The study for Angela Carter’s feminism reconstruction based on

徐宏宇

【Abstract】Angela Carter is one of the best British writers since 1945. In her short stories collection， she has depicted many impressive protagonists that are rebellious， courageous and bold. She reconstructed the female image and the relationship between male and female. And was a typical one.

【Key words】female image； patriarchal society； revolt

Angela Carter， a creative and controversial English novelist， who was known for her feminism， magical realism， and novels with Gothic themes. Carter employed these themes as a revolt against patriarchal power in contemporary society. In 2008， The Times ranked Carter tenth in the list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945”. As a prolific writer， Angela Carter has many works， one of which is a short fiction collection named . Carter parodied traditional fairy tales in a subversive and imaginative way in this collection， which won her a Cheltenham Literature Festival Prize.

is an imaginative one in this collection. The name of the title and character was taken from a folklore persona， a malevolent elf， who haunts the Black Forest， luring children to destruction. J.W. von Goethe had a dramatic ballad written in 1782 and published as Der Erlk?nig. In this story， Carter presents her feminism reconstruction.

1. The first-person narration

The heroine spoke directly to the audience telling the story of “The Erl-King”. She， a young girl， went into the desolate and obscure wood. “These vertical bars of a brass-colored distillation of light coming down from sulphur-yellow interstices in a sky hunkered with grey clouds that bulge with more rain.” （Carter， 101） The bars and sulphur foreshadows the entrapment and misfortune of the protagonist. The narrator walked through the woods and saw the Erl-King in his garden. He lived a harmonious life with nature， eating vegetables and fungi in the woodland， drinking water from the stream and weaving cages to trap birds. The narrator visited and made love with the Erl-King. When the she realized the Erl-King weaving a cage for her， she decided to revolt and plotted the murder of the Erl-King.

Carter gave female right to speak， which enables female control the power of narration. By narrating the story from female perspective， they are not discriminated， suppressed and persecuted subordinate， instead， they have the initiative in the sexual relations. Female get rid of patriarchal narration， being able to presents their images which are not distorted or standardized.

2. Females curiosity

In this story， Carter depicted the scene of making love in detail by using poetic and imaginative words. Females curiosity about mans body and sexual desire was spoken out frankly. The body of the Erl-King was depicted as a monster， with quite green eyes， “green as apples. Green as dead sea fruit” （Carter， 107） and dead leaves fall out of his hair. His body， which hided danger and disguises， was peeled off in the curious eyesight of the heroine. Female pried into males body， which embodies their desire to comprehend the outside world as an independent and integrate person. By observing and exploring mans body， female challenges and strikes traditional moral code of patriarchal society and they could know the social operation system dominated by male better.

The heroine had a clear recognition of the cruelty of the Erl-King. She chose to use her body as a weapon to fight against the Erl-King in this game. In the sexual relationship between the heroine and the Erl-King， the heroine released her body and sexual desire， enjoyed the happiness of sex， and fell in love with the Erl-King. The release of sexual desire is a revolt against patriarchal moral code， an encouragement to female subject reconstruction， and a pursuit of female integrity. Her body and sexual desire endowed her right to revolt for freedom and security.

3. Subversive image of male and female

In traditional rigid hierarchy society， female was soft， weak， obedient and standardized， who didnt have sexual desire or independent decisiveness. Conversely， male was powerful and dominated. In Carters reconstruction， she intended to subvert the image and sexual relationship.

The heroine knew that Erl-King would do her grievous harm when she entered the forest， but she still made a decision to make love with him. But she did not want to be kept in his cages， even in the name of love. She had an explicit consciousness of her heart， desire and freedom. The heroine enjoyed happiness of sexual desire and actively and pursued adventure and freedom bravely. She valued love and defended her independence， integrity and freedom.

While the image of male， who was savior in the patriarchal society， was subverted and reconstructed. At the beginning， the Erl-King tried to imprison and control the protagonist and turned her into one of his thousands of birds. While to the end of story， the heroine seduced and killed him. In the game of power between male and female， the powerful and strong Erl-King was weakened under female bodily offensive. At the end， the old fiddle cried out “Mother， mother， you have murdered me！” which embodies the converted position of the two.endprint

By denying traditional female femininity set by patriarchal society， Carter built up a female image of confidence， courage， intelligence， independent self-awareness and rebellious spirit.

4. Conclusion

Different from traditional female who is subordinate， ignorant and passive， Carters protagonist is strong， intelligent， brave and curious about body and sexual desire. She had the courage to seize freedom， to fight against male， to get rid of chains that male put on her. By making good use of females body and desires， female rescue themselves and reconstruct the sexual relationship of harmonious companion. Telling a story from female perspective is a subversion of traditional narration and traditional patriarchal society.

By presenting females curiosity about body and sexual desire， female is given equal right and position as male. By subverting image of male and female， Carter reconstructs the relationship between male and female. In the modern industrial and commercial society， female are awakening and fight for their own right and freedom， which Carter intends to say in her works.

References：

[1]Angela Carter.The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories[M].New York：the Penguin Group，1979：pp.101-109.

[2]方路祎.安吉拉·卡特：經典的顛覆者[J].世界文化，2012，（06）： 14-16.

[3]黃煒芝.安吉拉·卡特的重構童話文本研究[D].暨南大學， 2014.

[4]李慶建.論安吉拉·卡特對經典童話的女性主義重構[D].山東科技大學，2009.

[5][英]安吉拉·卡特.染血之室與其他故事[M].嚴韻，譯.南京：南京大學出版社，2012：149-162.endprint