Directions: Please use one of the paper prompts below as the basis of your essay. There’s no need to “answer” all the questions posed. They are there only to prompt you to focus on a certain dimension of the reading. For your essays, make sure you have a clear thesis (preferably one sentence that lays out your argument early on), evidence or textual support for your argument from the reading, and a clear structure to your argument. You may choose to come up with your own topic not based on these prompts, but only if done so in consultation with me. All essays should be double spaced, 12 pt. font Times New Roman, with standard margins and MLA citations. For information on citations, see the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). Papers should be 4-5 pages in length.
Submit Papers electronically through the “Assignments” tab on Blackboard.
1. Symbolism: How does “The Bloody Chamber” explore meaning through its symbols? The bloodstain, the key, the piano, the mirrors, the flowers, the necklace, the ring, even the bloody chamber itself—what themes are explored here? How does the religious symbolism (or allusions) add meaning to this story? Does the setting function as a symbol at all? Are certain characters explored through any of these symbols? Do these symbols carry over to the film, Crimson Peak, or does del Toro use the same kinds of symbols in new and interesting ways?
2. Sex & Violence: How and why does Angela Carter reinsert more explicit sex and violence into her postmodern fairytale adaptations? How does sexuality or intimacy function within “The Bloody Chamber”? How does violence function thematically within the text? Are sex and violence portrayed in positive or negative ways, and why? Are sex and violence intimately interlinked or are they separate topics completely? Are sex and violence juxtaposed with any other themes within the story? Why were the sex and violence stripped out of fairytales to begin with, and should they continue to be monitored for adult themes? Do Angela Carter and Guillermo del Toro approach sex and violence—specifically within the context of fairytale mythmaking—in the same way, or do their philosophies and characterizations of those topics differ?
3. Gender and/or Beastliness: How does gender function within “The Bloody Chamber”? How is the Marquis characterized in terms of gender identity, expression, or performativity, and how is that compared/contrasted to the piano tuner? How is the protagonist explored through gender norms and dynamics; how does that compare/contrast to her mother? Is there something about beastliness or monstrosity that carries a gendered connotation, specifically within the context of this story (or more generally)? Does Crimson Peak explore gender in a similar way or is it portrayed differently, and why? Does Carter use this fairytale to make larger assertions about gender historically—in the 1690s when the original “Bluebeard” story was written by Charles Perrault, in the 1970s when Carter is writing? Can a modern reader translate the theme of gender to make larger assertions about the present sociological moment? How has gender functioned within the genre of fairytales over time? Is gender explicitly tied to Beauty & the Beast and Bluebeard in a specific kind of way, or does it function similarly in other kinds of fairytale stories? Does beastliness within the Bloody Chamber function outside of or without a gender connotation?
CITE AND EXPLAIN THE GENDER/BEASTLINESS PROMPT from the book The Bloody Chamber
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