A feminist appropriation of misogynist and patriarchal texts: Angela Carter's The Sadeian Woman and The Bloody Chamber.

By Roxie Drayson, Year 3, Goldsmiths College, University of London

It seems incongruous that a self-avowed feminist concerned with the empowerment of women should find anything of value in the writings of the Marquis de ade! a misogynist li"ertine who openly advocated the punishment and control of women through sexual means# It is a challenge imone de Beauvoir undertoo$ in her essay Must We Burn Sade?! in which she attempted to demonstrate %the supreme value of his testimony&#' (i$e Beauvoir! ade understood the powers of mystification! and his writing also unmas$ed the fictions of "ourgeois gender constructs# )hen he writes that %every man wants to "e a tyrant when he fornicates&!* he reveals the reality of male desire and it is in this possi"ility that his importance for Beauvoir and other feminists partly lies# Beauvoir remar$s that for ade! %sexuality was not a "iological matter! "ut a social fact&#+ ,e did not "elieve that sexuality was intended only to satisfy the requirements of procreation! and argued! that under the prohi"itive social conditions of "ourgeois morality! which undermined individualism in favour of an a"stract repressive universality! sexual cruelty and violence could provide a su"versive political strategy through which to reesta"lish individuality and passion# Beauvoir comes to view him as a philosopher of freedom! suggesting that %it is as a moralist rather than as a poet that ade tries to shatter the prison of appearances&- "y ma$ing of %his sexuality an ethic&#. ,is wor$ therefore has an exemplary character to the extent that this ethic provides us with %insights of surprising depth into the relation of sexuality to social existence&#/ Beauvoir is a"le to appropriate ade for her own ends! weaving her interpretation of his wor$ into an implicit criticism of the conservative morality and hypocritical "ourgeois universalism that were employed to undermine female individualism in her own time#
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Beauvoir! imone de! Must We Burn Sade?, trans# "y Annette Michelson 01ew 2or$: 3rove 4ress! '5.+6 p# /-# I"id#! p# 7# I"id#! p# -+# I"id#! p# 8.# I"id#! p# '.# I"id#! p# +7#

9wenty-four years later! in The Sadeian Woman! Angela Carter similarly appropriates the writings of ade to further her own feminist pro:ect of 'demythologising' hegemonic and essentialist conceptions of female sexuality# (i$e Beauvoir! she also considers his pornography to "e unique in that he used it to reveal rather than conceal the actuality of sexual relations %in the context of an unfree society as the expression of pure tyranny&#8 9he source of Carter's interest in ade is the exposure of the important role that sexuality plays in maintaining the social status quo: %since he is not a religious man "ut a political man! he treats the facts of female sexuality not as a moral dilemma "ut as a political reality&#7 (i$e Beauvoir! she views him as a philosopher of freedom who %urged women to fuc$ as actively as they were a"le ;###< to fuc$ their way into history and in doing so change it&#5 ,owever! pu"lished during the early development of the antipornography de"ate that was to divide the feminist movement throughout the course of the next decade! contemporaneous and su"sequent feminist critical responses to The Sadeian Woman demonstrated a profound unease with the ethics of any appropriation of ade "y feminism! an imaginative leap deemed "y some impossi"le to ma$e# everal critics! such as usanne =appeler! have stated that Carter's use of ade's misogynist wor$s did little other than reinforce degrading patriarchal representations of women# ,er accusation that Carter is simply %playing in the literary sanctuary&'> implies a refusal to ac$nowledge that some pornographic literature may "e open to a su"versive re-appropriation which could challenge the political and social status quo# imilarly! 4atricia ?unc$er commented in relation to Carter's use of the traditional fairy tale in The Bloody Chamber %that the infernal trap inherent in the fairy tale! which fits the form to its purpose! to "e the carrier of ideology! proves too complex and pervasive to avoid# Carter is rewriting the tales within the strait-:ac$et of their original structures&''# It is indeed not coincidental that The Bloody Chamber was pu"lished in the same year as The Sadeian Woman! as Carter's revisionary fairy tales mar$ a similar attempt to demonstrate how inherited patriarchal discursive structures are not innately
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Carter! Angela! The Sadeian Woman 0(ondon: @irago! '5856! p# *-# I"id#! p# *8# I"id# =appeler! usanne! The Pornography of Representation 0Cam"ridge: 4olity! '57/6! p# '+-# ?unc$er! 4atricia! %Ae-imagining 9he Bairy 9ales: Angela Carter's Bloody Cham"ers&! Literature and istory, '>:' 0'57-6! pp# +-'- 0p# /6#

