“It is ironic that the beasts are often more humane than the
humans.” Consider at least two of the stories from the collection in the light
of this comment.
It can be considered ironic that the beasts are often more
humane than the humans. For example, the beast in the Tiger’s Bride is a placid
creature that lives in an ‘uninhabited’ place; the girl in the story starts to
understand that ‘he was far more frightened of me than I was of him’. Despite
the girls’ preconceptions of the beast he does not treat he badly. He
ultimately frees her from the constraints of her unreliable, gambling father.
The beast recognises the girls’ importance, something that her own father
failed to see, ‘if you are so careless of your treasures, you should expect
them to be taken from you’. The beast shows more kindness and compassion
towards the girl than her father; he gambled away his daughter for superficial
reasons; he thought he was going to get some kind of financial gain from the
game he was playing.
It can also be considered ironic that many of the beasts in
The Bloody Chamber are more humane than the humans because the Marquis in The
Bloody Chamber is cruel and can be considered more of a beast than many of the
other characters in the book. The Marquis finds pleasure in murdering his
wives, ‘and where was she, the latest dead, the Romanian Countess who might
have thought her blood would survive his depredations?’ The Marquis has power
and wealth, this is what attracts beautiful, young women to him; and because of
his power he believes that he is entitled to do whatever he wants to them. His
actions show that he is an inhumane character that Angela Carter has created to
highlight male power and male ego.
However, The Bloody Chamber is not without humans that act
in kind and humane ways. For example, the young soldier in The Lady of the
House of Love. The young soldier is kind and gentle towards the Lady, ‘he puts
his mouth to the wound. He will kiss it better for her.’ The soldier does not
take advantage of the Lady, however his love is ultimately what kills the Lady
because every other man that she has encountered took what she offered. This
representation of a humane person is Angela Carter showing that not all men are
beasts.
How far do you agree with the view that the play exposes the corruption of religious beliefs and practices?
In the play Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe the corruption of religious beliefs are exposed many times. For example, the use of magic within the play can be viewed as a corruption of religious powers, 'a sound magician is a mighty God.' Magic can be interpreted as a link to the devil therefore showing that these magical powers are being used for evil; and Faustus is undermining the power of God which is subsequently a corruption of true religion.
Another example of the corruption of religious beliefs and practices in Dr Faustus is highlighted through the portrayal of the Pope and the Cardinals. They charge people money and claim that this is going to rid them of their sins, however the Pope and the Cardinals are making a profit from these people. This shows the corruption of their religious practices because they would rather make as much money as they can through the church than teaching people to repent for their sins. Christopher Marlowe has included his atheist views within Dr Faustus; he has made the character of the Pope someone the audience would laugh at instead of somebody that they would usually treat with respect. However the Pope and the Cardinals are symbols of Christianity and they bring contrast to Faustus' 'devil-inspired magic.'
In the time that Christopher Marlowe wrote Dr Faustus people were devoutly religious and would have attended church every Sunday. Faustus is a character that goes against these values; he places knowledge above religion because if he has the most knowledge then he will be the most powerful man on the earth and therefore he believes that he does not need to have faith in God.
The fate that Faustus has to endure at the end of the play could act as a warning to everyone that the corruption of religious beliefs and practices has consequences and because Faustus did not repent soon enough, God could not save him and he paid the ultimate price.
How do you respond to the view that in the stories in The Bloody Chamber Angela Carter presents a sinister distortion of family relationships?
In The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter there are many different family relationships that are portrayed. Some of those family relationships can be described as having a sinister distortion. For example, in The Tiger's Bride, a father gambles his own daughter away because he is careless and he thought that he might be able to get a financial gain. Carter may be implying that because he has a daughter and not a son it is easier for him to make the decision to gamble her away because she has no value to him, all he can do is try and marry her to a rich man.
Carter also presents a sinister family distortion in the vignette of The Snow Child. The Count and the Countess in The Snow Child conform to the typical patriarchal society of that time; the Countess has to watch as the Count rapes the young girl, 'the Countess reined in her stamping mare and watched him narrowly.' This shows a sinister distortion of their family relationship because after the Count has raped the girl, he and the Countess carry on as if nothing happened, 'the Count picked up the rose, bowed and handed it to his wife.' The Count and Countess are oblivious to what the Count did to the girl.
