WOLF-ALICE

1. Information given about 'Wolf-Alice':

 

· "Ragged girl" pg. 140

· "She howls because she is lonely" pg. 140

· "Her panting tongue hangs out, her lips are thick and fresh" pg. 140

· "Nothing about her is human except that she is a wolf" pg. 140

· "Mutilation is her lot" pg. 143

· "She was an imperfect wolf" pg. 144

· "She had no direct notion of past, or of future, or of duration, only of a dimensionless immediate moment" pg. 144

· "She was fearful when she heard the sound of pain" pg. 148

2. The description, to me, shows us the 'imperfect wolf' and 'ragged girl' we feel sorry for, like many other female characters within Carter's stories. Because we see she is most likely a feral child, the duality of rational and irrational is explored within her. The supernatural 'wolf' side shows us she is different, yet, her menstruation makes her like any other girl. This therefore makes us question the realism of the character, because her chosen behaviour is so irrational in relation to the socially acceptable human behaviour. Personally, I think she is realistic in the sense of showing both the primal and self-discovering rationality of a human being. Her reactions to the mirror 'she found only dust... a little moisture leaked from the corners of her eyes' shows us a human response to discovering a shocking truth.  

3. 'Wolf-Alice' is the name given to the feral girl, as this portrays the aspects of duality within her that are also explored within the narrative. It can be said that 'wolf' refers to the supernatural and irrational, and 'Alice' referring to the rational nature of human law. If only the 'wolf' part was present, I feel we would be unable to relate to the female quality of the character, as it's the shocking nature of her menstruation that allow us to do so. However, if the girls name was 'Alice' alone, we would not understand the duality or primal instincts within humanity. The two names can be seen as contrasting as one refers to animalistic traits and the other to human life.  

4. This story links to many others within the Bloody Chamber collection, because of the distinct blur of the boundaries between human and animal. Many stories, if not all, tackle the idea of having both good and bad, animal and human within ourselves. In The Bloody Chamber the Marquis is described as 'cobra-headed' and very primal because of his carnal and murderous tendencies. The Erl-King in the self-entitled narrative, is described as being part of the forest, and even though distinguishable as a man, still contains quality of nature, something linked closely with animalistic behaviour, and subverting back to primal behaviour. The Courtship of Mr Lyon focuses on a 'Beast' who displays human behaviour and then turns into a man at the end of the novel. Many more stories also feature this duality, possibly due to the backlash against De Sade's idea that we are only born with either good or bad within us.  

5. I definitely have sympathy for Wolf-Alice, because it was not her choice to behave this way; she has been conditioned into behaving like a wolf because of the actions of man. She understands nothing of the world and upon the nuns useless attempts to help her, she was handed to a supernatural creature, who could not tell her what was right from wrong, or what she really was. The mystery surrounding her identity and the fact she is both 'within and without herself' shows us that she really cannot help what she does or how she thinks, because she has not been taught otherwise. The scene in which she starts menstruating is the scene that evokes the most pity for the character, because she is so clueless. The scene of her bewilderment (not unlike the protagonist in Stephen King's Carrie) shows us she is capable of human traits, because she is in fact a human.  I do not like, or dislike her, because only her duality is explored. Because she is part wolf I cannot relate to her fully, however the actions she performs because of her human qualities only make me pity her.  

(not numbered).  The stories 'Wolf-Alice' 'The Werewolf' and 'The Company of Wolves' are similar because of the recurring werewolf theme and the ability to be both human and wolf. The duality of the main characters is evident because of their rational and irrational supernatural sides. The story of Red Riding Hood is clear within 'The Company of Wolves' and 'The Werewolf' as the character of the 'Grandmother' is involved. Both girls in the stories are trained with a knife and are not afraid of wolves in the forest, however in 'A Company of Wolves' the grandmother is not killed by the girl, but by the wolf itself. When harmed both the man at the beginning of 'A Company of Wolves' and the Grandmother in 'The Werewolf' both return to their human forms. At the end of both stories, the girls both 'prosper', one in the literal sense and the other because she finds a lover within the wolf and stays with him. All three stories contain settings that portray the Gothic, as these reverse the fairytale quality and basis of the narratives. 'Wolf-Alice' and 'A Company of Wolves' both demonstrate the beginning of menstruation for their female protagonists. Although in 'Wolf-Alice' is in conveyed using large descriptive thoughts and pages of text, in 'A Company of Wolves' it is given only a few lines. All three stories focus on the duality of their characters, and the brutality of both wolves and men, because of the good and evil that is within us all.  

