Curious Reversals and Marvelous Wounds: Metamorphosis and Identity in Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber

Abstract

Though The Bloody Chamber undeniably supports a feminist reading, ultimately her vision of the wise child encompasses both sexes and provides a meeting ground between them. Elaine Showalter insists that in '"the purest feminist literary criticism .... [t]he orthodox plot recedes, and another plot, hitherto submerged in the anonymity of the background, stands out in bold relief like a thumbprint."'7 While Showalter sees the emergent plot as a feminist one, Carter characteristically turns this idea on its head, reversing the reversal that Showalter describes. By turning fairy tales of female submission and repression into narratives of metamorphosis and feminine triumph, Carter certainly creates a feminist plot that emerges from the original orthodox and patriarchal tales. Yet, to read the straightforward, feminist revision as the final emergent plot would be to ignore Carter's larger aims. Finally, the feminist reading recedes to take its place beside a more universal vision that allows for male mother, female monsters, and characters who defy all classifications in their search for wisdom and salvation. [From concluding section]