Terrors In The Bloody Chamber

Carter through the wolf stories in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ completely dissolves familiar terrors and horrors through the subversion of the traditional fairy-tale narrative and conventional social norms. In the Company of Wolves Carter dissolves the terrors surrounding sex which previously is used by society as a means of oppression by creating fear. The young girl within the narrative refuses to be a victim; “the girl burst out laughing, she knew she was nobody’s meat,”highlighting the refusal to conform by succumbing to familiar fears of horrors and terrors. Furthermore, the use of the word “laughing” highlights the girls empowerment through her new-found freedom as well as further revealing the idea that the familiar terrors seems ridiculous,

Carter in Wolf-Alice highlights the familiar terrors and horrors as remaining through the monstrous presentation of the Duke. The beastly actions of the Duke reveal familiar terrors and horrors still remain by presenting him with monstrous and animalistic qualities by referring to him as the “corpse-eater” and “body-snatcher” while using the simile “as white as leprosy” to create a vampiric image of the Duke which conforms to the familiar horrors and terrors of both fairy-tale narratives and society. Also, the Duke’s violations and violence towards the bodies, through coffins being “ripped open” and “half a juicy torso slung above his back” highlights how horror is still reflected in the Duke’s actions so neither familiar horrors or terrors have been dissolved. Furthermore, the terror of familiar human anxieties remain reflected within Wolf-Alice through the rejection of societal norms and civilisation that typically restrict and oppress women. Carter presents both the Duke and Wolf-Alice as fully becoming civilised even at the end of the narrative as they both do not fit into society so accept both their human and animal nature. The Duke’s transformation even at the end of the narrative reveals how he still only recognises one element of himself as human, “little by little… the face of the Duke”