6. 'Wolf-Alice' is the only character I pity out of the three stories, because of the harsh and disturbing nature of the others. The female protagonist in 'The Werewolf' kills her own grandmother, admittedly without knowing it was her she was killing, but then prospers and does not display any signs of grief or guilt, alluding to her murderous personality. The female protagonist in 'A Company of Wolves' only questions where her grandmother is, but equally does not show signs of hatred of the wolf or grief towards her death. Instead of hating her Grandmothers killer, she sleeps 'between the paws of the tender wolf'. The behaviour of 'Wolf-Alice' plays on the duality of her character, but I think even with her wolfish tendencies she behaves more admirably and human than the other two female protagonists. At the end of 'Wolf-Alice' she helps the Duke by licking his face 'without hesitation' to clean the 'blood and dirt from his cheeks'. Even though the death within 'The Company of Wolves' could not have been helped as it could be seen as having already been too late, the death of the grandmother in 'The Werewolf' was down to the inhuman act of society and her own granddaughter. The most human and brave acts belong to 'Wolf-Alice' even though she reacts with the only knowledge she possesses, and that belongs to her wolf characteristics.  

 

7. The Duke is described as 'old as paper' and can be seen as the embodiment of all things evil, because of his characteristics belonging to both the supernatural werewolf and the vampire. 'His eyes see only appetite' creates a dangerous and murderous reputation, however when he is described as being 'cast in the role of the corpse-eater' we can infer that he may not choose to be like this, it is just a role someone links to an actor based on their appearance. It can be said he has just been put into the position of this evil character, but is not actually this way, it is just the expectations that other people have of him that made him this way. Even though these two ideas conflict it neither makes me like or dislike him, it only makes me think about the role of people’s expectations and the way we behave to fit into and be accepted by society. 'He believes himself to be less and more than a man' plays on the idea of liminality as previously believed you can only be on one side, you cannot be on both. However, this duality displayed within both his form and ideas about himself, do make me feel sorry for him, as it seems there is no place for him in society, because he does not fit into the constrained boundaries. At the end of the story, he is saved by 'Wolf-Alice' as now exists as a human. It shows that he has been saved by the power of a woman, and at the end there is a sense of happiness, as it seems they have finally found their place with each other and society. 

8. I feel the most empathy for Wolf-Alice because Carter has used descriptive language that makes us feel sorry for her, such as 'mutilation is her lot' and 'she howls because she is lonely'. I think, Carter intended females to empathise with her because of the passage containing her first menstruation, as it is something every woman goes through. It is the menstruation that influences her actions to become more human, and this could be showing that it is not the loss of virginity that makes you a woman, it is the start of menstruation. Her bewilderment and confusion as to what is happening makes us feel sorry for her, and as women we might think back to the time we were in her position, and how new and fearful it may have been. I think she may have intended this in order to show us we are more alike her than first thought, and therefore we are all dual characters, we all have the girl and the wolf inside us.

 

9. The Duke is a character created to show the liminality of humans and beasts, as it can be said we have both qualities within us. The Duke has been used to bring out the human side in Wolf-Alice, as his house, and the possessions within it are what helps her realise she is in fact human. Even though their stories seem seperate, they are evidentaly tied by the duality of their characters. At the end of the story Wolf-Alice tries to help the Duke with the remains of her animal kindness and this shows us that 'living' requires balancing the human and the beast within. Without the Duke, Wolf-Alice would still have discovered the human part of herself through her menstruation, but the surrounding human objects that allowed her to develop her character and save the Duke would not have had an impact.

