John Collins looks at a
tale where sheer comprehension itself can be a cautionary tale...
It is ironic that the perfect word to sum up fairy-tale stories is grim as they depict dark and disturbing themes, a far cry from the sugar coating as seen in Disney movies. However, these themes are neither gratuitously nor sensationally included, they hold important moral messages and are therefore cautionary tales. As seen, their depictions of good and evil contain trust and betrayal, while also containing underlying themes of growing up and sexual awakening.
Personally, I had never noticed any of these elements until I was introduced to Angela Carter’s landmark anthology collection, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories. Reading and studying it during my A-Level English Literature course, the collection is often written off as simply an ‘adult re-writing of Fairy tales.’ Don’t underestimate aspects of that quote; the collection is by no means bedtime reading for children as it contains adult material not for the faint hearted. However, what Carter cleverly does, is highlight the themes of the original stories and through intertextuality explicitly depicts them as opposed to the subtlety as seen in the original stories.
For example, while The Company of Wolves initially begins as a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story tale, it explicitly depicts the underlying themes of feminism and sexual awakening. The feminism themes through Red Riding Hood is further depicted in The Werewolf story, with the female protagonist portrayed with a ferocious almost wolf-like characterisation. This is one of many examples where Carter puts her spin on the stories by subverting the archetypal Fairy-tale themes. Underlying themes that are explicitly explored in other stories include paedophilia, misogyny, rape, violence and the similarities between human and animal behaviour.
In this article, I would like to take a moment to appreciate the genius of Angela Carter who I believe is an underrated talent. Though her work is celebrated and studied by A-Level and University students, one area that I believe she would have excelled in is screenwriting. In 1984, Carter co-wrote the screenplay of The Company of Wolves, an adaptation blending three stories from the Bloody Chamber collection.
Much like the stories, the adult themes explored do not hold back on the explicit nature of Carter’s style, yet evoke the general gothic horror that is often seen in Grimm’s Fairy-tales. I recently obtained a copy of her posthumously released collection of radio, film and TV scripts. Under the title, The Curious Room, the collection include scripts of radio adaptations of Bloody Chamber stories. Others included unproduced scripts that show Carter’s controversial yet original style that was perhaps ahead of its time.
Her death at the young age of 52 cut short further projects including a proposed adaptation of the Bloody Chamber story, The Lady of the House of Love, also known as Vampirella. If she were alive today, I believe she would have been greatly appreciated, even more than she already is. Perhaps her greatest legacy is that her style remains controversial as seen by contemporary reader’s stunned reaction to The Bloody Chamber, particularly as the stories demonstrate the adult themes within Fairy-tales that readers never noticed.
It is ironic that the perfect word to sum up fairy-tale stories is grim as they depict dark and disturbing themes, a far cry from the sugar coating as seen in Disney movies. However, these themes are neither gratuitously nor sensationally included, they hold important moral messages and are therefore cautionary tales. As seen, their depictions of good and evil contain trust and betrayal, while also containing underlying themes of growing up and sexual awakening.
Personally, I had never noticed any of these elements until I was introduced to Angela Carter’s landmark anthology collection, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories. Reading and studying it during my A-Level English Literature course, the collection is often written off as simply an ‘adult re-writing of Fairy tales.’ Don’t underestimate aspects of that quote; the collection is by no means bedtime reading for children as it contains adult material not for the faint hearted. However, what Carter cleverly does, is highlight the themes of the original stories and through intertextuality explicitly depicts them as opposed to the subtlety as seen in the original stories.
For example, while The Company of Wolves initially begins as a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story tale, it explicitly depicts the underlying themes of feminism and sexual awakening. The feminism themes through Red Riding Hood is further depicted in The Werewolf story, with the female protagonist portrayed with a ferocious almost wolf-like characterisation. This is one of many examples where Carter puts her spin on the stories by subverting the archetypal Fairy-tale themes. Underlying themes that are explicitly explored in other stories include paedophilia, misogyny, rape, violence and the similarities between human and animal behaviour.
In this article, I would like to take a moment to appreciate the genius of Angela Carter who I believe is an underrated talent. Though her work is celebrated and studied by A-Level and University students, one area that I believe she would have excelled in is screenwriting. In 1984, Carter co-wrote the screenplay of The Company of Wolves, an adaptation blending three stories from the Bloody Chamber collection.
Much like the stories, the adult themes explored do not hold back on the explicit nature of Carter’s style, yet evoke the general gothic horror that is often seen in Grimm’s Fairy-tales. I recently obtained a copy of her posthumously released collection of radio, film and TV scripts. Under the title, The Curious Room, the collection include scripts of radio adaptations of Bloody Chamber stories. Others included unproduced scripts that show Carter’s controversial yet original style that was perhaps ahead of its time.
Her death at the young age of 52 cut short further projects including a proposed adaptation of the Bloody Chamber story, The Lady of the House of Love, also known as Vampirella. If she were alive today, I believe she would have been greatly appreciated, even more than she already is. Perhaps her greatest legacy is that her style remains controversial as seen by contemporary reader’s stunned reaction to The Bloody Chamber, particularly as the stories demonstrate the adult themes within Fairy-tales that readers never noticed.
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