S3 poetry Coursework from Steve 26/5/09

Compare the way in which urban and rural lifestyles are presented in "Blessing" and "Night of the Scorpion" respectively.
The first thing you have to do here is write a brief introduction in which you establish that you know what the question is about. This is a comparison of two poems and the way in which they portray life. One is making use of an urban setting the other a rural one (i.e. in the countryside). You will need to establish that you know this in your introductions. Both poems show third world life and the trials, dangers and tribulations suffered by the locals. You could also point out that both poems go about their tasks in slightly different ways-though that they use certain tricks and techniques in common (i.e. imagery and figurative language).

So all in all you will be pointing out in your introduction that you will be examining the way in which the locals are presented, the ways in which religion and superstition are dealt with as well as any thematic issues are handled. You will also need to say you will examine any structural differences or similarities between the two poems.
One thing that you must be aware of is that when you compare you must also contrast (i.e. look at the differences between the poems as well as the similarities

Main body of the essay

You will need to look closely at/analyse each poem in this essay. It is probably best to compare the poems by breaking the essay down into sections-see belowI will list the key areas of comparison/contrast and then provide some notes and quotes for each section. Please try and remember that the very best essays are brave enough to provide their own opinions.1. The people in the two poems-we will be looking at the similarities and differences in the way they are presented2. Lifestyles-dangers and plus points3. Religion/superstition4. Structural differences between the poems-narrators/verse structure/rhyme/use of symbolism and figurative languageFor each of these sections I will be looking very closely at the poem itself and using the PQA system to make analytical points.
MAIN BODY OF THE ESSAYThe way the people are presented and the lifestyle they lead (This is the first issue to compare):
Blessing. The first thing to point out is that this poem is set in a slum on the outskirts of Mumbai (a huge Indian city with a population of around 17 million). Most of the urban city dwellers live in abject poverty and barely survive from day to day. Urban life is harsh and unremitting.The heat is emphasised straight away-"the skin cracks like a pod" These people are living in an environment where blazing heat is a constant. The use of the simile here hammers home the idea that the heat is almost a living thing. The people are suffering. "There is never enough water." Drought is a constant threat here-which we will see is a big contrast with the next poem where it is always raining (which ironically causes a different type of problem."The people can only "imagine water." Try to show some empathy here. How would you feel if you were in the same position? Water for them has almost become a mythical and divine substance. Their lives depend upon it yet it rarely falls. Even a tiny amount "..small splash, echo" makes a big difference to them.Fortune or fate/destiny is a theme of the poem. The "sudden rush" of the water is seen as a miraculous piece of good fortune. This ‘accident’ could be seen as saving the lives of the people. The water is seen as precious-it is described as "silver." However in being compared to a "roar of tongues" it also provokes a stampede among the people. Everyone is desperate to get his or her share.The multitude that live in the slums are emphasised (there are hundreds upon hundreds of people)-"every man woman and child for streets around" is affected. We get a sense of the lifestyle of these people. They are living in "huts" (what does this tell you about their standard of life) crammed in on top of each other. Hopefully in geography you will have studied slums and shanty towns so you will get and impression of what life is like here.
Again the sense of the poverty of the people is emphasised when we see what they use to catch the water. "pots..plastic buckets, frantic hands."
They are certainly not rich at all. The fact that they are described as "frantic" shows how desperate they are to get their hands on some water. This could well be the difference between life and death for them. The "naked" children again emphasises their lack of money and resources. The ending of the poem is ambiguous.
The water can be seen as something of a mixed blessing after all. It has been a "municipal pipe" that has burst. The water has come gushing out in one giant rush. While this means water for them all today-so much that the happy children can play and enjoy some fun in the "liquid sun" what will happen when it runs out? This may mean they have no water for the rest of the month-which could lead to worse problems in the long run. We can compare this ending later on with the ambiguous ending of Night of the Scorpion.
Night of the ScorpionRemember that we have to actively compare how the two poems deal with people and lifestyle.Point out that this poem is set in rural India-deep in the countryside. The big difference is that there are two distinct types of people being described in this poem-there are the rural peasants and the family of the poet (who are educated people who have moved from the country to the city).The peasants are poor like the slum dwellers. There are numerous quotes here that you can use to PQA. I will list a few of them below. So choose a few and analyse them to show how life is similarly harsh and that the people here seem to be living in a similar sort of poverty to their city dwelling cousins.
"mud baked walls"
"candles and lanterns."-no electricity
"insects and endless rain.-conditions are harsh.
Where the city people suffer from heat and drought, here they are bombarded with water and the flies and stinging insects that come with the rain.The presentation of the peasants is somewhat negative. They are described as a "swarm of flies" it is almost as if they are getting in the way of helping the mother. Again though the amount of people (as in the first poem) is emphasised-basically there are lots of them living in close proximity.You can point out the irony of the fact that whether it is too much rain or not enough the people suffer either way. Indeed it is the incessant (nice word for you which means endless or constant) rain that "had driven" the scorpion in from outside.
This poem is more about suffering. The mother who is bitten actively suffers in this poem where we see the people benefiting from the rain in the previous poem (you see what we are doing here-contrasting or to put it another way: answering the question). You can again pick out a few key lines to emphasise the misery of the mother."the poison moved in mother’s blood.""My mother twisted through and through, groaning on a mat." This key line can be actively contrasted with the happy children dancing in the rainfall of water from the pipe. Both poets use movement. One to convey happiness and joy the other to emphasise pain and suffering. This is a good A* type contrast of the imagery of the poems.

