How Does Carter Explore Feminist Issues in the Bloody Chamber

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How does Carter explore feminist issues in ‘The Bloody Chamber’? Angela Carter explores a number of feminist issues in the short story of ‘The Bloody Chamber’ one of these being a concept called ‘the male gaze.’ The male gaze is a look a man carries that contains the power of action and possession; something that is absent in the female gaze. In The Bloody Chamber, this is used a number of times and represents a male dominance in Carters stories “I saw him watching me in the gilded mirrors with the assessing eye of a connoisseur inspecting horseflesh.” Connotations of food and animals are frequently used throughout the story of the Bloody Chamber, usually describing the Marquis as a predator and his “little nun” as his prey. This not only shows a male dominance but also presents the idea that the Marquis doesn’t have any emotion for his wife and sees her as a piece of meat. The use of the word ‘inspecting’ shows the idea of power from the male gaze as the Marquis is praising himself for what he has ‘achieved’ for his wife. The lack of punctuation could show that she feels under pressure and intimidated by the Marquis, as though she is being judged and is nervous she isn’t good enough for her new husband which again shows that he possess and has the ability to control her not only physically but also mentally as she is seeing herself as a piece of ‘horseflesh.’ Another feminist issue in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ is the force of a sexual relationship with the Marquis in the story. Usually sexual relations are built around a women’s objectification, however in one section of the story the Marquis instigates the relation and forms the idea based on his own desires “I stammered foolishly: we’ve not taken luncheon yet; and, besides, it is broad day light… ‘All the better to see you’” The breakup of the sentence could represent a break down in her mental state and
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