The Erl King can be described as the most innovative and experimental of the narratives in The Bloody Chamber, and this is supported by the quotation because the narrative perspective in The Erl King is the most unusual out of all the stories in The Bloody Chamber. The narrative perspective changes so quickly that Carter has created a sense of confusion within the reader. 1st, 2nd and 3rd person are all used, this is a contrast to the other stories in The Bloody Chamber, for example The Bloody Chamber is written fully in third person without a change in the narrative perspective. This shows Carter's experimentation with different aspects of narrative.
The Erl King can also be described as innovative because Carter has incorporated many different intertextual references but has created her own story around them. The fairy tale that The Erl King is based on is Little Red Riding Hood. The Erl King himself is supposed to embody the wolf in the fairy tale and the girl is supposed to be Red Riding Hood, however at the end of the story Carter uses a twist that portrays her views as feminist, the girl does not become the 'victim', she kills the Erl King instead, going against the original story therefore creating a new one. Other intertextual references in The Erl King are drawn from old German poems and ballads, where the main character was a malevolent creature who haunts forests and carries off travellers to their deaths. However, Carter's use of intertextual references could be seen as unoriginal and not innovative because she has not created her own ideas
Another way in whichThe Erl King can be seen as innovative in The Bloody Chamber is Carter's deep description of the forest and it's environment. 'It struck the wood with nicotine stained fingers','the woods enclose and then enclose again', Carter uses two pages to fully describe the forest, this is different to other stories in The Bloody Chamber, such as The Snow Child, which has little description about the surroundings because they are so minimalistic.
In conclusion, The Erl King can be described as innovative and experimental because Carter has tried to develop different ideas to try and tell her own version of the Erl King story.
Amy, you'll need to explain why Carter chooses to employ 1st,2nd and 3rd person narration in her opening. Consider why she wishes to disorientate the reader BUT also show how the narrator can see herself from so many different perspectives (try and remember what we talked about in terms of within and without).
ReplyDeleteYour point on intertextual references has potential but remember that ALL of TBC stories have intertextual references. You begin to touch on what makes the Erl King innovative when you mention 'old German poems', why not extend this to the Green Man folk tale.
I wouldn't criticise her for 'copying' other people's stories as essentially ALL tales are copies.
I really like your point on setting, it is something I hadn't considered BUT completely agree with. I wonder if you could connect this to the point on shifting perspectives in the opening.