Religion/superstition: Blessing (this is the second area to compare and contrast).Water is presented as divine "the voice of a kindly god." To the people of the sum water is the source of life and you can see what the writer is trying to do in comparing it to a god. Water is indeed the answer to all of their prayers. So we see religion, as a theme being used-although it is a strange way to imagine religion. We would normally associate religion with a belief in some divine being. Here nature or more specifically water is the thing to be worshipped. Again we can contrast this with the more orthodox attitude to belief that we see in the second poem. Remember that we will be actively trying to compare and contrast as much as we can throughout the essay.The people are described as a "congregation" which is the way a group of worshippers in church are described.The water itself is described as a "blessing" almost as if it were a gift from heaven.The numerous references to brightness and light create a religious feeling. "Highlights..flashing lights." It is almost as if the arrival of the water was a miracle
Night of the Scorpion
The way religion and superstition is handled in this poem is much more conventional. Though there is a contrast between the villagers and the sceptical and educated father of the narrator.The people are primitive and superstitious-they chant to help the mother in her suffering "They buzzed the name of god a hundred times."They "clicked their tongues" to ward of the spell of the scorpions poison, a thing they associate with the devil-"the evil one." They are a primitive people who believe in charms and spells as an aid against the devil.They believe in karma-a Hindu"idea about rebirth and redemption. They believe that the suffering the mother is going through will "burn away" the sins of her "previous birth."
This is a very complex religious idea. All you need to do is show that the people have a simple religious belief in God/rebirth and karma.
This is a more conventional religious belief than the portrayal of the water as divine in the first poem.Even the educated father of the poet who is described as a "sceptic, rationalist" turns to superstition and belief in his desperation and worry about his wife. He tries "every curse and blessing" in an attempt to help his wife.
Religion in this poem is seen as a primitive force, something to be turned to in times of need. The religious feeling in the first poem was one of joy in nature rather than belief or faith in God or divine providence. Please try and put this point in your own words rather than simply lifting my words into your essay.There is even a holy man in this poem who "performs his rites" which is the most overtly religious act in either of the poems. In the first poem the religious imagery is subtle-the water is seen as a divine force. Here we see religion being used in a much more conventional sense-as a curative solution to the problems of life. "Incantations" and chants are used to try and help the mother.

