How Frankenstein connects to the other texts...

- themes of isolation/rejection
*represented in the monster's rejection from society (Frankenstein)
*Macbeth's self-isolation from the norms of society- immersed in his own deception
*Isolated setting of 'Mr Lyon'- desolate castle surrounded by 'swirling snow' far away from the city and civilisation (Bloody Chamber)
- nature as a destructive force
*nature of Victor's personality - obsessed with knowledge/science etc - it his nature which leads him to the destructive task of creating the monster
*the natural forces of destiny/fate (represented in the witches) as an uncontrollable force lead Macbeth down a destructive path of deceit and murder
*Natural setting of the sea, as an enforcer of the young bride's capitivity - the sound of the sea is described as a violent ever present force, reminding the young bride of her entrapment in the castle (The Bloody Chamber)
-Relationships and the dark consequences of them
*The closeness of Victor's family, close relationships results in the monster exploiting this by murdering those that Victor holds dear to cause the most pain
*Macbeth and Lady Macbeth - both thirsty for power, almost competing whose stronger? LM comes off the worst in her insanity. Also the trusting friendship with Banquo, Macbeth betrays this by ordering the murder of Banquo
*The murdered wives of the Marquis, they all trusted and loved him, once again this is abused and he betrays them (The Bloody Chamber)

Frankenstein can be seen as a novel of identity..

-the monster lacks his own identity.
- within the society represented in the novel the monster's physical identity is rejected (causing him to doubt his inner identity/personality?)
- the monster likens himself to the characters of Paradise Lost - trying to assign himself an identity - copies the actions of the DeLaceys
- Victor's identity - sees himself only as a scientist? cannot escape his identity - cast in his role (marxism?)
- lack of identity of the monster also evident in the submissive role of women in society

The Werewolf

The introduction of this story creates an ominous atmosphere 'they have cold weather, they have cold hearts', creating immediate tension for the reader before the story has developed. Carter emphasises the stereotypical original Gothic type stories everyone has been exposed to, of witches, the devil etc. typical scary content. 'the Devil holds picnics...and invites the witches; then they dig up fresh corpses, and eat them'. Creates the idea of evil as an openly existing, ever-present thing.

Heroine in the story a brave young girl, the innocence of her virginity creates her bravery in that she is not exposed to the dark side of human nature, which Carter emphasises to be sex throughout her collection of short stories. 'she dropped her gifts, seized her knife and turned on the beast'.

Ironic death of her grandmother, cut of her paw as a wolf and then discovers her in human form with her bloody stump 'festering' (Gothic image of death/rotting).

Women represented as as the enemy (grandmother the villain), similar to Snow Child, shows that woman are not always the innocent victims.

As the reader we do not necessarily hate the villain (the grandmother), feel sorry for her as she cannot refrain from preying on her granddaughter. idea of being cursed/damned by something completely out of your control (link to The Lady of the House of Love) and also raises the idea of higher powers at work, destiny/fate.

Carter's emphasis on the treatment of witches etc (being stoned) could be seen as Carter's criticism of over-judgement in society. Could also be seen as a demonstration of how easily the traditional Gothic villains could be removed, eg. by stoning them, or placing a 'wreath of garlic' on the door. The point Carter is trying to make here is that the neo-Gothic that she is demonstrating in her writing is not as easy to rid yourself of, as it is an innate feature of human nature. Suggesting that this is where the true Gothic comes from, and this is what we should really fear in life, the dark side of human nature.

Key themes in The Bloody Chamber.

- Use of shock tactics : use of explicit language eg. 'cunt', controversial issues eg. paedophilia + necrophilia, exploitation of innocence, sadistic exposure of sex.
- Fairytale element of story telling: Carter has taken the original fairytales for children and giving them her own dark twist- removing common previous fairytale conventions, whilst ironically still maintaining ones such as the 'happily ever after' ending.
- Feminism - challenging female conventions in society by giving the female characters the more dominant role
- Entrapment - idea of being surrounded or trapped, eg. The Bloody Chamber, the female is surrounded by the sea and trapped in the castle
- Violence linked with love and sex
- Virginity/Innocence/Purity - common association : virginity and innocence.
- Nature
- Transformation

Gothic nature of The Bloody Chamber relies on human nature, and general features of it which appear to be normal in everyday society, Carter takes these features and explores them in a way that exposes the many dark and sadistic faults in human nature. Focusing on sexual desires as a dark subject and emphasising the innocence of the human race in a virginal state. As well as this Carter also explores the importance of nature as a Gothic element, in it's destructive nature and omnipotence in life, which leads well above any control we possess.

