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Introduction

Author	Angela Carter
Language	English
Series	The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
Subject	Fiction
Genre	Gothic
Published	1997
Publisher	Victor Gollancz Ltd. 1979
Publication place	Great Britain

'The Snow Child' is a short story from Angela Carter's novel The Bloody Chamber, a collection of stories originally published in 1979. The Snow Child was inspired by the unpublished works of the Brothers Grimm, specifically a grisly adaptation of the traditional fairy-tale ''Snow White''. The story is about a beautiful young girl who is desired by a Count, and ultimately manifested into existence to satisfy his lust. It can be said that The Snow Child was written as a sexual allegory to explore Carter's feminist ideologies during the late 20th Century. The story is extremely open to interpretation, however contains overt messages surrounding female sexuality, sexism, inequality and the criticism of male heterosexuality. This idea is further discussed by Kimberly J. Lau in her book Erotic Infidelities (2014).

Plot Summary:

The story begins with a Count and Countess riding through a vast snowy plane, Carter uses a color scheme of white, black and red to create a dramatic, wintry scene. As they ride, the Count voices his wish for "a girl as white as snow," alongside other fantasies leading to the manifestation the Snow Child. The Countess immediately plots to be rid of the child due to envy over the attention she receives from the Count. The Count swaps clothing from his wife to the Snow Child, leaving his wife exposed and vulnerable. The Countess then requests that the child picks her a rose, which the Count approves. The Snow Child picks a rose for the Countess, pricks her finger on a rose, falls and dies. The Count proceeds to rape the dead girl, who disappears into a pile of physical objects in the snow, as if she never existed. His wife watches narrowly without protest, and the two ride on.

Angela Carter

Angela Carter was a former writer, living between May 7, 1940 - February 16, 1992. The British Library describes Carter as "one of the boldest and most original writers of the 20th century" as her work explores age old taboos and challenges ingrained injustices in society, particularly concerning the relationship between men and women in society. Her works are uniquely crafted to create shocking and provocative narratives, explosively conveying her ideologies in an unapologetic, modernized fashion.

Carter was born Angela Olive Stalker in Eastbourne, England. However, she spent most of her childhood in Yorkshire with her Grandma due to war bombings. Carter attended Bristol University in 1960 where she studied English, specifically medieval literature. Her first novel, Shadow Dance, was published in 1966, followed quickly by The Magic Toyshop (1977) and Several Perceptions (1978). Alongside her novels, Carter was also involved in the publication of many articles found in newspapers such as 'The Independant,' 'New Stateman' and 'The Guardian.' While creating her works, Carter also held offices in many renowned institutions such as Brown University and the University of Sheffield.

In her life, Carter was twice married, first to Paul Carter in 1960 and finally to Mark Pearce in 1977. She gave birth to one son with Mark Pearce, and the couple remained together until her death in 1992 as a result of lung cancer.

The Bloody Chamber

The Bloody Chamber (or The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories) is a collection of short fiction by English writer Angela Carter. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1979 by Gollancz and won the Cheltenham Festival Literary Prize. The stories share a theme of being closely based upon fairytales or folk tales. In this novel, Carter takes inspiration from these fairy tales, putting a grisly spin on the plot lines, rendering her stories shocking and provocative, conveying powerful messages through their twists and turns. Carter is described to be "both an analyst of fairy tales and their cultural implications and an improvisor," as she explores the strong impact of fairy tales in society, highlighting the fact that these traditional tales have the power to influence culture through their popularity and underlying messages. The improvisor aspect of this idea suggests that Carter uses these tales as a base for imaginative speculation, creating a fairy tale context to contrast the power and volume of her critical intentions.

The collection contains ten stories: "The Bloody Chamber", "The Courtship of Mr. Lyon", "The Tiger's Bride", "Puss-in-Boots", "The Erl-King", "The Snow Child", "The Lady of the House of Love", "The Werewolf", "The Company of Wolves" and "Wolf-Alice".

Feminism

Carter's The Snow Child was written and published in the late 20th century during Second-wave Feminism. During this period, (1963-1994) women were fighting for stronger rights, societal status and respect as equals in society, challenging the traditional outlook of women as the inferior sex. This historical event is something that Carter embraces throughout her works through feminist messages hidden beneath allegories and metaphors of a fairy-tale context. In The Snow Child specifically, Carter explores the power of the Count as a figure of masculinity, presenting him as a dominant force over the women with the power to manipulate his environment at will. This technique alongside many others amplifies traditional gender roles and stereotyping to draw light to the reality of these issues in society. Carter states that her intentions were "not to do versions...but to extract the latent content from the traditional stories." This explains that she wished to manipulate the plot of well-known folk-tale in order to draw out the messages that are hidden beneath the story lines, reinforcing her status as a late 20th century feminist writer as these messages often link back to the relationship between the sexes.

''Carter shows how women are just seen as objects for men whenever they are wanted or needed. This is seen when ‘the furs sprang off the countess’s shoulders and twined round the naked snow child’s body'. This portrays the idea of male dominance of clothing and unclothing to their desire. Within moments the innocent young girl was undressed, Carter personifies the clothing by making it seem magical as though the count used special powers to get what he wanted, the naked young girl. There is also an implication that neither the Countess nor the Snow Child have the control which the Count possesses.''

''By the Snow Child pricking herself on the ‘rose’ shows her innocence. The blood that comes from her finger can be a symbol of her losing her virginity to the duke. Carter describes the blood as being ‘like a fox’s kill on the snow’ the use of simile emphasizes how much the child bled. In addition, the rose is a symbol of femininity which is what essentially killed the Snow Child. Carter is showing that being a female comes with suffering with or without social privilege.''

Society

19th century nude photograph-men desire

The Snow Child is set in the 18th and 19th centuries when women did not hold any societal status and were completely powerless. Women did not work and were expected to exist as beautiful objects of femininity and sexualization, standing behind the men as the inferior sex. This can be seen through the relationship between the Count and the Countess in The Snow Child as the Count has the power to remove the Countess's clothing at will leaving her vulnerable and exposed to the elements. This reflects his dominance as a husband, critically demonstrating the typical marriage conventions of this era.

''As a feminist author Carter criticizes the position of women. Carter uses the theme of status and marriage to expose the true nature of patriarchal society. Carter herself was a feminist which influenced the way she wrote the story and the ideas involved in the story. The anthology was published in 1979 which was a time period where men had more power than women, which still happens today. Carter shows the control men have over men through the interactions the Count has with countess and the Snow Child.''

''The way in which the Snow Child died suggests that Carter wanted to emphasize on the fact that the young girl couldn’t live in a world of equality as a female. She would always be oppressed by the patriarchy and dominance of men... the Snow Child is a story that supports feminist’s viewpoints of women being conformed to the actions of men. They are made to accept that men have more power over them and there is not much they can do about it...''