The Bloody Chamber

STORY

The Bloody Chamber is based on the legend of Bluebeard. The nameless heroine tells the story many
years after the events in it happened. She narrates in present tense, going back to the age of
seventeen, when she is married off to a Marquis. She is a poor pianist, who is attracted to the
considerably older Marquis because of his wealth. The Marquis has already been married three times,
and his last wife disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Despite her unease at the Marquis's
impenetrable personality, the heroine is excited to move into his extravagant seaside castle. The
Marquis gives her a painting of Saint Cecilia at the organ as well as a wide “ruby choker” as wedding
gifts. The Marquis takes the heroine's virginity in a room filled with mirrors and then is called out of
town suddenly on business. He leaves the heroine with keys to every look in the castle, but forbids
her to enter one room that he says is his oasis and his hell. In the Marquis's absence, the heroine
befriends a blind piano-tuner named Jean-Yves. She orders the servants around like a spoiled child
and is so overwhelmed by the luxury surrounding her that she calls her mother to complain.

Later, while exploring the castle, the heroine accidentally drops all the keys on the floor. The first she
happens to pick up is the key to the forbidden room, and, overwhelmed by curiosity, she sets out to
the remote corner of the castle where it lies. In the dark chamber, the heroine finds the corpses of the
Marquis's three former wives, whom he murdered. He killed his last wife so recently that her body is
still bleeding onto the floor. The heroine is so shocked that drops her key in the blood. Then she
regains her composure, destroys all evidence of her having been in the room, and locks the door
behind her. The phone is dead, so she enlists the help of Jean-Yves, who tells her that the castle is
known in folklore as the Castle of Murder. They find that the bloodstain on the key has resolved into a
red heart that will not disappear no matter how hard they scrub it. Just then, the Marquis returns,
claiming that his trip was cancelled. The heroine tries to stay calm, but panics when she sees all the
servants, except Jean-Yves, leaving for the mainland.

The Marquis demands to see the key and, noticing the bloodstain, he announces that he will behead
the heroine. He presses the key against her forehead so that the bloodstain transfers to her skin.
Jean-Yves accompanies the heroine to the courtyard, where the Marquis has prepared a chopping
block and sword for her 'immolation.' Before he can kill the heroine, her mother bursts into the
courtyard on horseback and kills the Marquis with a bullet to the head. She knew instinctively from
her daughter's phone call that she was in grave danger. At the story's end, some years later, we find
the heroine and Jean-Yves happily married and living with the heroine's mother on the edge of Paris.
They have given away the Marquis's fortune and turned the castle into a school for the blind. They
make a modest living by tuning pianos and giving piano lessons. The heroine ends the story by saying
she is glad Jean-Yves cannot see the indelible mark on her forehead, because it spares her shame.

CHARACTERS

Jean-Yves

Jean-Yves, the blind piano tuner, befriends the narrator when she first marries the Marquis and learns
the fate of his previous wives. Through him, readers learn of the long history in the area of the
Marquis's family and their violent nature. After her mother kills the Marquis, the narrator establishes
a music school and is "busily engaged in setting up house" with the piano tuner, who loves her for
who she is and cannot see the mark of shame that brands her forehead. His role as the man with
whom the protagonist lives happily ever after is a subversion of the typical fairy-tale ending, in which
the woman falls in love with a handsome prince or other dashing hero.

- “Yves” (homophone of Eve, may be reflective of the fact he is more feminine than female character)
- “he was full of the loquacity of embarrassment” – humble. Embarrassed at compliments.
- “lovely, blind humanity” (page 31)
- “his tender look” (page 31)
- “his speech had the rhythms of the countryside, the rhythms of the tide” (page 31)
- “although he was scarcely more than a boy, I felt a great strength flow into me from his touch” (32)
- “with the most treacherous, lascivious tenderness, he kissed my eyes” (page 33)
The Bloody Chamber

