The Snow Child

Allegory: 

A story that can be interpreted t reveal a hidden meaning, usually a moral or political one 

Feminist in 'The Snow Child': 

• Count creates the perfect woman - "stark naked" ideal woman
• Events within the story happen because it is the Count's wishes, not the Countesses - Patriarchal society
• Constructed of what society tells us - Daughter has sex, the mother hates her, father sleeps with daughter, daughter dies. 
• The mother is jealous of her own child; is it jealousy or is it trying to shield her from the same fate she suffers from? 
• The child has no voice because she is not married, women need a husband in order to be taken seriously and have some form of wealth and role in society
• By completing the act that is associated with giving life, her father kills her - ironic, yet could also symbolise how women lose their freedom, self-worth etc when completing this act of passion

Other Components: 

• Darkness Vs. Light - The black mare and the grey one, contrast between the girls black hair and white skin 
• Setting - falling snow, forest, pool of blood, 
• Creation of fear 
• Influence of the past - Links to ideologies of the victorian times, links to fairytale
• Male and female roles - Patriarchal society 
• Blurring of fantasy and reality - unrealistic things do not cause any problems for the characters in believability (see TBC and the protagonists reaction to finding the room full of dead bodies, instead of instantly screaming or breaking down in tears, she appears curious and touches the embalmed wife)
• Psychological traits

"THESE ARE MY OWN STORIES, THEY ARE NOT MY VERSION OF THE FAIRYTALE"

Angela Carter was a feminist herself 

Even though the gender roles are the way they are due to patriarchy - the man goes out to work, the woman provides children and stays at home - the Count in this story is the one who controls reproduction and the production of the story. 

Gothic setting: 

• "Midwinter - Invincible, immaculate" - cold, dark harsh, can't be banished or defeated, alliteration 
• Fresh snow - metamorphosis, changing the scenery, could symbolise generations of fallen women (just like the snow child) loss of their purity, influence of the past
• Juxtaposition between a typical christmas scene and terror 
• "Hole filled with blood" represents birth (ew)
• Imperfection of the blood on snow, imperfect natural cycle, men tell you the cycle is a weakness, foreshadows the pool of blood in the death of the snow child

Possible allegory of marriage, wander off into the world of marriage and become someones wife, coldness greets you; there is no love in marriage, younger beauty is found, defilement, loss of virginity, the husband has found his new ideal woman.