 

10. The mirror in the story is symbollic of self-awareness and the distinguishing between human and beast. After finding the mirror, Wolf-Alice regains more human composure and sees of herself as a human within, therefore then starts to look like a human on the exterior by wearing 'dresses' and 'combing her hair'. The mirror also doesn't display the face of the count until the end of the story, as he is stuck between the physical and metaphysical, until his transformation - into what can be presumed is a human - at the end. The face that appears within the mirror at the end, is distinguishable as human, because when he was in the 'role' of the beast, his face was not visible. The mirror also plays on a story that influenced Carter's 'Wolf-Alice', Through the Looking Glass.

 

11. Mirrors are used in several of Carter's other stories, namely 'The Bloody Chamber' and 'The Courtship of Mr Lyon'. All three stories feature a woman who looks into the mirror and sees herself for what she truly is. In 'Wolf-Alice' she sees the humanity within her that has been covered with the actions of the wolf, whereas in 'The Courtship of Mr Lyon' the character Beauty recognises that she is not behaving in the way she normally would, alluding to the self-awareness of her spoilt and selfish behaviour. Both mirrors in thesse two stories are used for self-discovery, however in The Bloody Chamber the mirror expresses the newly gained wealth and surroundings of the protagonist as it reflects everything around her, including the 'harem' she has 'acquired' for herself.

12. I think Angela Carter has used mirrors within her story to emphasise the Gothic genre and the idea of duality and self-awareness. In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre a mirror is used to display the idea of the supernatural in the 'red-room' and the idea that you cannot recognise your own face within the mirror. Carter uses this idea to reinforce how you view yourself and discover who you are, like with Wolf-Alice and her awareness of her human side.

13. The first tale that springs to mind when I think of wolves is Little Red Riding Hood; one of the many stories that Carter has based her narratives on. Carter uses our knowledge of this existing fairytale to inverse its plot and shock the reader with Gothic events and even more supernatural creatures. Carter uses the genre of fairytale to create Gothic themes within her narratives, as it is something that shocks the audience. Carter hasn't used the role of the wolf within her work in the same way, however we also feel sorry for the wolf in 'The Werewolf' as it turns into the little girls grandmother, and is unfairly stoned to death. We do not, on the other hand feel sorry for the little girl in that story, because she is the one who helped to kill her grandmother, yet in 'Wolf-Alice' we feel sorry for the feral girl, who can also be seen as the wolf.

 

14. The 'white dress' has connotations of purity and marriage, as it is the dress you would most likely get married in. The fact Wolf-Alice thinks it makes her 'shine' could be a reference to women being more sucessful when married to a man, because of the patriarchal society and the difference in power and control. However, we see that at the end of the story it is not her who needs the Duke to live, it is the other way round; she saves his life. After discovering the reflection in the mirror was her 'shadow-self' instead of a 'playmate' Wolf-Alice finds the dress, and this is symbolic of her realisation she is not a wolf, and is in fact a girl. Finding the wedding dress that the Duke had tucked away (most probably in acceptance that his supernatural form would never be loved) she then begins to wear it in order to look more feminine. The reason she wears it now is because she realises she must conform to society, not to the extent of marriage, but to the extent of behaving and looking like a girl, as society cares about purity and being respectable, whereas animals do not. She then helps the duke acheive the same thing, as at the end he is visible in the mirror.

 

15. The fact Wolf-Alice saves the Duke could be interpreted in a feminist reading, as it shows that women do not have to be the posessions of men, they can save them; much like Jane and Rochester in Jane Eyre. I think Wolf-Alice has found the balance between wolf and human, which can be said is the perfect way to behave, due to her primal instinct to 'lick' the dirt from the Duke's face, as it is her wolfish character that saves him, not the rationality of humans. She has transformed into a more sociable and recognisable girl, as before she was only behaving like a wolf. Being around the Dukes house, the mirror and other objects shows us that in order to behave human, we must be surrounded by human objects and society. Carters use of duality calls into question what defines us as humans, as Wolf-Alice is human and inhuman at the same time. My feelings for her have shifted slightly, because of the newly found enlightenment surrounding her human form. Because she understands she has power over her 'shadow-self' she starts to behave more human, and mentally, we can see she is becoming more like us, more like a human instead of a supernatural creature, which makes me pity her less, as she is regaining her life.