The structures of the poems-how they are similar and different (the third comparison/contrast)You can deal with this section as a direct contrast/comparison in one large paragraph. You will need to point out that the poets approach their task of portraying urban and rural life in different ways.SimilaritiesBoth use figurative language-metaphors/similes etc-you have numerous quotes in this plan to refer to. Both also use symbolism. Water=life and joy a gift from god. The scorpion=evil and the devil. Water=a source of discomfort rather than life giving.Both deal with rain and water-yet they are presented in very different ways. Poem one water=divine/good. The second poem uses the "constant rain" as a motif and it is a negative one. It blights the life of the villagers making life more difficult.Both poems deal with the difficulties of life in poverty stricken IndiaBoth uses a number of poetic devices in common-especially the use of enjambment-which means that the lines run over to create a flowing feel to the poem.The endings of the poems are ambiguous. The burst pipe has brought joy but it may lead to greater hardship in the future.
At the end of the second poem when the "poison lost its sting" we do not know whether the mother has survived or not.Differences
The first contrast is that Night of the Scorpion is written in the first person (making it much more personal and immediate). We get a lot more personal feeling and viewpoint in the first poemThe tone of the second poem is much more factual and matter of fact than the first one. Also the feel of the second poem is much more negative and gloomy compared to the joy of the first poem. Try to give your opinion here.Blessing uses verses/stanzas where as the second poem is written in free verse.ConclusionSum up what you have done in your own words. Conclude by saying the poems are similar yet different they deal with Indian life in the city and country-yet they deal with the issues at times in quite different ways. Hopefully you will have been comparing and contrasting all the way through the essay.

Short Story analysis s4 from Steve

Some analytical notes on Into the Wind (short story collection).

Lemon Orchard

A very vividly descriptive story-setting/character described in detail. Examine the use of similes and figurative language.
Look especially at the way the leader of the racists is described-beautiful use of description. This passage is worth using when discussing a writers use of language.
Themes-racism/intolerance/cruelty.
The story has an ambiguous ending. Do you think the black man is going to survive?

Let them call it Jazz

Written in the first person.
Narrator-a lady from the Caribbean. Her patois
Drinks a lot of wine-she is alone/miserable. Her drinking gets her into trouble (28)-Do you feel sorry for her. Is it justice when she is sent to prison
Sings songs from her homeland-this allows her to retain here roots
Not eating (25)
Not good with money (25)
Victim of intolerance and racism-theme (27)-“must you stay? Can´t you go?”
She makes a number of character judgements on those she meets. Try to put yourself in her shoes. How would you feel if you had to suffer the treatment that she does?
Her life has been harsh-“I can’t bear the way I feel.” (29)

Police and authority figures in the story are presented in a harsh light (compare this with the similarly harsh way the policeman is presented in the Dahl story).

The big city seen as cold, lonely and heartless. London people are described as having “heart like stone.” (22)
Her initial landlord is presented negatively-drunk/he frightens her.

Mr Sims-“not at all like most English people.”
He shows her kindness.

Her room (23)-peeling paper/mushrooms growing/rats (24)/attitude of the neighbours (23/24)-they stare at her as if she is from outer space.
Though you must try and remember that the UK of the 1970´s would have been very unused to immigrants.

Her song-part of her heritage and identity (37). It can be taken from her and changed but that does not change who she is and where she comes from. A lot of these stories are about our identity/ heritage and sense of worth.

Dumb Martian

Slavery(theme)-though bizarrely Lellie parents are the ones who sell her(68)
Racism(theme)-"What, me! Me marry a mart!"

Duncan character analysis-greedy (68/9)
Mocking and cruel (79)
Violent-he hits Lellie (79)
Lacks intelligence and common sense (73) Look at the way he discards the advice given to him by the men who have worked on the stations previously. Overall the way he is presented is negative.
Lellie-small/fragile/seemingly dumb/surprises us all at the end.
She kills her husband because of what he did.
Silent
No interest in her physical appearance
Speech mocked by Duncan (79)
Beats him at chess-what does this say about Duncan’s intelligence and ability to plan ahead? (80)
Picks up things quickly-reading
Isolation is a major theme-compare with A Man Called Horse.
Foreshadowing “you never can tell with marts.” Hints like this let us know that something unexpected is eventually going to happen.

Justice (theme)-she punishes him for what he has done. This is a theme in many of the stories. But with almost all of the stories you have to think about whether or not what happens is true justice. The endings are often morally ambiguous.

Samphire

The author’s use of description and interjection-leads us to an understanding of the characters
The story is about the relationship between a man and his wife and what a person will do to fool themselves.
The presentation of the husband is unusual-not entirely sympathetic-he comes up with his own pet name. You cannot do this!
He has a very patriarchal outlook
He lives above his means (96)
He tries to lie to himself about the fact his wife clearly tried to kill him-this makes him something of a pathetic figure at the end of the story.