monolithic or resistant to appropriation# Carter connects the two texts herself "y arguing that ade's %strait:ac$et psychology relates his fiction directly to the "lac$ and white ethical world of fairy-tale and fa"le&#'* If her discussion of ade's wor$ stresses its fairy tale a"stractions! then her own revision of the classical fairy tale attempts to emphasise the pornographic nature of the representations of women that it circulated# Both texts! li$e Beauvoir's essay! highlight the connection that "inds sexual and socio-economic relations within a patriarchal society# In her fairytale revisions! Carter attempts! :ust as ade did in his "lac$ fairy-tales! to expose a reality that those tales sought to disguise: that female virginity operates as a to$en and guarantor of the ruling classes' property rights# Carter writes in The Sadeian Woman that %sexual relations "etween men and women always render explicit the nature of social relations in the society in which they ta$e place and if descri"ed explicitly will form a critique of those relations&#'+ According to the critic Betsey ,earne! the original eighteenth-century tale of 'Beauty and the Beast' "y Ceanne-Marie (e 4rince de Beaumont D upon which two of Carter's stories in The Bloody Chamber are "ased D can "e read as a proto-feminist text# Beaumont lived at a time when the archaic tradition of arranged marriage "ased on social position and wealth was "eing challenged "y the progressive concept of courtly love# In the classic pattern of courtship! Beauty is represented as having a choice#'- 9he Beast repeatedly as$s for her hand in marriage which she chooses to refuse on several occasions! suggesting that her final decision to wed is entirely voluntary and therefore indicative of romantic love# ,owever in truth! when Beaumont's Beauty first considers the possi"ility of marrying the Beast! her motivations are primarily those of practicality and gratitude for the generous gifts lavished on her: %EAm I not very wic$ed!F said she! Eto act so un$indly to Beast! that has studied! so much to please me in everythingG ;###< It is true! I do not feel the tenderness of affection for him! "ut I find I have the highest gratitude! esteem and friendshipH I will not ma$e him misera"le! were I to "e so ungrateful I should never forgive myselfF&#'. he is not a
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Carter! The Sadeian Woman, p# 7*# I"id#! p# *># ,earne! Betsy! Beauty and the Beast! "isions and Re#isions of an $ld Tale 0Chicago: Iniversity of Chicago 4ress! '5756 p# '/# Beaumont! Ceanne-Marie (e 4rince de! 'Beauty and the Beast'! 5 Canuary *>>8 Jhttp:KKwww#pitt#eduKLdashK"eauty#htmlM ;accessed '-K>.K*>'><! para .7 of /-#