'The Erl King' ; Angela Carter

The introduction to the Erl King describes the serene natural setting of the forest, ‘the leaves glittered…the withered blackberries dangled…’ Carter’s narrative here involves the reader directly; using direct description to the reader ‘you step between the first trees…the wood swallows you up’. Moreover a feeling of claustrophobia is created in Carter’s description of the overbearing forest, ‘Once you are inside it, you must stay there until it lets you out again’. Moreover the idea that nature is control is created here, in the sense that the forest holds the control, personifying the forest and making it seem grand and above the powers of human control ‘the trees stir…a little stream…has grown sullen’.

Setting is important here, as it creates the atmosphere for the story. As Carter spends so much time describing the menacing forest we as the reader are kept in suspense as to what is going to happen and are put edge by the gloomy, threatening setting.

Page 97 - ‘It is easy to lose yourself in these woods’; could have 2 different meanings? 1. Get physically lost 2. Lose the kind of person you are?

Narrative shifts between first, second and third person – intention to confuse the reader? Make us feel lost by the forest?

The Erl King: Seems to be at one with nature, a part of the forest. ‘He knows all about the wood and the creatures in it’. Physical description of the Erl King creates the image of a tree, ‘hair that is the colour of dead leaves, dead leaves fall out of it’. The way in which the birds come to rest on him, as if the branches of a tree. ‘Like a tree that bears bloom and fruit’

He is at one with nature, yet asserts power of the forest, calling all the birds to him (similar to The Pied Piper) – is he a symbol of nature’s power? Destructive in the same way that nature can be destructive.

Seduction by the Erl King, ‘he drew me towards him’.

Idea of stripping skin (links to Tiger’s Bride and Wolf Alice) ‘he strips me to my last nakedness, that underskin of mauve’.

Young woman narrator feels consumed by him, consumed by the forest/nature. Takes control and ironically strangles him with his own hair.

‘with hands as gentle as rain’ – shows a different less destructive side of nature – however an odd simile to use to describe such a destructive act

'Wolf Alice' ; Angela Carter

Wolf Alice represents a common theme in Angela Carter's version of the Gothic, animalistic qualities within a human. Alice is initially introduced as 'wild, impatient of restraint, capricious in temper' and is further characterised as a wolf by the constant reference to her 'claws'. Page 146, ‘you might say she could not put her finger on’, the italic emphasis of ‘finger’ is ironic, in the sense that until this point Alice is described as having ‘claws’, it also reminds us that she is human. We also see the emphasis of animalism in humans in the 'Bloody Chamber' when the Marquis is described as having a 'dark mane'.

Another Gothic theme present is the idea of rejection or desertion; Alice is rejected by the nuns (who were her 'saviors') because of her animalism. Similarly we see themes of rejection in Frankenstein + also 'The Courtship of Mr Lyon'.

Setting: The Duke's 'gloomy mansion'

Gothic themes: Werewolf, setting at night, corpses, graveyard, loneliness, and rejection

(direct reference to the bloody chamber...'heaped in the corners of his bloody chamber')

Page 143 - 'the coffin had been ripped open...not a trace could be found but for a rag of the bridal veil...’ This creates an oxymoronic image of a negative, death and a positive, marriage. Links to Frankenstein- the 'bridal bier' (Elizabeth's death)

Page 142 – Angela Carter uses the idea of food and appetite to remind us of the link between animals and humans. ‘His eyes see only appetite. These eyes open to devour…’ The word ‘devour’ emphasizes the need for food and also his uncivilized existence. (Courtship of Mr Lyon; Mr Lyon’s health decreases when he does not eat – reminds the reader of the close link between animals and humans)

Importance of the moon/night: Is when the Duke hunts, acts as an illuminator, revealer, how Alice establishes time (acts as a cycle). ‘With a punctuality that transformed her vague grip of time’

The Mirror: Alice discovers her reflection and believes it to be a playmate, this emphasizes her loneliness and isolation, and also how distant she is from the human world as something as regular and recognizable as a mirror/her own reflection she does not know of. (Naivety? Innocence?). Also reveals the Duke eventually.