Marquis

The “richest man in France” he is a bearded nobleman who collects sadistic pornography and murders
his wives in the bloody chamber of his seaside castle. The male character is first introduced as a
mysterious figure. He gradually takes on more of an identity as the story unfolds. He is associated
with symbols of wealth – “gold” and a “gigantic box”, in which the narrator's “wedding dress is ...
wrapped up (…) like a Christmas gift” – while his physical form is conveyed through a “kiss” and a
“rasp of beard”. The narrator builds his identity through recalling his “opulent male scent”, and Carter
places her characters in a mating game: the “exquisite tact” of his courtship of the girl is linked to the
attentiveness of a lion stalking his prey. The explicit reference to his “dark mane” is the first of many
allusions to his bestial qualities. His title is revealed when he is introduced as 'my Marquis' (p. 4), but
he is given no other name. His identity is not fully revealed; this is emphasised by the description of
his face as a “perfectly smooth” mask. Almost immediately after the Marquis has been introduced as
a mysterious enigma, he is explicitly linked to a symbol that will recur throughout the story. The
narrator makes a strange comparison between the man, as “a sentient vegetable”, and a flower
commonly associated with “funereal” matters: the lily. The suggestion here is that his cultured
manners, calm detachment and composure are the product of an inhuman nature: he has the
capacity to think but no real awareness of other people's feelings. There is “gravity” in his desire for
his new wife, which she cannot resist, and this seems to be linked somehow to lilies, with their beauty
and almost overpowering heavy perfume. The Marquis remains shapeless and mysterious while the
narrator recounts the beauty, talent and tragic demise of his first three wives; and she is clearly
flattered by his invitation “to join this gallery of beautiful women”. Carter here foreshadows the
events of the story in a seemingly innocent remark that also alludes to the original story of Bluebeard.
She glimpses, indirectly in his reflection, the way he views her as a piece of meat. The narrator's
innocence and naivety attract the Marquis's “carnal avarice”, while the Marquis represents to the
narrator the mysterious and appealing danger of the unknown. This appeal is linked to her growing up
and explains her willingness to expose herself to the risks involved in becoming an adult.

- “he was a big man” (strong, powerful)

- “streaks of pure silver in his dark mane”(elderly)
- “face (…) seemed to me like a mask” (mysterious)
- “dark leonine shape of his head” (animalistic)
- “opulent male scent” (alluring)
- “waxen face” (unattractive)

Heroine

A “young”, virginal pianist who lives with her mother and then marries the sadistic Marquis. After she
discover the Marquis’ “bloody chamber” he threatens to behead her but she’s saved by her “mother”.
Later she marries Jean-Yves.

- “young girl” (innocent)

- “seventeen and knew nothing of the world” (naïve)
- “the white-faced girl from Paris” (pure)
- “I was only a baby” (vulnerable)
- “his wedding gift, clasped around my throat” (objectification of females)

Mother

A fierce, independent woman who had fought pirates and killed a “man-eating tiger” in her youth and
married a poor soldier. She saves the heroine at the story’s climax.

- “eagle-featured indomitable mother” (majestic)

- “outfaced a junkful of Chinese pirates” (strong)
- “nursed a village through a visitation of the plague” (protective)
- “wild thing” (wild)
- “put a single, irreproachable bullet through my husband’s head” (uses violence to be protective)
The Bloody Chamber

GOTHIC CONVENTIONS

Setting: The setting within The Bloody Chamber is conventional to the gothic genre, due to its remote,
isolated and imprisoning nature. It embodies the theme of entrapment, an element of the gothic. The
nature surrounding the setting works against the female, in order to heighten the sense of danger.

- “that castle (…) that marvellous castle” (page 3)

- “his castle” (page 8)
- “faery solitude” (page 8)
- “its courtyard, its spiked gate” (page 8)
- “his castle that lay on the very bosom of the sea” (page 8)
- “cut off by the tide” (page 8)
- “a mysterious, amphibious place” (page 9)
- “spiral staircase” (page 10)
- “with the gargoyles carved on its surface” (page 10)
- “surrounded by so many mirrors” (page 10)
- “luxurious place”(page 16)
- “archaic keys for the dungeons” (page 16)
- “a treasure house filled by five centuries of avid collectors” (page 16)
- “barred room” (page 17)
- “a narrow, dusty little passage” (page 25)
- “the corridor wound downwards” (page 25)
- “martyrdoms of the saints” (page 26)
- “little store of holy books” (page 26)
- “the Iron Maiden” (page 26)
- “a room designed for desecration” (page 26)
- “at the centre of the room lay a catafalque” (page 27)
- “the torture chamber” (page 30)
- “enfer” - French word for Hell

Foreshadowing: Violent and bloody imagery creates a sense of foreboding.

