
The mark of Cain
The scar on Harry Potter’s forehead (which marks him out as special, connects him to Voldemort spiritually,he is ashamed of it as it marks him out as different)
114
what is the story of the mark of Cain in the bible
cain murders Abel,
God marks Cain but stops anyone murdering him, so everyone knows that he murdered Abel,
This is a physical mark of sin/shame which makes him an outcast
115
if the narrator receives the mark of Cain from the marquis, what does that make the Marquis?
god
116
why is the marquis beheading the narrator?
To link her to saint cecilia (who was beheaded). he wants to reenact saint Cecilia’s death, as the narrator is also a gifted musician
117
how does beheading the narrator link to the French Revolution
§ He makes her wear his grandmother’s choker, which was his grandmother’s to show she was not killed in the French Revolution
§ He uses his grandfather’s sword, which was the sword his grandfather surrendered to the peasant army at the end of the French Revolution
□ This act feels like a vengeance for the victory of the peasants in the French Revolution, as he uses an aristocratic weapon to kill a peasant
118
Give 3 examples of phallic symbolism at the start
the pistons of the train ‘thrusting’, the ‘Lilies’ and the turrets on the Marquis’ cast;e
119
what does teh white satin nightdress that the Marquis gives the narrator as a gift symbolise
her waif-like state of pre-pubescence
120
what are opals symbols of
bad luck
121
the opal ring was previously the property of who
the Marquis’ mother and grandmother etc