woman in love! "ut someone calmly calculating her prospects and economic o"ligations# he can therefore "e read as a representation of female collusion within the patriarchal exchange system of women# Mimic$ing ade "y adopting the role of %moral pornographer& who %through the infinite modulations of the sexual act&'/ reveals %the historical fact of the economic dependence of women upon men&!'8 Carter uses her first revision of Beamont's 'Beauty and the Beast' to illustrate the system of material exchange upon which the original's romantic concept of marriage is in fact founded# In the ironically titled '9he Courtship of Mr (yon'! she highlights the construction of the female as a circulating o":ect of exchange "y allowing! in a sentence concerning the white rose that Beauty's father had promised to "uy her! a fleeting syntactic am"iguity a"out what is "eing "ought! Beauty or the rose: %not even enough money left over to "uy his Beauty! his-girl-child! his pet! the one white rose she said she wanted&#'7 9he white rose! signifying Beauty's status as a commodity! later "ecomes a to$en of exchange in a system of private ownership "etween the male Beast and Beauty's father# 9he Beast's estate "espea$s a materialism reserved for the male patriarch! it is %a place of privilege&#'5 Cust as Beauty's father is the proud owner of %his girl-child! his pet&!*> the Beast is similarly accustomed to "eing the possessor of "eautiful and valua"le o":ects# Carter highlights the inexora"ility of the male-defined economy that structures the original narrative in a sly aside after the Beast's quid pro quo proposal: %and what else was there to "e done&#*' Beauty is represented as aware of! yet powerless to contravene! her position in this system of sym"olic exchange: %she stayed and smiled! "ecause her father wanted her to do so ;###< Bor she $new with a pang of dread that her visit to the Beast must "e! on some magically reciprocal scale! the price of her father's good fortune&#** As a governess! Beaumont was viewed as a progressive thin$er in her day who had a
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Carter! The Sadeian Woman, p# '5# I"id#! p# /# Carter! Angela! The Bloody Chamber 0(ondon: @intage! *>>86 p# -+# I"id#! p# --# I"id#! p# -+# I"id#! p# -8# I"id#! p# -7#

%reforming Neal for "oth the status and the education of women in society&#*+ Originally pu"lished in a "oo$ that tells of a governess reciting different lessons and stories to a group of girls in her charge! 'Beauty and the Beast' was designed as a sex-specific tale intended to present a suita"le model for little girls# ,owever! as the fol$lorist Cac$ Pipes states! the story suggests %that the mar$ of "eauty for a female is to "e found in her su"mission! o"edience! humility! industry! and patience&#*- Beauty sacrifices her will to that of two men! her father and the Beast! and see$s for her self-effacement to "e praised as a virtuous and courageous act# Carter ironises this position "y permitting the derisive description D %Miss (am"! spotless! sacrificial&*. D to emanate from Beauty's own perspective# In her passive su"mission! Beauty is revealed to "e a copy of ade's Custine! a character whom Carter descri"ed as %a good woman according to the rules for women laid down "y men and her reward is rape! humiliation and incessant "eatings ;###< the living image of a fairy-tale princess&#*/ In '9he Courtship of Mr (yon'! Beauty expedites her own domination "y offering herself to the Beast in desperation! almost as if she fears not "eing ta$en otherwise: %if you'll have me! I'll never leave you&# Carter is evidently impatient with Beauty's acceptance of her su"ordinate status and commented that the original tale is %an advertisement for moral "lac$mail when the Beast says that he is dying "ecause of Beauty! the only morally correct thing for her to have said at that point would "e! E?ie! thenF&#*8 ,owever in her own revision! no such re"ellion occurs! instead we are left with Mr# (yon's self-regarding! complacent self-satisfaction at the appropriation of his latest acquisition: %do you $now! I thin$ I might "e a"le to manage a little "rea$fast today! Beauty! if you eat something with me&#*7 In an interview with Cohn ,affenden! Carter commented that %some of the stories in The Bloody Chamber are the result of furiously quarrelling with Bettelheim&!*5 specifically referring to

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Clancy! 4atricia! %A Brench )riter and Qducator in Qngland! Mme (e 4rince de Beaumont&! Studies on "oltaire and the %ighteenth Century *>' 0'57*6! pp# '5.-*>7 0p# '576# Pipes! Cac$! &airy Tales and The 'rt of Sub#ersion! The Classi(al )enre for Children and The Pro(ess of Ci#ili*ation 01ew 2or$: Aoutledge! *>>/6 p# ./# Carter! The Bloody Chamber, p# -7# Carter! The Sadeian Woman, p# 7># ,affenden! Cohn! +o#elists in ,nter#ie-! 0(ondon and 1ew 2or$: Methuen! '57.6 p# 7+# Carter! The Bloody Chamber, p# .'# ,affenden! p# 7+#

