Bruno Bettleheim

How might Bettleheim's ideas help us to understand the purposes of fairytales?

His ideas explain that without the depiction of both good and evil within stock characters of the fairytale, children reading them would not be able to distinguish between the two categories. Fairytales are there to teach children what is right and wrong, conditioning them to think that certain behaviour and characters within the stories are evil and 'bad'. The reader is also more likely to relate to the hero and aspire to be like them, because of the happy ending in which love and life-long happines is achieved. The polar opposites of the characters mean that the child can acknowledge evil, because if evil is not presented, the natural emotions or thoughts within the childs mind may be percieved as unnatural because of it's questioned existence. The child may then think the evil only existed within them; whereas that is not the case.

How do Bettleheim's ideas help us to understand the purposes of Gothic?

Within both the gothic and the fairytale there are stereotypical good and bad characters, however, the knowledge we possess concerning fairytales shows us there is no grey area; something that is developed and contained within the Gothic genre. With fairytale you are condtitioned to think a certain way as a child, whereas the blurred boundaries between what is morally correct and what is evil that feature heavily within the Gothic, means we have to decide which character represents which role ourself.

Why do you think Carter mixes the fairytale and Gothic genres in 'The Bloody Chamber'

 

Carter has re-invented the fairytale genre whilst exposing the false ideas we have of 'good' and 'bad' characters. She points out the flaws in both male and female characters, blurring the lines between which character is the stereotypical hero and villain, as for example the Marquis; dangerous, murderous and controlling - transforms into the victim at the end. Being influenced by feminism, her stories do take on the general assumption that men are the villains and women are the victims, however the switch in gender roles and the role of the victim cause the blur between the character traits. Personally, I think she has done this to show how we are conditioned to think a certain way as children, and that the horrors within her story, mixed with the fairytale genre are relevant to all areas of life.