The Snow Child - Quotes and Context - complete Flashcards
What does the count wish for regarding a girl?
The count says ‘I wish I had a girl as white as snow’
This is followed by finding a hole in the snow filled with blood, which could symbolize menstruation or the sexuality that accompanies pubescence.
What does the count wish for after expressing his desire for a girl as white as snow?
The count says ‘I wish I had a girl as red as blood’
This is followed by the appearance of a raven.
What does the count wish for in relation to a raven?
The count says ‘I wish I had a girl as black as that bird’s feather’
The object of his desires then appears: ‘white skin, red mouth, black hair and stark naked…the child of his desire’.
How does the countess feel about the child?
The countess hates the child.
What does the count do with the child?
The count seats the child on his saddle.
What items does the countess drop and want the child to fetch?
The countess drops her glove, diamond brooch and wants the child to fetch them for her.
What is the count’s response to the countess’s demands?
The count refuses to let the child do the countess’ bidding, and each time the countess demands something, an item of her clothing is taken from her and given to the child until the countess is naked and the child has furs and boots.
What does the countess ask the child to do?
The countess asks the child to pick her a rose, and the count says ‘I can’t deny you that’.
What happens when the girl picks the rose?
The girl picks the rose, ‘pricks her finger on the thorn; bleeds; screams; falls’.
explain how the snow child demonstrates the way in which the patriarchy removes the moral boundaries for men
the Count has control over the surroundings - when he wishes for something it happens
- there is no accountability/moral framework for him as he is protected by the patriarchy
how does the count feel about his wife - give a possible explanation for this
‘the count felt sorry for his wife’
- The ‘wife’ is not the same as the Countess (even though he is married to the Countess)
○ There is a duality in his perception of the female characters
○ He can perceive that he feels sorry for his ‘wife’, but he can’t connect that to the real individual of the Countess
○ In this way his dual moral standards operate at two levels: his instinctive emotional responses and his interaction with reality and real people, and there is a disconnect between these two things
what story is TSC based on
snow white
how is snow white a liminal character
she is given an apple which makes her fall into a deep sleep
what was the original title of snow white
little snow white
think about the male gaze, virtue and contradictory ideas
analyse the title ‘the snow child’
The snow child’ emphasises the child’s vulnerability/the pedophilia
§ Carter wants to expose the way in which Snow White is a story of obsession with the innocence and sexual lure of a young girls innocence under the male gaze, and the damage done to these young girls as a result of this desire
§ This links to the gothic elements of the taboo, transgression, the forbidden and shock which
○ The word ‘white’ emphasises purity in a way ‘the snow child’ doesn’t
○ The snow child is almost a contradictory idea, as snow is so infertile and barren of life. A child being borne of that snow suggests that the child is somehow unnatural - a freak of nature and out of nature’s order
§ This could show how the ideal of childish innocence and beauty in stories like Snow White are unnatural creations
§ Snow is cold and barren and stifles life
□ The idea of a child being like this shows the ideals of childish innocence trap young women in time, freeze them in time, trying to retain this ideal of childish beauty. This struggle is ultimately futile as snow will inevitably melt
○ Also the idea of a child being made of snow suggests the child is temporary/fragile
what is the bloody chamber in this story and what could it symbolise
a ‘hole in the snow’ filled with blood
§ This is perhaps an example of a bloody chamber within the story
§ It might symbolise menstruation and the liminal state of a girl becoming a woman
○ At this stage in development, the state of a girl/woman epitomises male fantasy as they are both innocent and objects of sexual opportunity
what are the colours of the horses the count and the countess ride and analyse this
the count rides on a ‘grey mare’ and the countess on a ‘black’ mare
what happens when the snow child picks the rose
she ‘bleeds; screams; falls’ (she is killed)
what could the rose be an example of in the story
the vagina dentata (fanged vagina)
what is the snow child described as, how does the countess feel about her and what does the count do when he sees her appear
- ‘white skin, red mouth, black hair and stark naked…the child of his desire’
The countess hates the child
The count seats the child on his saddle
what happens after the snow child dies
‘weeping…thrusts his virile member into the dead girl’
what happens to the snow child after she dies and is then raped
she ‘melts’ leaving just a bloodstain and the rose she picked
what happens at the end of the snow child (after the dead child is raped)?
the count hands his wife the rose and she exclaims that ‘it bites!’