- “the necklace that prefigures your end”

- “bright as arterial blood”
- “like an extraordinarily precious slit throat”

Dominant males: Marquis likened to God and a lion.

Passive females: Heroine accepts her fate quickly. She is ignorant to the dangers of the Marquis.

Religious and biblical references: Religion is a motif in the gothic genre, particularly within Carter’s
collection of Bloody Chamber stories.

Marquis is placed in the role of God – he is the god of his own sadistic religion.

- refers to the heroine as “my little nun”

- pornography referred to as “prayer-books”

Supernatural: One of the main elements of the gothic genre.

- “as if the key itself were hurt, the bloody token stuck” – objects are personified.

Death: The Marquis murdered three of his previous wives, and intended on murdering again.

- “the dead lips smiled” (page 27)

- “my poor, dead girl” (page 27)
- “she was pierced, not by one but by a hundred spikes!” (page 28)
The Bloody Chamber

AO2: FORM, STRUCTURE AND LANGUAGE

Form:

- The Bloody Chamber is a pastiche of Bluebeard's Castle.

- It is a novella – between a short story and a novel.
- The narrative form is first person subjective, and in the past tense.
- Retrospective narrative – shows the narrator has embarked on a journey and learnt something.

Structure:

- Complex sentences. Evident as soon as the tale commences.

“I remember how, that night, I lay awake in the wagon-lit in a tender, delicious ecstasy of excitement,
my burning cheek pressed against the impeccable linen of the pillow and the pounding of my heart
mimicking that of the great pistons ceaselessly thrusting the train that bore me through the night,
away from Paris, away from girlhood, away from white, enclosed quietude of my mother’s apartment,
into the unguessable country of marriage.”

- Length of the sentence may establish the extent of the ordeal the heroine will experience. Heightens
the element of danger that the female character is in.

- Short sentences may reinforce the limitations of the female protagonist. She is entrapped, isolated.

“Our destination, my destiny.” Minimal length of the sentence shows she is limited, restricted.

Language:

- “great pistons ceaselessly thrusting” – sexual connotations. Sexual style of writing; control sexuality.
- “my satin nightdress (…) had slipped over my young girl’s pointed breasts” – sensual.
- “heavy water” – patterned through The Bloody Chamber collection. Sexual connotations.
- “dark, leonine shape of his head (…) opulent male scent of leather” – juxtaposition. Animalistic.
- “lily. Yes. A lily” – repetition of lily is foreshadowing death, as they are flowers associated with death.
- “white sheath”, “white muslin”, “white linen head-dress”, “white breast”, “white roses” – patterning
- contrast against harsh words against pure imagery (good vs. evil) – “precious linen” “stark bone”
- “private slaughterhouse” “torture chamber” – emphasises violent and dangerous nature of Marquis.
- “bloodstain mocked the fresh water” – bloodstain reflective of Marquis, water of girl’s innocence.
- “whizz (…) jangling” – onomatopoeia. Fairytale like qualities; an element of the gothic.
- “he half snarled” – animalistic.
- “martyrdoms of the saints” “little story of holy books” – holy and religious imagery.
- “the Iron Maiden” “she was pierced, not by one but by a hundred spikes” – penetrative imagery.
- “my little nun has found the prayer books, has she?” - Gothic connection of religion and sexuality.
- “I clung to him as though only the one who had inflicted the pain could comfort me” – under control
- “to think he might have chosen me because, in my innocence he sensed a rare talent for corruption”
– the Marquis knew that she would look into his chamber of dead wives.
- “a long winding corridor, as if it were the viscera of the castle” - setting human mind/body metaphor
- “the key slid into the lock as easily as a hot knife into butter” – Freudian imagery.
- “there is a striking resemblance between the act of love and the ministrations of a torturer” – gothic
connection between sex and violence.
- “the dreadful revelation of that bloody chamber” – sexual connotations. Imagery. Vagina or womb.
- “the secret of Pandora's box: but he had given me the box, himself knowing I must learn the secret”
link to Garden of Eden that it is the women that cause problems as they are the ones that transgress.
- “the atrocious loneliness of that monster” – link to The Courtship of Mr. Lyon. Empathy.
- “that tell tale stain had resolved itself into an ark the shape and brilliance of the heart on a playing
card.” A clear connection to Macbeth but is not realistic. It is instead a symbolic to remind the reader
of having blood on hands – guilty conscience. Reminder of transgression like the “red mark”.
- “bare as a lamb chop” – this is the most pornographic of all confrontations.
The Bloody Chamber

