This paper is an exploration of the extent to which Carter's
The Bloody Chamber contributes to the task of "decolonising the
mind" by exposing the social constructs of femininity and of sexual
relations. In making explicit the symbols of pornography, marriage
and romantic love inherent in the tales, the false universals that
these three social institutions create are shown to be dehumanising,
producing polarized "types" of woman and man, who maintain
grossly unequal relationships. The author's pastiche technique
relates the world of sexual violence of the traditional tales to that of
contemporary society, with its rigid gender norms which are an
obstacle to a free, humane world. The Bloody Chamber thus
reflects Carter's search for the transformation both of society and of
literary forms.
