Sunday, December 6, 2015
Beginning The Bloody Chamber
Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber is a retelling of classic fairytales. The title story is a retelling of "Bluebeard" (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0312.html) and "The Courtship of Mr. Lyon" and "The Tiger's Bride" are both retellings of "Beauty and the Beast" (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/beauty.html). Why is Carter rewriting fairytales? How are her versions different than the originals? Why do so many people retell "Beauty and the Beast" (Jean Cocteau, Disney, etc.)? Why is Carter telling it twice in this collection? How is "The Courtship of Mr. Lyon" different than "The Tiger's Bride"? How does the second version comment on the earlier one? How is Carter's version different than Winterson's (71-73)?
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Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber basically reminds me of a combination of various fairy tales. It seems as though she put her own twist on the classic retelling of "Beauty and the Beast". Growing up, I always ran into the story of Beauty and the Beast and it's ironic that everytime, I get a different interpretation of it. Although each of the retellings pretty much have the same story-line, it's always a switch-up with the minor details. For instance, the idea of Beauty's father fetching her a rose always seems to appear but the way he goes about it sometimes changes. I guess what Carter is trying to do is shine a light on more of the darkness hat came along with the Beast in his castle. She brings in a transition and different perspective on the Beast than we would normally see. Blue Beard is another fairy tale that can be tied into this. It makes me wonder if the Beast will turn out being a prince or a murderer as vulgar as that may seem. Not all these fairy tales portray an ever so happy ending.
ReplyDeleteI think that Carter is retelling fairy tales because she wants to put a unique twist on each of them. In a fairy tale, there are many different interpretations of the events that occur in the stories when they are being told. I think that Carter is writing these stories to make them a lot darker than they really are. I think that "Beauty and the Beast" was told two different times in the story because it is a classic story on love and there are many different ways to tell it. In the first story, she kisses him and he turns into a prince. But in the second story, Beauty turns into a beast at the end of the story. Also the second story has the daughter visit the beast because her father lost at cards. Angela Carter's version of the story is different than Jeanette Winterson's version because in Winterson's version, the women don't know that the men they marry are beasts, while in Carter's version, Beauty already knows about the beast.
ReplyDeleteI feel that so many people retell "Beauty and the Beast" because everyone has a different viewing of it, and a different opinion of its lesson and theme that it portrays. People probably have their own ideas as to what should happen as the plot. Some versions are dark and others are light and child friendly. I believe it is an easy story to kind of play with and recreate with your own ideas and your imagination. Adding your own details and thinking of your ground lesson, this story can teach so many things.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Carter rewriting fairy tales to get her ideas and theme expressed. She probably had a different view of the original stories while reading them. Maybe Carter is using it to portray something in her life. In this book, Carter is telling the story twice, I think shes trying to make this story known and show it is important. But, they're different. In "The Courtship of Mr. Lyon", it seems as if its like the original story. The Beast turns into a man and it's a usual happy ending. In "The Tiger's Bride", the ending is sort of dark. Beauty says "He will lick the skin of me!" and Carter writes how each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin. But the last couple of sentences confuse me. Does she turn into a beast too or does she die?
I think that she is rewriting these fairy-tales because she wants to give her own twist on them. How she sees then fanning out. Her versions are different form the originals in ways but at the same time follow that same story line that the girl finds a "beast" and she falls in love and changes him. For Carter the difference is that in her first rewrite her "east" was a Lyon and in the second rewrite her "beast" was a Tiger. I think so many people retell the beauty and the beast to show young girls that looks are not the only things that matter in the world. You can have a great heart and be an amazing human being. It also teaches us that we cant judge a book by its cover because its not always what lays on the outside that matters. Cater is telling the story twice in two different ways to show you different circumstances. "The Courtship of Mr. Lyon" tells about the father that lost him fortune and did not even have the money to buy is daughter a single rose. And ends with her coming to the beast and him saying that when he had left her, he had basically given up on life and did not feel that need to live on with out her. But with her return he could now die happy knowing that she had come to say good buy. causing her to confess her love for him and saying that she wanted to have him as her husband. In "The Tiger's Bride", the father had lost him money playing cards. And in the end which i thought was weird she want to go and see the tiger and she was not frightened by him and did not show him fear. But I was confused, was she a lion as well because in the last sentence she says "the drops off my beautiful fur"?
ReplyDeleteThese tales have different versions but the same lesson to be learned to address different readers/viewers. Some readers like reading the original stories where there is more death and has more gore in it, others like to see more of the positives from the beginning to the happy ending. For example, Chiller TV would show a version of a fairy tale that will give someone nightmares, as oppose to Disney showing the version of a fairytale that teaches children good morals. The story being told depends on the audience you want to attract.
ReplyDeleteI think many people retell beauty and the beast because it is the kind of fairy-tale that could be told in many different ways and with many different endings. Beauty and The Beast is a story about inner beauty and not falling for materialistic things and what appears to be good. Beauty falls for a man who is ugly, a monstrous looking creature who treats her right and cares for her.
ReplyDeleteI believe Carter writes this story twice to show the two different endings. In "The Courtship of Mr. Lyon" Beauty and Beast end up happily together and married while in "The Tiger's Bride" Beast pretty much forced Beauty to undress for him and then he licks her, his tongue like sandpaper. He doesn't become a prince or a handsome man like in the "Courtship of Mr. Lyon" he stays the same way.