CONNECTIONS TO THE BLOODY CHAMBER STORIES

Courtship Of Mr. Lyon – Readers love and may empathise with the monster and villainous character,
“leonine shape of his head” – pitiful nature of the protagonist.
Tiger's Bride - Marriage is a contract/bargain, fearful male protagonist, discovering the beast within.
Puss In Boots – Fairy tale pastiche, but melodrama versus comedy makes them very different.
The Erl-King – Loving the monster, male is powerful yet empty.
The Snow Child – Sexual violence and colour imagery.
The Lady Of The House Of Love – Mirror image with opposite gender roles.
The Werewolf – Unexpected role for older women.
Company Of Wolves – Loving the monster, the beast inside – “handsome young one” “fine fellow”.
Wolf-Alice – Exploration of female sexual development and awakening (psychoanalytic subtext).

CRITICAL APPROACH

Feminist

Even though Carter empowers the heroine on a literary level, in the story she is forced into a position
of subjugation and ignorance. She marries primarily for money and position, because as a peasant
woman she has little opportunity or encouragement to earn these for herself. As she tells her mother,
she may not be sure that she loves the Marquis but she is "sure [she wants] to marry him." The
narrator takes on a gently mocking tone to describe how she viewed love as a young woman. She
recalls how the romantic opera Tristan made her feel as though she loved the Marquis, saying, "And,
do you know, my heart swelled and ached so during the Liebestod that I thought I must truly love
him." The heroine smirks at how she conflated her love of music and romance with love for the
Marquis. Then she makes it clear that her desire, while real, was for the wealth and position that the
Marquis gives her; she follows the first statement with, "Yes. I did. On his arm, all eyes were upon
me." In addition, she refers to her husband as her "purchaser" and herself as "his bargain," and makes
a point to tell us that when he takes her virginity, he kisses the rubies around her neck before mouth.

Despite the individual power of these tales, another theme can be traced through them as a collection
– the development of the female role. This development is striking in its simplicity: Carter's female
'victims' become gradually empowered by embracing desire and passion as a human animal. To
exaggerate this aspect of the collection would diminish the impact of each tale in itself, but it does
reveal The Bloody Chamber as very much a product of its time and of the concerns of the feminist
movement in the late 1970s. The issue of the empowerment of women and, particularly, the
challenge to conventional depictions of heterosexual relationships in literature, art and the media
were part of the controversial agenda of feminists of the period. Feminists today might argue that it is
easy, with hindsight, to underestimate how male-dominated British society was at the time. They
might also argue that it is just as easy to over-estimate the progress towards equal opportunity that
has made a feminist point of view almost passé for many young people now.

Feminist criticism has many different strands, each of which views Carter in a very different way
according to its political and sexual orientation. Patricia Duncker voices a hostile perspective: 'Carter
envisages women's sensuality simply as a response to male arousal.' Certainly Carter won little praise
from feminist critics for The Sadeian Woman (1979), and the reaction to her attitude towards the
Marquis de Sade and sexuality in that work was applied to The Bloody Chamber. In The Sadeian
Woman, Carter suggested that pornography could be used to question and overturn 'the contempt
for women that distort our culture'. Carter also thought that the writings of the Marquis de Sade
suggested the possibility of 'moral pornography' because she found his ideology of individual freedom
'an ideology not inimical to women'. This was not a popular view among feminists and remains
controversial. Andrea Dworkin in Pornography: Men Possessing Women (1981) denounces Carter as a
'pseudo-feminist' (p. 84); Susanne Kappeler in The Pornography of Representation (1986) accuses
Carter of attempting a kind of literary rehabilitation of de Sade, 'the multiple rapist and murderer' (p.
133). Duncker simply dismisses Carter's belief that de Sade 'put pornography in the service of women'
as 'utter nonsense' (in 'Re-Imagining the Fairy Tales: Angela Carter's Bloody Chambers', p. 8).