'Beauty and the Beast' as a tale of which her interpretation differed mar$edly from that of the psychoanalytic critic# )hile he viewed the fa"le as an allegory of the successful maturation of the girl into sexual adulthood! in '9he Courtship of Mr (yon'! she indicates that within patriarchal society autonomous female growth is in effect stunted# Bettelheim framed his reading of the story entirely within the Oedipal narrative! suggesting that Beauty! due to the incest ta"oo and her desire for her father! has not "een a"le to see the prince correctly and has imagined him as a "east# Once she is a"le successfully to sever her Oedipal attachment to her father! she can then see the 4rince as he is and has always "een#+> In her second revision of the tale! '9he 9iger's Bride'! Carter allows Beauty to escape from the Oedipal narrative! offering an alternative model for the development of female sexual desire# Carter reverses the child's willingness to sacrifice all for her "eloved father into the father's own willingness to sacrifice all! including his daughter and wife! to his puerile egotism and frenetic pleasure-see$ing# 9he role of women as o":ects of exchange in classic fairy tales! adum"rated in '9he Courtship of Mr (yon'! is further accented in '9he 9iger's Bride' as Beauty's father loses her to the Beast in a game of cards# Appropriating the personal voice! this Beauty avatar not only ta$es control of the narrative! and therefore the patriarchal narrative tradition of the fairy tale itself! "ut in o"serving her surroundings from a detached! acrimonious perspective is a"le to expose the predicament of women within the patriarchal system: %I watched with the furious cynicism peculiar to women whose circumstances force mutely to witness folly&#+' Inli$e her twin sister in '9he Courtship of Mr (yon'! she does not construct herself as a delicate %pearl&+* "ut as a stronger! more resilient %woman of honour&++ who refuses to play the role of victimiNed pawn# 9he white rose! which referred in the previous story to Beauty's status as cultural commodity! is disdainfully returned "y this Beauty to her father %all smeared with "lood&#+- )hen the Beast as$s her to undress! she refuses to discharge her father's de"t and su"mit to the adeian one-way pornographic gaNe
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Bettelheim! Bruno! The .ses of %n(hantment! The Meaning and ,mportan(e of &airy Tales, 0,armondsworth: 4enguin! '5876 pp# +>+-+>5# Carter! The Bloody Chamber, p# ./# I"id#! p# -5# I"id#! p# //# I"id#! p# /'#

which she "elieves will o":ectify and other her# ,owever! :ust as this Beauty does not represent the archetypal Beauty! this Beast does not represent the archetypal Beast# ,e is no longer a man with the appearance of a lion "ut a tiger wearing the crafted! %"eautiful&+. mas$ of a man! suggesting that identity is in itself an artefact# Beauty is fascinated "y his otherness! and she is soon a"le to perceive that "eneath the constructed faRade of his social appearance! they share an innate commonality: %we could "oast amongst us not one soul since all the "est religions in the world state categorically that not "easts nor women were equipped with souls&#+/ Both excluded from patriarchal society! their relationship can therefore escape androcentric structures in which sexual relations are governed "y male discourses of sexuality# It is the tiger who first undresses! revealing his animality "ehind his human mas$! allowing her! asserting herself! to do the same# Aather than othering its o":ect! the tiger's gaNe instead requires the engagement of another su":ect! ac$nowledges %no pact that is not reciprocal&#+8 Moved "y his restrained ferocity and non-differentiating gaNe! she exposes herself to him and in doing so finds her perception of the %fleshly nature of women&+7 transformed# Aeading The Bloody Chamber alongside The Sadeian Woman, 4atricia ?unc$er comments! in reference to '9he 9iger's Bride' ! that %all we are watching! "eautifully pac$aged and unveiled! is the ritual disro"ing of the willing victim of pornography&! "elieving that Carter has a"sor"ed ade's misogyny and can therefore have %no conception of women's sexuality as autonomous desire&#+5 9his interpretation undermines the agency that Beauty displays in refusing to allow the Beast to cover himself and in stripping herself# 1ot to do so would have confirmed the patriarchal view that she has no animal self to expose# In the story's final moments! the Beast lic$s away Beauty's s$in! revealing the "eautiful tiger "eneath# Instead of the male animalistic li"ido devouring the sexually unmotivated female! Beauty is in fact revealed to possess an autonomous sexual li"ido of her own# ,er transformation from o":ect of exchange into independent su":ect is solidified when she dispatches her mechanical twin! a cloc$-wor$ doll! "ac$ to her father: %I will dress her in my own
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I"id#! p# .7# I"id#! p# 8># I"id! p# 8'# I"id#! p# 8*# ?unc$er! p# 8#