Carter is rewriting fairytales to show a similar interpretation to the original fairytales but gave her own spin on each story. In other words she changed the stories around to fit her liking on how the story should be told. Her versions are different from the originals because they end differently than the originals. Some people retell Beauty and the Beast because they want to create their own story based off of the original story. They might believe that Beauty and the Beast should be told differently. Im not so sure why Carter is telling it twice but it could be because she had more than one imagination when it came to retelling the story? "The courtship of Mr.Lyon" is different than "The Tigers Bride" because "The Tigers bride" was based more of the passion of money. Beauty means to her father the money he needs in order to pay off debts while in "The Courtship of Mr.Lyon" relates more to the original. The father goes to get the white rose for beauty and ends up being confronted by the Beast. The second version comments on the earlier one because of the similar themes which are self-knowledge and gender construction
ReplyDelete(in terms of the Beast)
Fairytales over time has been retold again and again, adapting mostly to the person who is likely telling it and they do have dozen of variations. I think Carter is adding to the many different variations with the stories turning out much differently than the original that feels familiar but has a twist. The what if scenario transforms these stories a lot and I believe that Carter is exploring the many different paths that these stories could take by rewriting them and seeing where they can go like if Beauty can keep her virtue and break the charm on Beast (Original), save the dying beast (Courting Mr. Lyon) or being transformed into a beast herself "The Tiger's Bride". What is very different between these two tales is the father figure, while "Courting Mr. Lyon" father had the similar attributes as the original father, the father in "The Tiger's Bride" loses beauty over a game of cards, a very striking distinction between the two.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Carter rewriting fairytales? everyone has their own ideas of whats considered a fairytale. luckily we all see things in different ways. Two people can watch the same car accident and have two different stories. there are many lessons learned throughout the story the beauty and the beast. one would teach to always be humble and kind, it always comes back to you vs ungrateful and mean. people don't like nasty people...
ReplyDeleteThere is many differences between Mr. Lyon and the tigers bride. First off In Mr.Lyon the faher comes from his lawyer and learns that he has lost his fortune whereas in the tigers bride the father is a gambler and loses his fortune and heven bets away his own daughter.
ReplyDeleteIn the first story the palace is very luxuriouis, big and beautiful. In the second story the palace is broken down and in shambles. Also I noticed in the tigers bride the beast tries to cover himself as if trying to conceal the fact that he is a beast. Even tries to act human like even though he looks like hes dying to just drop on all fours. In the first story the beast does not put so much effort into his looks and does not hide the fact that he is a beast at. Most of the time using it in a way to inbed fear in others.
I think Carter is rewriting the fairytales to give more of an adult spinoff to them. Most of them follow familiar story line s of the fairy tales but have more adult concept s in them such as sex, agressiveness, and violence.
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ReplyDeleteThe Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter basically gave the reader classic fairytales but in her own way. I believe the reason Carter rewrite fairytales for the realism of it .she put everyday elements and mix it with magic ...
ReplyDeleteI believe that Carter is rewriting fairytales because he wants to add a different twist to the way the stories are. Carter's versions appear to be more postmodern than the original ones since Carter's stories don't have the specific names for the characters and are not identical to the original stories. For example, in the first story of "Beauty and the Beast", Beauty kisses the Beast and he turns into a prince whereas in the second story, when Beauty kisses the beast, she ends up becoming the beast. In "The Tiger's Bride", Carter's version is different than Winterson's version since the first version shows that the beast doesn't feel the need to hide his appearence to the women but the second version shows that Beauty already knew about the beast. Carter appears to take these fairytales and adding his own unique twist to them but they aren't necessarily the same.
ReplyDeleteI think Carter is rewriting fairytales to depict the more realistic version of these stories as opposed to the fantasies. Along with life lessons being taught, she separates fantasy from reality. It makes the reader more inclined to read and think about the situation and makes it more relatable. She makes her versions different than the originals by using more horror-infused, problematic situations that can't just be solved with Prince Charming's "magical kiss".
ReplyDeleteLike Carter, other authors retell "Beauty and the Beast" to separate fantasy from reality, teach morale, and allow it to be interpreted based off different opinions of people.
Carter is telling it twice in this collection with different plots and endings.
In "The Courtship of Mr Lyon", Beauty's father is stranded from home and finds himself among Beast's palace. Here, he was nourished. When it was time to leave, Beauty's father noticed the one white rose and knew how much his daughter longed for it and he stole it from Beast. Beast ordered Beauty's father to bring her to dinner with the Beast and eventually, Beauty stayed with the Beast and was wined and dined. At first, she wasn't keen on staying with Beast, but then she became comfortable and happy. When Beauty left and promised to come back for Beast once Winter was over, she had forgotten and immediately returned to Beast. The ending is Beauty caressing Beast until he turns into a young man.
In "The Tiger's Bride", Beauty's father lost to the Beast through gambling. Throughout her stay, Beauty felt objectified and hated it. Even the presents from Beast were not enough to make her feel content. She was simply taking commands and did what she was ordered to do. In the ending, Beauty lies down with the Beast and he transforms her into a Beast as well. But in this ending, she accepts her transformation and even feels she has "beautiful fur".