Feet

1st person narrator-we learn a lot about the girl telling the story-cheeky/quite judgemental (look at what she says about the teachers)/quite mocking/vain-she will not wear her glasses.
Girlish infatuation with Collier
Foreshadowing-“nobody looks at feet” (101/102)-there are lots of hints.
Sexism (theme)-Collier/even the attitude of the teacher to the fact the girl is umpiring.
Justice (theme)-like many of the other stories you have to think about this ending. Does Collier get what he deserves?
She revels in her triumph-saying “I am” when asked who is winning. However, it can be seen as a false victory as she has clearly ruined her chances of ever getting together with Collier
Human nature can be cruel and brutish-look at how Collier reacts when she starts tpo call the foot faults.

A woman on a Roof

Themes: Sexism (stan)
Self delusion (Tom)-compare this with the way the husband deludes himself in Samphire. Tom dreams up numerous ridiculous fantasies that will clearly never come true
Male pride/hypocrisy-Stanley
Objectification of women-seeing them as sexual objects rather than as people.
Heat-is used as a motif-it is both a catalyst for the action and symbolises the desires and feelings of the men.
Voyeurism-the men enjoy looking at the woman and taunting her-but are afraid to get too close.

The unnamed woman-why is she not given a name? She is every woman in some respects. The fact she is not given a name allows the writer to highlight that objectification/sexism are universal issues.
Does she revel in the attention?

The ending-harsh or some form of justice (you see that old theme returns once again)?

Choices (theme) we all have a choice how to behave.

A Man Called Horse

Themes-family/riches/choices
Narrator-treated as an animal (127).He gives up wealth and status to find himself in the wild.
Debases himself (127)
Clever-cannot afford to be angry (127)
He can leave his pride behind
Not frightened to employ violence and kill to improve his status in the tribe
shows kindness by staying with his mother in law at the end-though throughout the story displayed what could be described as a racisyt attitude-"you heathens, you savages."
The Crow-a simple life/family orientated/inverted racism (129)-look at how they treat the white man at first, he is at the bottom of the hierarchical pyramid/possessions are very important in Crow society
violent lifestyle at times-look at the fights with rival tribes
Their morals and rules are very different to white western society-look at how his brother in law has to give up his wife/look at the fact that his mother in law would have been abandoned by the tribe had he not offered to "adopt" her when all her other relative died. Also look at the way she mutilates herself as her family members die.
Themes-violence (horse kills a "sick man" in order to claim his horse and thus improve his status in the tribe/choices/language and communication/family/fate/home (what does the story actually say about what represents a home?)
The story is quite tragic at times-prett calf and his child die (fate/ a lack of true justice in the world?)

The ending-through hardship and self discovery we can become "the equal of any man on earth."

Hitch-Hiker

Narrator-social conscience (142)
Curious/nosy (143)
Easily persuaded-look how quickly he agrees to speed and break the law (144)
The Fingersmith-proud/positive and negative presentation-rat faced (142)
"..eyes..dark..quick..clever." (142)
He is a strangely moral thief-he refuses to steal from the poor
The story is filled with lessons about life-karma (do a good deed for someone else and it will come back around to rewrad you/get good at something and do it)

The policeman-the authority figure is presented in a bad light-dictatorial/enjoys throwing his weight around/cruel/ uncaring

Justice (theme)-is it fair that they escape punishment at the end of the story?

Flight

Here are some detailed analytical notes and questions on the story.
Introduction
This guide should help you study Flight. It should be useful to students from all parts of the world, though I have written it specifically to support students in England and Wales preparing for GCSE exams in English and English literature. It may also be helpful to the general reader who is interested in the stories of Doris Lessing.
Flight was published in 1957, in a collection of short stories entitled The Habit of Loving.
The author, Doris Lessing was born in 1919, in Khermanhah in Persia (now Iran). Her parents were British. At six years old, she moved to Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia), where she attended a girls' school. In 1949, she moved to London, where her first novel, The Grass is Singing, was published in 1950.
What happens in Flight?
An old man (unnamed) who keeps pigeons, worries about his granddaughter, Alice. He has seen his other granddaughters leave home, marry and grow up, and he is both possessive of Alice and jealous of Steven, her boyfriend. (He disapproves of Steven's appearance and his father's job.) The old man argues with Alice about her behaviour, and complains to his daughter, Alice's mother (Lucy).
At the start of the story the old man shuts up his favourite pigeon, rather than let it fly. But when Steven, the boyfriend, makes him a present of a new pigeon, he is more able to accept what is going to happen, and he lets his favourite go. The ending of the story is ambiguous (it has more than one possible meaning): Alice has tears on her face, as she stares at her grandfather. But we do not know if they are for him, for Steven, for herself or for some other cause. And we do not know if they are tears of joy or sadness or some other feelings.