However, not all of the relationships in The Bloody Chamber can be classed as sinister distortions of family relationships. For example, the mother and daughter relationship portrayed in The Bloody Chamber is one of love. The girl's mother rides all the way to the Marquis' castle on horseback to save her daughter from his sadistic ways, 'now, without a moment's hesitation, she raised my father's gun...and put a single, irreproachable bullet through my husband's head.' The girl's mother's instincts save her life.
Another example of a family relationship in The Bloody Chamber that does not have a sinister distortion is the father and daughter relationship portrayed in The Courtship of Mr Lyon. Beauty gives up her own freedom so that her father can have his, 'her visit to the beast must be...the price of her father's good fortune.' Beauty and her father do not have a sinister relationship, they would do anything for each other.
How far do you agree with the view that the play exposes the corruption of religious beliefs and practices?
In the play Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe the corruption of religious beliefs are exposed many times. For example, the use of magic within the play can be viewed as a corruption of religious powers, 'a sound magician is a mighty God.' Magic can be interpreted as a link to the devil therefore showing that these magical powers are being used for evil; and Faustus is undermining the power of God which is subsequently a corruption of true religion.
Another example of the corruption of religious beliefs and practices in Dr Faustus is highlighted through the portrayal of the Pope and the Cardinals. They charge people money and claim that this is going to rid them of their sins, however the Pope and the Cardinals are making a profit from these people. This shows the corruption of their religious practices because they would rather make as much money as they can through the church than teaching people to repent for their sins. Christopher Marlowe has included his atheist views within Dr Faustus; he has made the character of the Pope someone the audience would laugh at instead of somebody that they would usually treat with respect. However the Pope and the Cardinals are symbols of Christianity and they bring contrast to Faustus' 'devil-inspired magic.'
In the time that Christopher Marlowe wrote Dr Faustus people were devoutly religious and would have attended church every Sunday. Faustus is a character that goes against these values; he places knowledge above religion because if he has the most knowledge then he will be the most powerful man on the earth and therefore he believes that he does not need to have faith in God.
The fate that Faustus has to endure at the end of the play could act as a warning to everyone that the corruption of religious beliefs and practices has consequences and because Faustus did not repent soon enough, God could not save him and he paid the ultimate price.
How do you respond to the view that in the stories in The Bloody Chamber Angela Carter presents a sinister distortion of family relationships?
In The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter there are many different family relationships that are portrayed. Some of those family relationships can be described as having a sinister distortion. For example, in The Tiger's Bride, a father gambles his own daughter away because he is careless and he thought that he might be able to get a financial gain. Carter may be implying that because he has a daughter and not a son it is easier for him to make the decision to gamble her away because she has no value to him, all he can do is try and marry her to a rich man.
Carter also presents a sinister family distortion in the vignette of The Snow Child. The Count and the Countess in The Snow Child conform to the typical patriarchal society of that time; the Countess has to watch as the Count rapes the young girl, 'the Countess reined in her stamping mare and watched him narrowly.' This shows a sinister distortion of their family relationship because after the Count has raped the girl, he and the Countess carry on as if nothing happened, 'the Count picked up the rose, bowed and handed it to his wife.' The Count and Countess are oblivious to what the Count did to the girl.
However, not all of the relationships in The Bloody Chamber can be classed as sinister distortions of family relationships. For example, the mother and daughter relationship portrayed in The Bloody Chamber is one of love. The girl's mother rides all the way to the Marquis' castle on horseback to save her daughter from his sadistic ways, 'now, without a moment's hesitation, she raised my father's gun...and put a single, irreproachable bullet through my husband's head.' The girl's mother's instincts save her life.
Another example of a family relationship in The Bloody Chamber that does not have a sinister distortion is the father and daughter relationship portrayed in The Courtship of Mr Lyon. Beauty gives up her own freedom so that her father can have his, 'her visit to the beast must be...the price of her father's good fortune.' Beauty and her father do not have a sinister relationship, they would do anything for each other.
