Close Reading the Bloody Chamber

Anderson’s story contains a four-page description of the events that led to Melinda, the main characters, rape scene. These four pages were enough for Scroggin and Swier to challenge this novel in its entirety and hide it from students, hindering their horizons of literature.

How does Carter represent gender and explore gender issues to create meaning in either ‘The Tiger’s Bride’, ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’ or ‘The Bloody Chamber’?

The ideas of the dominator and dominated evident in the word choice of the paragraph hint at the mechanics of Mrs. May’s murder. When the bull takes her life in the story’s final scene, she is penetrated by the horns that were presented to her on the first night outside her window.

Introduction: John’s domination over the Narrator is evident from the beginning of the short story. The Narrator remains unknown and takes the identity of John’s wife not an individual human being. This identity, further explored, becomes her personality because she obeys John’s every command.

39. O’Brien meticulously incorporates this chapter directly after “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” to portray the counteracting ideals of the role of women and femininity in both sections. In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” the entire chapter is dedicated to discussing Mary Anne’s somewhat bolstering and heartening presence for Mark Fossie. It demonstrates the ideal view of women’s comforting role during the war and how they provided devoted their entire being in making their counterparts happy. In contrast,“Stockings” demonstrates the ideal of how soldiers were still reassured and remedied by women on the homefront who present the bare-minimum effort. This is ideal is exhibited by Henry Dobbins who is consistently alleviated and invigorated by his girlfriend’s stockings, yet in actuality, she hardy demonstrates affection and compassion for Dobbins, eventually ending their

The tales show anything from the exciting tales of close encounters to the invisible ink and coded messages to the life of deception Washington’s spies embraced. Rose not only reveals the exciting tales of danger, but also shows how the deceptive spies and Washington gained mutual trust through the difficult situations.

This dramatization brings the reader to the realization that the protagonist’s stream of consciousness narration is very unpredictable, yet will ultimately lead to his ability to expose his true feelings as the story develops. The author clearly likes to represent this feeling of indecision with poetic illustration as it is used several times in both stories. In “Newlywed”, the narrator vividly describes his mixed feelings toward his wife, Atsuko, during the peak of his epiphany-like experience:

Sexuality has an inherent connection to human nature. Yet, even in regards to something so natural, societies throughout times have imposed expectations and gender roles upon it. Ultimately, these come to oppress women, and confine them within the limits that the world has set for them. However, society is constantly evolving, and within the past 200 years, the role of women has changed. These changes in society can be seen within the intricacies of literature in each era. Specifically, through analyzing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, one can observe the dynamics of society in regards to the role of women through the lens of the theme of sexuality. In both novels, the confinement and oppression of women can be visibly seen as a result of these gender roles. Yet, from the time The Scarlet Letter was published to the time The Bell Jar was written, the place of women in society ultimately changed as well. Hence when evaluating the gender roles that are derived from sexuality, the difference between the portrayals of women’s oppression in each novel becomes apparent, and shows how the subjugation of women has evolved. The guiding question of this investigation is to what extent does the theme of sexuality reflect the expectations for women in society at the time each novel was written. The essay will explore how the literary elements that form each novel demonstrate each author’s independent vision which questions the

Her description of Miles focuses on his charm, innocence and ability to strike passion in her. Mile’s mirror image to a Master leave him addressed as a “little gentleman” and partly hinders his innocence, maturing very quickly. His dress and tone toward the Governess suggest the idea of flattering a lady, which she slowly falls into through his swift “’my dear’ which was constantly on his lips for me.”

James' manipulation of appearances in Daisy Miller as well as other character's notions of these appearances provides us with a novella of enigmatic and fascinating characters. Daisy, the most complicated of these ambiguities, is as mysterious as she is flirtatious. James gives her a carefully constructed enigmatic quality that leaves the reader wondering what her motivations were and who she truly was. He structures the novella in such a way as to stress the insights that the supporting characters provide into Daisy's character, weather accurate or erroneous. Despite their questionable reliability, they allow James to make commentary on both European and American cultures and social class.

The author carefully crafts the story so that every detail contributes to a certain unique or single effect, whether it is as complex as irony or as simple as depiction of feelings. The Husband describes his absolute love for Ann as he reminisces about the years he spent with her and how deeply he "knows"

Taking Daisy with appreciation and without alarm, we also re-read her character and re-evaluate her moral status. We (the readers) seem to meet James’ sophistication with out own, by agreeing on a mixed interpretation of Daisy: she is literally innocent, but she is also ignorant and incautious. (1)

The strongly placed point of view creates a characteristic voice in the story. The voice ultimately reminds one of a ‘stream of consciousness’-technique, which influences the story in general. The element of changing appellations stresses how the two kinds of processes are going on in the story; the associating way of reflecting along with the developing state of mind. The different use of how the main character titles himself from “Lane A. Dean, Jr. … Lane Dean, Jr. … Lane Dean … Lane”5 shows how he is mentally changing back and forth, emphasizing this circularly and non-linear reflection. On the other hand the naming of Lane’s girlfriend, Sheri, shows a linear development from “his girlfriend … the girl … she … Sheri … Sheri Fisher”6. The way in which the girlfriend is named gives an impression of how the main character is developing his view of the girlfriend throughout the story. From an anonymous approach, ‘the girl’, to actually addressing her by her full name “Sheri Fisher”, This use of the narrative technique creates a stream of consciousness and creates an associating but yet authentic feeling – a feeling that enlightens the complex main theme of the story.

While it would be very easy to focus on the constant assault of the sexuality of both the men and women that are represented in this story, I feel that sexuality is only a minor theme. The provocativeness that the story contains is used more to draw people to either listen or view the story itself than present a major theme in sexuality. The major issue that he is trying to bring forward is that of conflict and how it occurs in more than just war. Let's look at the three major conflicts within this story.

The Governess’s lack of social experience leads her to perceive sex in a skewed light. The twenty-year-old protagonist of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James has been put in charge of the schooling and supervision of two young children after the death of their former Governess. Flora and Miles, the niece and nephew of a rich bachelor have been put into the custody of their uncle. Their uncle, ill-equipped to raise them on his own, delegates his newfound responsibilities to a variety of servants who live with the children at one of his estates, Bly. After just two interviews with the Uncle, the Governess was given her position and took on the responsibilities of raising two children with very little support. The ill experienced Governess falls in love with the children’s uncle and is overtaken by her desires for him. Her sexual immaturity bars her from properly registering her feelings, causing Freudian principles to encompass her desires.