Establishment of her human side: Gradually Alice establishes a grip on human life, she recognizes time and the regularity of her natural cycle, cries and later discovers clothing and compassion for the Duke

Drawing upon at least two stories from The Bloody Chamber explore the ways in which Carter might be considered to re-interpret the gothic conventions.

The gothic genre is one that has been explored for centuries, ranging from classics such as the Castle of Otranto, to the more modern interpretations from Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber. Carter has been known to challenge and manipulate some of the traditional gothic features, thus re-interpreting the gothic with a modern flair and exposing the darker side of human nature to be sadistic and sexual rather than purely grisly murders that we are so often exposed to in the gothic genre.
The Bloody Chamber, the first story in Angela Carter’s collection of short stories seems to represent all things gothic. Primarily the setting we are introduced to alludes to the typical gothic, a castle ‘on the very bosom of the sea’, with ‘spiked gates’. The setting in a gothic text is important in creating an atmosphere for the story to come; Angela Carter remains true to this aspect of the gothic. Using the castle in this story to create a sense of entrapment and claustrophobia for our unnamed heroine. Throughout the story the sounds of the sea are constantly referred to, creating the image of the castle being completely surrounded by the sea with no way to escape. ‘The play of the waves outside’ ‘the waves crashed’. This is an interesting twist on the typical fairytale as well as the gothic, as the heroine is trapped in the castle in a sense but not by a wicked villain, by nature and it’s forces (in this case the sea). Similarly in The Courtship of Mr Lyon Carter creates the idea of claustrophobia around the Beast’s castle ‘it might have been the reflection of a star, if any stars could have penetrated the snow that whirled yet more thickly’.
A typical feature of the gothic is often suspense and mystery; Carter’s stories however lack this. There is a distinct lack of fear within the stories which in this sense shows Angela Carter’s own interpretation of the gothic. In The Bloody Chamber our heroine experiences no fear, ‘still I felt no fear, no raising of the hairs’. This of course affects the way in which we as the reader receive the story, as there is no real tension or suspense to enthral the reader and maintain that tense atmosphere so often associated with gothic text or film. This could be interpreted as a means to emphasise Carter’s own interpretations of what the gothic is truly about. Her writing style demonstrates and emphasises nature and the dark force of it, for example the snow in The Courtship of Mr Lyon, shielding the castle of the Beast from the outside world. Similarly Frankenstein, a famous gothic text emphasises the importance of the destructive force that nature can hold. Moreover Carter uses her description to allude to the senses of the reader, making several references to the ‘fleshy’ feel of the lilies in The Bloody Chamber.
Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber takes several well known fairytales and delivers them in a dark, provocative way. However the fairytale aspects of her narrative are what remove that tense gothic atmosphere from the texts. Both The Bloody Chamber and The Courtship of Mr Lyon end with a typical fairytale ‘happily-ever-after’ ending, which distinguishes Carter’s gothic from the traditional gothic. ‘Mr and Mrs Lyon walk in the garden…in a drift of fallen petals’. The serene ending of The Courtship of Mr Lyon is an example of the fairytale endings that Carter uses throughout her collection. These endings may not necessarily fit with the traditional gothic genre but they do fit with Angela Carter’s version of the gothic genre.
The female role in Carter’s stories can also be interpreted as untraditional in comparison to the traditional gothic. The typical gothic female role is a damsel in distress type character, however in both stories I have explored the sexuality of the female character is exposed as well as a role reversal in who holds the power. The Bloody Chamber explores the sexual side of the gothic genre which is quite often ignored in traditional gothic texts, the young bride displays signs of frustration and desire which traditionally would not have been revealed so openly ‘I felt both a strange and impersonal arousal…’. Carter has used her interpretations of the gothic to challenge the female role in society also. Written in the late 1970’s a time of social progression, it comes as no surprise that Carter places her female characters in a position of sexuality or power. In the Courtship of Mr Lyon, Beauty holds the power over the Beast. Demonstrated in the detrimental effect her absence has on him and how upon her return he is saved; this demonstrates the change in who holds the power that was occurring at the time and also challenges the conventions of the saviour and damsel in distress. Making the Beast, the male, the damsel and the female, Beauty the saviour, this emphasises the title of this particular story, The Courtship of Mr Lyon; it is the male character being courted, which traditionally was the other way round in the sense of courtship.