clothes! wind her up! send her "ac$ to perform the part of my father's daughter&#-> (i$e ?unc$er! Avis (ewallen similarly suggests that the tale is trapped in %the adean framewor$! fuc$ or "e fuc$ed! "oth in the literal and in the metaphorical sense&#-' It is an interpretation rooted in (ewallen's misreading of Carter's critique of ade's dualistic CulietteKCustine paradigm in The Sadeian Woman. )hile (ewallen "elieves that %Carter is attempting to promote an active sexuality for women within adean "oundaries&!-* Carter's analysis of CulietteKCustine! the female li"ertine and the sacrificial victim! stresses that ultimately %Culiette's triumph is :ust as am"ivalent as Custine's disaster&H-+ she "elieves that %the adeian woman does not su"vert her society! except incidentally! as a storm trooper of the individual consciousness# he remains in the area of privilege created "y her class :ust as ade remains in the philosophic framewor$ of his time&#-- In '9he 9iger's Bride'! Beauty is not "ased on ade's Culiette# Moving from clothes to s$in to fur! she represents the multiplicity of female identity# )hereas Beaumont's story emphasises the potential danger of the polymorphousness latent in each individual and tries to castrate and channel it in accordance with the requirements of a fixed social structure! Carter cele"rates indeterminacy and liminality as a desira"le and excitingly perverse state# In her revisionary tale! Beauty and the Beast are not trapped within the adean fuc$ or "e fuc$ed mentality! they are su"verting it as neither can "e read as predator or victim# 9heir relationship is modelled on Carter's concept of reciprocal love in The Sadeian Woman which %will not admit of conqueror and conquered&#-. It is a model which Carter states ade explicitly controverted as he %preserves his ego from the singular confrontation with the o":ect of reciprocal desire which is! in itself! "oth passive o":ect and active su":ect# ;###< It is in this holy terror of love that we find! the source of all opposition to the emancipation of women&#-/ Beauvoir! similarly admonishes ade for %never for an instant losing

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Carter! The Bloody Chamber! p# /.# (ewallen! Avis! %)ayward 3irls But )ic$ed )omenG: Bemale exuality in Angela Carter's E9he Bloody Cham"e'rF& in ?ay! 3ary and Bloom! Clive 0eds#6! Perspe(ti#es on Pornography! Se/uality in &ilm and Literature 01ew 2or$: t Martin's! '5776! pp#'---'.7 0p#'-56# I"id#! p# '-/# Carter! The Sadeian Woman, p# 85# I"id#! p# '++# I"id#! p# '.'# I"id#! p# '-/ S p# '.>#

