7/26/2019 Essay on Entrapment

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T.Jay Turner

- Discuss the way in which Carter presents Entrapment in TheBloody Chamber

The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carters mouth piece for social change written in the

gothic genre, highlights the theme of entrapment. Carter presents the injustice andmaltreatment of women in society at the time of her writing in the late 7s, this canalso be seen in the e!tract from "Jane #yre. At the time in which Bronte wrote "Jane#yre, there was little legislation in place to ensure women had rights within society. Theboo$ portrays a girl, whos desire and aspirations supersedes her oppression whichsociety has weighted upon her. This was a rare occurrence in literature as women wereoften depicted through traditional roles which was an e!pectation of society at the time.%n &'(7, it was common for men to ha)e total control o)er women as both wi)es anddaughters, or further through political power.

%n "The #rl *ing, Carter e!plores the theme of entrapment through the representation ofthe woods+ here she states the woods swallow you up-. The use of the word swallow-

suggests how the woods ha)e been personied to present how the girl is powerless tobeing engulfed. /ere Carter plays on the stereotype of female )ulnerability e!pressingthrough the woods, symbolic of the real world, how women can be entrapped andoppressed by a patriarchal society. Carter, using birds to symbolise women, furtherde)elops this when describing their treatment by men. /ere, Carter e!presses herdisagreement to $eep wild birds in cages-+ the cage- represents the physical andmental oppression of the female spirit. 0tating that the birds are wild- con)eys howwomen are free creatures of thought and will that are ultimately suppressed by men,e!emplifying Carters feminist )iewpoint of how women in the 7s were being treatedby a male dominated society and the necessity for liberation. 1urthermore, toemphasise the point of male entrapment of women, the writer uses a metaphor, stating

you cannot get a tune out of the old ddle-. This implies how the harmony of a tune-between the se!es has been damaged by the neglect in2icted by men in society. Thislea)es the possibility of reco)ery on the part of the male, which Carter uses tosymbolise how she belie)es 3 when writing in the late 7s 3 that social change ispossible and men ha)e the ability to create a greater society with e4ual power betweense!es.

Carter also presents entrapment in "The 5ady of the /ouse of 5o)e, in comparing theCountess to a ca)e full of echoes-. The use of the word echoes- suggests how theCountess spirit is entrapped within a ca)e-, bound for continuous re)erberations offemale e!pression that cannot escape due to suppression by men. 6oreo)er, whendescribing the garden Carter refers to the roses which ha)e formed a spi$ed wall that

incarcerates her in the castle of her inheritance-. The symbolism of incarceration8-con)eys how the countess is entrapped within her home as this is the only place inwhich she withholds power and control. The reference to her inheritance- suggeststhat entrapment within the home has been placed upon women and is transferredthrough inheritance and tradition, pre)enting women from escaping. %n contrast, Carterthen portrays the idea of self9entrapment by describing the Countess room, stating ithas closely barred shutters and hea)y )el)et curtains-. :eferring to the shutters asbarred- suggests how she has entrapped herself to escape from the outside world inorder to hide her own identity. This is further e!plored through the statement no mouthwith which to $iss, no hands with which to caress-. Carter uses repetition to con)ey theCountess lac$ of identity, stating no- to suggest her lac$ of possession of bothphysical identity and symbolic identity of the female se!.

#ntrapment is a $ey theme, which is also e!plored in the e!tract from "Jane #yre as wellas "The Bloody Chamber. /ere, Bronte states % was oppressed, su;ocated- to con)eythe way in which women subjected to control. The word su;ocated- con)eys howsociety is pre)enting women from e!pressing themsel)es, furthermore through )oice as

7/26/2019 Essay on Entrapment

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T.Jay Turner

it connotes the inability to spea$+ relatable at the time as women had no political poweror )oice on decision9ma$ing. This can also be seen in the "#rl *ing, in which Carterstates, trapped in her own illusion-. This suggests how women belie)e they holdin2uence because of political rights, howe)er Carter suggests that this is simply anillusion- as women are trapped- by men in a patriarchal society. 1urthermore, in "Jane#yre, Bronte uses the character of 6rs :eed to con)ey the con)entional entrapment ofwomen in society at the time. The character e!presses you cannot succeed in gettingout by these means-, here 6rs :eed perpetuates the idea of female oppression andBronte uses this to suggest that women cannot brea$ free from the stereotype placedupon them to perform as suppressed indi)iduals. %n addition to this, the character of 6rs:eed then states on condition of perfect submission-, this further highlights how thecon)entional women was brought up to belie)e that women should renouncethemsel)es to men through submission- which was traditional. This is also seen inCarters The 5ady of the /ouse of 5o)e-, through the Countess incarcerating wallformed by the roses her dead mother planted-. /ere, the writer uses the symbol ofplanting8- to imply how the con)entional traditions of the female role are passed frommother to daughter, causing entrapment of women in society.

To conclude, the theme of entrapment is e!plored thoroughly throughout "The BloodyChamber in order to present the idea of female oppression within society. The writeruses symbolism within her writing to con)ey both the maltreatment of women asentrapped within the boundaries and e!pectations of society but also furthermorethrough the notion that men withhold control o)er women due to the power dynamicpresent within the contemporaneous patriarchal society at the time of her writing in&