How Does Angela Carter’s Book “The Bloody Chamber and Other
Stories” Deconstruct Sexist Gender Stereotypes Found in Fairy
Tales?
Angela Carter was an English novelist, journalist, poet, and short story writer who
gained recognition in the postmodern literature world due to her innovative ideas
regarding feminism and gender equality. In her book “The Bloody Chamber and Other
Stories”, which is a collection of short stories, she rewrites the classic fairy tales the
society had grown up listening to; such as “Little Snow White” by the Grimm Brothers
and “Little Red Riding Hood” by Charles Perrault. She raises awareness of the fact that
these stories were not appropriate for such a young audience, and also deconstructs
the sexist gender stereotypes that had been passed on by these fairy tales over the
years.
From folk tales transmitted by word of mouth in the middle ages, to the famous written
fairy tales parents still nowadays read to their children before they go to bed, there is a
notorious presence of highly stereotypical characters. In classic fairytales, men are
often placed in a position of power, they are seen as strong, brave heroes who end up
saving the powerless, naïve and foolish women; which demonstrates the role that
women had in the society in the 20th century, when she wrote her stories, a time in
history where women were still seen as inferior, vulnerable and weak; where they were
often objectified and did not have a voice; and when the word “equal” was everything
but the description of the relationship between men and women. In “Notes from the
Front Line”, Carter explains how she establishes new revolutionary concepts in classic
fairytales, such as feminism, without changing their original structure, “most intellectual
development depends upon new readings of old texts. I am all for putting new wine in
old bottles, especially if the pressure of the new wine makes the old bottles explode”
(Carter, p.38).
In “The Werewolf”, a parody of Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood”, Carter flips the roles,
turning the child who was supposed to be innocent and easily tricked into a smart,
determined, gold-digger who ends up killing her granny, a werewolf and Carter’s
representation of the old ways, a patriarchal culture full of old stereotypes and where
gender inequality is accepted. In this story we see how Carter deconstructs the gender
stereotypes of women being naive and always in need of a men to protect them by
characterizing the protagonist as a person who was taught how to protect herself
instead of how to look for a men who would protect her, which is clearly seen when the
mother says “take your father’s hunting knife; you know how to use it” (Carter, p.73). In
Carter’s parody, the red coat that symbolizes the girl’s vanity, is changed into a white
one which represents the deceiving purity and innocence of this child, who actually
Stories” Deconstruct Sexist Gender Stereotypes Found in Fairy
Tales?
Angela Carter was an English novelist, journalist, poet, and short story writer who
gained recognition in the postmodern literature world due to her innovative ideas
regarding feminism and gender equality. In her book “The Bloody Chamber and Other
Stories”, which is a collection of short stories, she rewrites the classic fairy tales the
society had grown up listening to; such as “Little Snow White” by the Grimm Brothers
and “Little Red Riding Hood” by Charles Perrault. She raises awareness of the fact that
these stories were not appropriate for such a young audience, and also deconstructs
the sexist gender stereotypes that had been passed on by these fairy tales over the
years.
From folk tales transmitted by word of mouth in the middle ages, to the famous written
fairy tales parents still nowadays read to their children before they go to bed, there is a
notorious presence of highly stereotypical characters. In classic fairytales, men are
often placed in a position of power, they are seen as strong, brave heroes who end up
saving the powerless, naïve and foolish women; which demonstrates the role that
women had in the society in the 20th century, when she wrote her stories, a time in
history where women were still seen as inferior, vulnerable and weak; where they were
often objectified and did not have a voice; and when the word “equal” was everything
but the description of the relationship between men and women. In “Notes from the
Front Line”, Carter explains how she establishes new revolutionary concepts in classic
fairytales, such as feminism, without changing their original structure, “most intellectual
development depends upon new readings of old texts. I am all for putting new wine in
old bottles, especially if the pressure of the new wine makes the old bottles explode”
(Carter, p.38).
In “The Werewolf”, a parody of Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood”, Carter flips the roles,
turning the child who was supposed to be innocent and easily tricked into a smart,
determined, gold-digger who ends up killing her granny, a werewolf and Carter’s
representation of the old ways, a patriarchal culture full of old stereotypes and where
gender inequality is accepted. In this story we see how Carter deconstructs the gender
stereotypes of women being naive and always in need of a men to protect them by
characterizing the protagonist as a person who was taught how to protect herself
instead of how to look for a men who would protect her, which is clearly seen when the
mother says “take your father’s hunting knife; you know how to use it” (Carter, p.73). In
Carter’s parody, the red coat that symbolizes the girl’s vanity, is changed into a white
one which represents the deceiving purity and innocence of this child, who actually