himself in his animal nature&!-8 and for refusing in his misogyny to ac$nowledge the way in which the am"iguity of his fleshed su":ectivity could open him reciprocally to the female other# Both women situate ade's solipsistic ethic of the erotic against their own feminist erotic! one which %allows one to grasp existence in one's self and the other! as "oth su":ectivity and passivity# 9he two partners merge in this am"iguous unityH each one is freed of his own presence and achieves immediate communication with the other&#-7 Carter's dual revisions of the traditional fairy tale 'Beauty and the Beast' act as intratextual companion pieces within The Bloody Chamber and exemplify the collection&s textual tactics as a whole# 9he first version deconstructs the original story "y exposing the contrived gender differences and positionalities which inform it# 9he second reconstructs "y permitting the feminine su":ect to exceed the pro:ected desire prohi"ited "y the patriarchal forces of the classic fairy tale that insist on restricting female sexuality to that of an economic commodity# Qmploying ade's li"eratory philosophy strategically! Carter exposes the patriarchal framewor$ that structures such narratives! and reformulates it into a feminist tale of erotic experience# As Marina )arner states: %Carter snatches out of the :aws of misogyny itself 'useful stories' for women# 9here she found ade a li"erating teacher of the male-female status quo and made him illuminate the far reaches of women's polymorphous desires# 9he effect is to lift Beauty ;###< out of the pastel nursery into the la"yrinth of female desire&#-5 By insisting on understanding ade! "y giving themselves over! through a method of critical sympathy! to the logic of his philosophy! while exposing his misogyny! "oth Beauvoir and Carter are a"le to ma$e ade wor$ for them#

Bibliography Beaumont! Ceanne-Marie (e 4rince de! 'Beauty and the Beast'! 5 Canuary *>>8 Jhttp:KKwww#pitt#eduKLdashK"eauty#htmlM ;accessed '-K>.K*>'><#

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Beauvoir! p# *'# I"id#! pp# *'-**# )arner! Marina in Carter! Angela 0ed#6! The Se(ond "irago Boo0 of &airy Tales 0(ondon: @irago! '55*6 p# x

Beauvoir! imone de! Must We Burn Sade?, trans# "y Annette Michelson 01ew 2or$: 3rove 4ress! '5.+6# Bettelheim! Bruno! The .ses of %n(hantment! The Meaning and ,mportan(e of &airy Tales 0,armondsworth: 4enguin! '5876# Carter! Angela! The Sadeian Woman 0(ondon: @irago! '5856# Carter! Angela! The Bloody Chamber 0(ondon: @intage! *>>86# Carter! Angela 0ed#6! The Se(ond "irago Boo0 of &airy Tales 0(ondon: @irago! '55*6# Clancy! 4atricia! %A Brench )riter and Qducator in Qngland! Mme (e 4rince de Beaumont&! Studies on "oltaire and the %ighteenth Century, *>' 0'57*6 pp# '5.-*>7# ?unc$er! 4atricia! %Ae-imagining 9he Bairy 9ales: Angela Carter's Bloody Cham"ers&! Literature and istory, '>:'! 0'57-6 pp# +-'-# ,affenden! Cohn! +o#elists in ,nter#ie- 0(ondon and 1ew 2or$: Methuen! '57.6# ,earne! Betsy! Beauty and the Beast! "isions and Re#isions of an $ld Tale 0Chicago: Iniversity of Chicago 4ress! '5756# =appeler! usanne! The Pornography of Representation 0Cam"ridge: 4olity! '57/6# (ewallen! Avis! %)ayward 3irls But )ic$ed )omenG: Bemale exuality in Angela Carter's E9he Bloody Cham"erF& in ?ay! 3ary and Bloom! Clive 0eds#6! Perspe(ti#es on Pornography! Se/uality in &ilm and Literature 01ew 2or$: t Martin's! '5776 pp# '---'.7# Pipes! Cac$! &airy Tales and The 'rt of Sub#ersion! The Classi(al )enre for Children and The Pro(ess of Ci#ili*ation 01ew 2or$: Aoutledge! *>>/6#