The Bloody Chamber: Key Quotations (OCR A Level English Literature)

The Bloody Chamber: Key Quotations

One of the ways to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the text is through the effective use of quotations and references to the text. This means that summarising, paraphrasing, referencing single words and referencing plot events are all as valid as using direct quotations.

Overall, you should aim to secure a strong knowledge of the text, rather than memorising a list of pre-prepared quotations, as this will better enable you to respond to the question. It is the quality of your knowledge of the text that will enable you to select references effectively.

If you are going to revise quotations, the best way is to group them by character or theme. Below you will find definitions and analysis of the best quotations, arranged by the following key themes:

• Ownership

• Beauty and objectification

• Power

Ownership

The theme of ownership is significant in The Bloody Chamber, The Tiger’s Bride and The Courtship of Mr Lyon, and Carter explores the idea of ownership in various ways, often within the context of power dynamics, identity and sexuality.

Paired quotation:

“I know quite well that this child I've bought with a handful of coloured stones and the pelt of dead beasts won’t run away” – The narrator, The Bloody Chamber

“And I had to be content with that” – The narrator, The Bloody Chamber

Meaning and context

• The Marquis is leaving to go on a business trip and his new bride is upset that he is leaving during their honeymoon

• She tries to object to his leaving, but realises that she has no power over him and that he does not consider the honeymoon to be as important as she does

Analysis

• This highlights the power dynamic in the narrator’s relationship with her new husband:

  • She knows that she is powerless against him and that he will do what he wants

  • She also “had to be content” with the situation, which suggests that she does not have the freedom to truly express her feelings

• The narrator also mentions how she has been “bought” and, as a result, will not be able to run away as she now belongs to him:

  • Here it is evident that the narrator has no power or authority and that she is essentially owned by her husband

“My father said he loved me yet he staked his daughter on a hand of cards” – The narrator, The Tiger’s Bride

Meaning and context

• This is the beginning of the short story when the narrator tells the reader that, despite her father’s love for her, he used the narrator as an object that can be given away in a game of cards

Analysis

• The narrator, who is female, is traded from one man to another as if she were a commodity 

• This highlights the objectification of women and how their only value is through what a man is willing to pay

• It also emphasises how women are powerless to object to this and are reduced to the role of passive observers

• It also leads to the reader questioning whether her father truly loved his daughter

“And such a one she felt herself to be, Miss Lamb, spotless, sacrificial” – The narrator, The Courtship of Mr Lyon

Meaning and context

• Beauty is made to have dinner with the Beast in order to help her father

• Beauty is sitting opposite the Beast and is finding his presence and his physical appearance overwhelming and suffocating

• However, she is only there because she wishes to help her father

Analysis

• Beauty recognises that she is powerless and potentially in danger in the Beast’s presence

• She likens herself to be a sacrificial lamb who has been sent to the slaughter in order to help her father

• The use of the word “spotless” suggests that she is seen as pure and untainted, which increases her value and her worth

• “Sacrificial” suggests that her father has used her in order to save himself

Beauty and objectification

In all three stories, women are objectified and their beauty is used by the male characters as either currency or for their own satisfaction. Carter’s exploration of beauty and objectification delves into the complexities of how society treats women by offering a subversive and critical perspective.

“When I saw him look at me with lust, I dropped my eyes but, in glancing away from him, I caught sight of myself in the mirror” – The narrator, The Bloody Chamber

Meaning and context

• The narrator notices the Marquis staring at her in a lustful way and realises that her new husband finds her attractive

• She is intimidated by his stare and looks away from him

Analysis

• It is evident here that the Marquis is looking at the young narrator as a sexual object

• This could represent the idea of the male gaze and the narrator’s realisation that she is an object of desire

• When she sees her reflection in the mirror, this could suggest that the narrator is finally able to see what the Marquis sees and so she realises that her innocence may well be corrupted

“My master’s sole desire is to see the pretty young lady unclothed nude without her dress … after which she will be returned to her father with bankers’ orders … and also a number of fine presents” – The Valet, The Tiger’s Bride

Meaning and context

• The narrator has just been taken to the Beast’s room 

• The valet has just informed the narrator that the Beast wants to see her naked in return for money and gifts

Analysis

• This moment reinforces the idea that the narrator, who is a female, is merely seen as a possession and an object of desire 

• It also highlights, from a feminist perspective, that men are able to exert their power and force, especially if they have money, in order to satisfy the male gaze

• The use of the word “returned” also suggests that the narrator does not have control over her own fate and that she has nothing more to offer than her body

• When the Beast is satisfied, the narrator will be “returned” to her father

“For she knew with a pang of dread, as soon as he spoke, that it would be so and her visit to the Beast must be … the price of her father’s good fortune” – The narrator, The Courtship of Mr Lyon

Meaning and context

• Beauty realises that, in order to save her father, she must visit the Beast

• She understands what she must do as a dutiful daughter for her father, even if it frightens her

Analysis

• It is evident here that Beauty, despite her reservations, feels a sense of obligation and duty towards her father

• This highlights how Beauty’s purpose, as a female, is to serve the male figurehead, which is a reflection of restrictive gender roles

• She recognises that her father’s fortune and future depend on her success with the Beast and that, more significantly, she has no choice

Power

Carter explores the theme of power through the lens of gender, sexuality, transformation and Gothic symbolism. Carter’s use of power is complex and often subversive, challenging traditional gender roles and power dynamics. Her stories examine the ways in which power is exerted, abused and resisted.

“The king, aghast, witnesses the revolt of his pawns” – The narrator, The Bloody Chamber

Meaning and context

• The Marquis hesitated in beheading the narrator and, as a result, the narrator runs to the entrance of the castle to help her saviour enter

• The Marquis, as a result, is shocked as his plan has been foiled

Analysis

• Carter subverts traditional gender roles by empowering the female narrator to run to her salvation and disobey her husband

• By doing this, she has taken the power away from the Marquis, who is the traditional head of the household and “king” of his castle

• It is also worth noting that the narrator’s saviour is not a prince or a strong male character, but her mother, who is also presented as strong and fierce

• Once again, Carter has subverted gender roles and empowered women

“This leonine apparition shook Beauty’s father until his teeth rattled and then dropped him sprawling on his knees…” – The narrator, The Courtship of Mr Lyon

Meaning and context

• Beauty’s father has just enjoyed the Beast’s generosity in his castle, without actually meeting the host

• As he leaves the castle, he plucks a single white rose from the Beast’s garden for his daughter, Beauty

• This enrages the Beast and causes him to confront Beauty’s father

Analysis

• There is a typically Gothic element here as the Beast is described as a supernatural “leonine apparition”. This ties into the idea of the unknown and supernatural, which instils fear into the father

• The Beast’s power is evident here as his presence is enough to overpower Beauty’s father

“How pleased I was to see I struck the Beast to the heart!” – The narrator, The Tiger’s Bride

Meaning and context

• The narrator has just been taken to the Beast’s room in the castle

• The Beast’s valet has just told Beauty that the Beast wishes to see her undressed

• The narrator’s response was not what the Beast expected:

  • Her aim was to humiliate him and she succeeds

Analysis

• It is evident here that the Beast’s request was an attempt to satisfy the male gaze

• However, we see a shift in power here as the narrator does not submit to the Beast’s will, but offers him a counter offer with the purpose of humiliating him

• As a result, the power shifts from the male to the female and Carter has successfully subverted gender roles