Essay Comparing The Bloody Chamber And The World's Wife

Oppression is prolonged cruelty against certain groups of people. In society today, it is clear that many females are still oppressed in western and non-western countries, whether this is by the media objectifying women or even through the gender pay gap. Angela Carter and Carol Ann Duffy are both writers who speak out on female oppression in their works. By subverting the stereo typical role of female characters, in their notable texts, Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” and Duffy’s “The World’s Wife”, both writers are known to have made bold statements about the new and improved role of women in modern day society of the late 20th century. This new and improved role of a woman includes being independent and not relying on the rescue of a man,

Whilst oppression stems from objectification of women in Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber,” oppression stems from male dominance and control over women in “The World’s Wife.” Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” being published in 1979 has had a significant influence from second wave feminism. Carter was writing in a time when second wave feminism was fighting for the rights of victims in domestically violent relationships, the stop to marital rape and reproductive rights and so it is no surprise that Carter wanted to voice the dispossessed in her subverted fairy tales. In the first story of “The Bloody Chamber,” “The Bloody Chamber,” the narrator tells us the story about her marriage and her evil husband. “[Her husband’s] wedding gift, clasped round [her] throat. A choker of rubies like an extraordinarily precious slit throat.” The verb “clasped” has negative connotations and because of how tight the “gift” is around the protagonist’s neck, it is as though the husband is literally suffocating her. Also the word “choker” is as though the husband is objectifying the narrator as an animal because its dogs that tend to wear chokers when they are misbehaving. And because of