8. Time

How does carter manage time in this story? What might be the reasons for her choices?

In The Bloody Chamber, we are made aware that the story is being told retrospectively through phrases such as 'I remember'. The narrator, also the protagonist of the tale, tells us about the traumatic events of her past, however we are not given a time frame in which these events happen. It is not clear how many weeks, months, years or even days, she is narrating from, or how long she - as the story develops - stays married to the Marquis. This blur of reality is something that adheres to the Gothic genre as it reverses the rational sense of time to create a mysterious supernatural quality to the story. 

'I looked at the precious little clock..the hands had scarcely moved one single hour forward' shows us that the events that have just occurred were concealed within a short space of time, creating tension within the story and alluding to further events. We can tell that the protagonist wasn't aware of time herself as she has been kept inside the castle. 'Time was his servant, too, it would trap me here' shows the female oppression within their relationship and the patriarchal control he has over his wife. Time being his 'servant' means, it too, would have to obey him, as he owns the house and the possessions within it, including time and it passing. 

On page 31 the protagonist loses consciousness, and for what amount of time is not clear, creating a blur between the boundaries of time, as well as the idea of being both within and without yourself, due to your conscious or unconscious state of mind. 

These examples show that Carter has used the blurring of time to enhance the ideas of oppression and entrapment of women, two very prominent Gothic themes. She uses it to create a supernatural atmosphere within her story as the unclear boundaries of time create an uneasy feeling within the story, and a feeling of uncertainty that links to the irrational sense of the Gothic and supernatural.