Carter’s narrative definitely demonstrates a re-interpretation of the gothic genre, whilst still remaining true to the main traditional gothic features such as isolation and desertion, Carter inserts her own ideas of what the gothic is about, for example nature and the distribution and abuse of power between male and female.

In Chapter 10, to what extent is nature a key point?

Nature holds a key part in this chapter, as Victor once again seeks comfort from it and relieves his grief and calamities by being at one with the natural surroundings of Mount Blanc. The romantic theme of this chapter demonstrates the popular movement existing in the 18^th and 19^th century, when Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Romanticism celebrated nature rather than civilisation and focused on the effects of nature, this is relevant particularly in this chapter as Victor seeks solace by climbing the ‘tremendous’ Mount Blanc. ‘It had then filled me with a sublime ecstasy that gave wings to the soul’. As we have seen throughout the novel so far Victor temporarily forgets his sorrows when surrounded by nature and presents this feeling of overwhelm and awe at the beauty and grand scale of nature. His love for nature and the relief that comes with it is emphasised the positive language Victor uses in relation to nature, 'tremendous' 'awful and magnificent'. Mary Shelley’s emphasis on the romantic elements of nature comes as little surprise, as she was acquainted with some of the greatest romantic poets of her time, for example Wordsworth. Moreover within the novel nature is perceived as the highest immutable power, above that of mankind and the struggles in society. In chapter 10, both Frankenstein and the monster seek the power of nature to forget the erratic humane troubles that they are faced with, highlighting the romantic within Mary Shelley and more subtly her criticisms of society.

Frankenstein, Chapter 1.

Themes in chapter 1:

- family/companionship/love – love between parents ‘he strove to shelter her’ love for Elizabeth, relationship with family, ‘one train of enjoyment for me’

- Elizabeth: Victor shows genuine affection for her – positive description ‘’cherub creature who seemed to shed radiance from her looks’ – yet serves as a protector *last paragraph* ‘I shared it, my pride and my delight’, selfish intentions behind his love?

- happiness of childhood/parents: respect shown for parents, refers to them as ‘benevolent’ constantly, God described as ‘benevolent’, other religious references: mother a ‘guardian angel to the afflicted’.

- Women (oppression of?): Female characters in this chapter portrayed as the weaker sex, Victor’s mother- rescued from poverty ‘he came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl’. Elizabeth a possession (trophy) – ‘mine to protect, love and cherish’ – reflects society in the time it was written – women held a more passive role in society, under the power and protection of men.

- Question of victor’s obsession (source of?): Where does his obsession with the quest of knowledge come from? Such a stable upbringing, plenty of love and affection. Stability: lessons of ‘patience, of charity and of self control’. (is his future obsession class rebellion?) -NATURE VS NURTURE debate – must come from nature? Nurture (upbringing completely stable)

- Possession? Elizabeth like a possession he can display and claim to be his ‘Till death she was to be mine only’

- Inevitability of Victor’s tragedy: Indications of Victor’s doom. Speaking in past tense ‘I was so guided…’ – implies he lost that guidance

- Locations: Childhood in Geneva (influence of Lake Geneva from Shelley’s life)

- Prolepsis: Elizabeth’s death ‘til death she was to be mine only’ (not the monsters)

*imagery: ‘bloomed…fairer than a garden rose among dark leaved brambles’

- idea of Elizabeth as a bright, beautiful influence on the dark, on Victor’s inherent darkness, when he leaves for Ingolstadt, the darkness is in complete control. Elizabeth: light (good) contrast to darkness of novel.