Theme Of Beauty In The Tiger's Bride

Rola Abu Sarah

Mrs. Shada Shahin

Engl 227 B

Research

6 May 2015

Images of Beauty Beauty in Carter’s “the Tiger’s Bride” is different from the one in Beaumont’s “the Beauty and the Beast”. That is because both stories are written in different eras. In fact, a lot of reading have been done on Beauty in Beaumont’s fairy tale “the Beauty and the Beast” and in Carter’s “the Tiger’s Bride”. Still, there is no research that does a comparative study of Beauty in both stories. Therefore, this research is timely. For one thing, Beauty in “the Tiger’s Bride” is different in terms of how she rejects to be discriminated. Another difference is her success in getting equality, unlike Beauty in “the Beauty and the Beast”. Also, she controls her destiny.

This is tackled by Makinen who claims that Carter presents women who use their sexuality to fight. Yet, she does not expand. Similarly, Robert Clark in his article “Angela Carter’s Desire Machine” reports that “Carter version represents women enjoying their own sexuality and using this as a power that tenderizes the wolf” (149). To put it differently, Beauty uses her sexual power and body to make Beast accepts her as an equal.

Nevertheless, Clark’s idea lacks evidence from the story itself. On the other hand, Formissano suggests that Carter’s protagonists fight to get sexual and political equality (1). Still, she does not clarify what she means by that suggestion. Finally, Beauty’s sexual power takes the form of a beast.

Beauty in both texts is a desire. Beauty is a sexual desire for every man.

She maintained eye contact. She has power. She was fully aware of it. When she unclothed for him, she gazed at him, didn’t look down, he left

In essence, beasts represent the projected desires of women (Makenin

He “has been punished for his selfishness, because he offended a blonde enchantress who was disguised as an old woman”. So, she turned him into a beast.

It is written to show children how to react.

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In addition, Carter purposes to make her texts “open-ended” (6). One reason for that is to make readers think of what would happen next and open their imagination. As Joanne Trevenna in her article "Gender as Performance: questioning the 'Butlerification ' of Angela Carter 's fiction” states, Carter’s goal is to knock down the idea of an “unchanging, stable and universal core essence” (274).

Carter’s texts are open-ended (Makinen 6). That could be fareshadowing for rebellion characters. That would also give space for readers to think, while the ending in original story is known, as every other fairytale which close every gap that would allow children to think. This sends implicit messages to children in order not to rebel. While the new ones do the opposite. Ooen-ended texts allow readers to have different analysis and interpretations. Ended texts are less wided. It conclude/ contain all readers in a same opinion/ analysis which is not فعال. People have different opinions