5. Structure

What is significant or interesting about Carter's structural choices in this story? How has she put the story together and why has she made particular choices?

Choose one aspect of Carter's structure and explain its significance

 

'The Bloody Chamber' explores the relationship between the Marquis and his new bride, however even though the story is written chronologically, it is written in past tense - narrated retrospectively by the protagonist, an unknown amount of time after the events occur.

We are introduced to the story in past tense, 'I remember' signals to us that the protagonist is looking back on events, instead of writing the events in the way they happened. This then continues with 'And I remember' remaining this way throughout the novel, until the present tense is used at the end of the story. After several pages of description and relaying of events, parentheses are used to give the reader information that deviates from the main action of the story. '(I swear to you, I had never been vain until I met him)' is the retrospective narrator talking, telling us minor details about her personality and the 'potentiality for corruption' she sensed within herself. This quote also shows the negative character traits the Marquis possesses and the ability to warp and change an innocent girl, hinting at the patriarchal society and control men exercise over women. There is however another way to look at the change within the narrator, as 'until I met him' also links to his lifestyle, money and gifts, which could have also 'corrupted' her. It shows that women are also influenced by greed and power in the same way men are. 'I swear to you' addresses the reader directly, a language device that informs Carter's structural choice to write the story retrospectively.

Carter also addresses the reader directly when saying 'You must remember how ill at ease I was in that luxurious place' displaying the control she has over both the telling of the story and what we think of both her and the Marquis. By using the word 'must' she is asserting her power of the readership, emphasising the view she wants us to have of her, almost reassuring herself that both her and the readers think of her as the helpless victim, causing us to feel sorry for her.

We see the narrator has become wiser and more knowledgeable (we later find out it is forbidden knowledge, kept away from her by her husband) through the line 'I was only a little girl, I did not understand'. 'I was only a little girl' shows not only how helpless and vulnerable the past tense character was, but how much stronger and adult the present tense narrator is too. We can see that something will happen that gives the character more power, as even when having lost her virginity she still describes herself as a 'child', foreshadowing that her defining moment is yet to come. 'I did not understand' also foreshadows an event or conversation that gives the protagonist insight into the Marquis' behaviour and ultimately the horrific acts of violence he has committed whilst playing upon his psychotic tendencies. This not only hints at what is to come within the story, but also engages the reader due to the fact we want to find out what she doesn't 'understand' and how she is enlightened.

After the climax of the story, a new paragraph is used, indicating the change in scenery, time and location; a structural device used in several other points in the book, for example straight after 'The next day, we were married'. This missed line within the body of text also adds a dramatic pause, building the tension and letting the information previously given sink in. 'bullet through my husband’s head' is the last line before the break in text, emphasising it's importance to the story and the shocking event that occurred. Carter then provides a time gap; the amount of time lost is unknown, however the text reverts to the present tense. The story, no longer written in retrospect, ties up loose ends and gives a fairy-tale ending to the plot. The element of a retrospective narrator however is a Gothic convention, and links to the revenant; the returning of the past. In the recollection of a memory, the Marquis returns from the dead to haunt the narrators thoughts, and shows that even though the traumatic events are over, she will always be reminded of the Marquis from the 'red mark' on her forehead. This indicates that however hard we try we can never escape the past, making this story one of the most Gothic within the collection.