T.

Jay Turner
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Discuss the way in which Carter presents Entrapment in The

Bloody 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 and
maltreatment of women in society at the time of her writing in the late 70s, this can
also be seen in the extract from Jane Eyre. At the time in which Bronte wrote Jane
Eyre, there was little legislation in place to ensure women had rights within society. The
book portrays a girl, whos desire and aspirations supersedes her oppression which
society has weighted upon her. This was a rare occurrence in literature as women were
often depicted through traditional roles which was an expectation of society at the time.
In 1847, it was common for men to have total control over women as both wives and
daughters, or further through political power.
In The Erl King, Carter explores the theme of entrapment through the representation of
the woods; here she states the woods swallow you up. The use of the word swallow
suggests how the woods have been personified to present how the girl is powerless to
being engulfed. Here Carter plays on the stereotype of female vulnerability expressing
through the woods, symbolic of the real world, how women can be entrapped and
oppressed by a patriarchal society. Carter, using birds to symbolise women, further
develops this when describing their treatment by men. Here, Carter expresses her
disagreement to keep wild birds in cages; the cage represents the physical and
mental oppression of the female spirit. Stating that the birds are wild conveys how
women are free creatures of thought and will that are ultimately suppressed by men,
exemplifying Carters feminist viewpoint of how women in the 70s were being treated
by a male dominated society and the necessity for liberation. Furthermore, to
emphasise the point of male entrapment of women, the writer uses a metaphor, stating
you cannot get a tune out of the old fiddle. This implies how the harmony of a tune
between the sexes has been damaged by the neglect inflicted by men in society. This
leaves the possibility of recovery on the part of the male, which Carter uses to
symbolise how she believes when writing in the late 70s that social change is
possible and men have the ability to create a greater society with equal power between
sexes.
Carter also presents entrapment in The Lady of the House of Love, in comparing the
Countess to a cave full of echoes. The use of the word echoes suggests how the
Countess spirit is entrapped within a cave, bound for continuous reverberations of
female expression that cannot escape due to suppression by men. Moreover, when
describing the garden Carter refers to the roses which have formed a spiked wall that
incarcerates her in the castle of her inheritance. The symbolism of incarcerat[ion]
conveys how the countess is entrapped within her home as this is the only place in
which she withholds power and control. The reference to her inheritance suggests
that entrapment within the home has been placed upon women and is transferred
through inheritance and tradition, preventing women from escaping. In contrast, Carter
then portrays the idea of self-entrapment by describing the Countess room, stating it
has closely barred shutters and heavy velvet curtains. Referring to the shutters as
barred suggests how she has entrapped herself to escape from the outside world in
order to hide her own identity. This is further explored through the statement no mouth
with which to kiss, no hands with which to caress. Carter uses repetition to convey the
Countess lack of identity, stating no to suggest her lack of possession of both
physical identity and symbolic identity of the female sex.
Entrapment is a key theme, which is also explored in the extract from Jane Eyre as well
as The Bloody Chamber. Here, Bronte states I was oppressed, suffocated to convey
the way in which women subjected to control. The word suffocated conveys how
society is preventing women from expressing themselves, furthermore through voice as

T.Jay Turner
it connotes the inability to speak; relatable at the time as women had no political power
or voice on decision-making. This can also be seen in the Erl King, in which Carter
states, trapped in her own illusion. This suggests how women believe they hold
influence because of political rights, however Carter suggests that this is simply an
illusion as women are trapped by men in a patriarchal society. Furthermore, in Jane
Eyre, Bronte uses the character of Mrs Reed to convey the conventional entrapment of
women in society at the time. The character expresses you cannot succeed in getting
out by these means, here Mrs Reed perpetuates the idea of female oppression and
Bronte uses this to suggest that women cannot break free from the stereotype placed
upon them to perform as suppressed individuals. In addition to this, the character of Mrs
Reed then states on condition of perfect submission, this further highlights how the
conventional women was brought up to believe that women should renounce
themselves to men through submission which was traditional. This is also seen in
Carters The Lady of the House of Love, through the Countess incarcerating wall
formed by the roses her dead mother planted. Here, the writer uses the symbol of
plant[ing] to imply how the conventional traditions of the female role are passed from
mother to daughter, causing entrapment of women in society.
To conclude, the theme of entrapment is explored thoroughly throughout The Bloody
Chamber in order to present the idea of female oppression within society. The writer
uses symbolism within her writing to convey both the maltreatment of women as
entrapped within the boundaries and expectations of society but also furthermore
through the notion that men withhold control over women due to the power dynamic
present within the contemporaneous patriarchal society at the time of her writing in
1979. The texts are relatable to the extract and explores similar entrapment in the
context of 1847, when Bronte suggests how the lack of power or physical rights for
women at the time entrapped women within a traditional role.