The themes of this story
Is this a story about an old man who receives a present from his granddaughter's boyfriend? In one way, of course it is. But is this all? Or does this outward or surface narrative lead into another? Leaving home and becoming independent are things which most people face sooner or later. They can be alarming, but they are natural and almost inevitable.
Sometimes this kind of story is described in the phrase “rites of passage” - which fits narratives about growing up, moving on and life-changes. This should make it a very suitable story for young people preparing for exams: Alice's situation will be one that you face now or will face soon. How do you feel about this prospect? Is it scary, or exciting or both?

The characters in the story
This is a very short story, so it does not have fully developed characters as we might meet in a novel or one of Shakespeare's plays. Doris Lessing tells us only what we need to know (and perhaps misses lots of things we might like to know). So who are these characters?
The old man
The central character in the story has no name. Why might this be? Does it make him seem less of an individual, or perhaps make him seem more universal, like someone we might know? Or can you think of any other reason for his not being named?
We know that he is Alice's grandfather, and that he feels possessive towards her. We know also that he keeps pigeons. The story is told largely from his viewpoint and whatever it means, it is certainly in some way about his learning or accepting things about Alice.
Alice
Alice is the old man's granddaughter. She is a young woman but he still sees her as a child - or would like to do so. She looks young and sometimes acts in a carefree way, but mostly she has a serious and grown up wish to marry her boyfriend, and settle into a domestic routine.

Lucy
Lucy is the old man's daughter and Alice's mother. She is depicted as a grown up in her appearance ("square-fronted"), her actions (she looks after her father) and the way in which her father thinks of her (“that woman”). Her husband is absent (perhaps she is a widow or divorcee, but there is no evidence to tell the reader more, save that it is Lucy who gives Alice permission to marry). But we know that Lucy married at seventeen “and never regretted it”. She tries to reassure the old man about Alice. She has already agreed to her marrying Steven, and tells her father this in the story.
Steven
Steven is Alice's boyfriend. In the story we see him through the old man's eyes. The old man finds things wrong with him (his red complexion, his physical appearance and his father's job). The reader is not likely to share this disapproval. Lucy expects him to be as good a husband as her other three girls have. And he is thoughtful enough to give the old man a present of a pigeon.
The setting - time and place
Doris Lessing grew up in Zimbabwe, in southern Africa. Yet the setting of this story could almost be anywhere, except for a few clues. One is the wooden veranda at the front of the whitewashed house. Another, which is repeatedly mentioned, is the frangipani tree. (This species of tree takes its name from an Italian perfumier; the scent of the blossom supposedly resembles one of his perfumes.) But many details make the story seem almost English in its setting. Some of these are listed below. Can you think of others?
the valley, the earth, the trees;
the dovecote;
Lucy's sewing;
plates and cups of tea;
Steven's father's job - he is a “postmaster”
Perhaps more important is the time in which this story is set. Although the narrative seems quite modern in showing a young woman about to leave home, the attitudes of the grandfather are more traditional. He wants to keep his grandchild at home, and spoil her as his favourite. Although Alice will not give in to the old man's wishes, she still shows respect for him.

Doris Lessing's technique
Technique refers to the way an author writes - not what he or she says, but how it is said.
Body language - actions and gestures
This is a story in which attitudes appear often in actions. For example, when her grandfather shouts: “Hey!” Alice jumps. She is alarmed, but then becomes evasive, as we see when her “eyes veiled themselves”. She adopts a neutral voice and tosses her head, as if to shrug off his confrontational stance. When he thinks of Steven the old man's hands curl, like claws into his palm. When Steven gives the old man the present of a new pigeon both Alice and her boyfriend try to reassure the old man:
“They hung about him, affectionate, concerned…They took his arms and directed him…enclosing him, petting him...”
Here we find another reference to eyes - they are “lying happy eyes”, telling the old man that nothing will change, when he and they know this is false. At the end of the story Alice is “wide-eyed” while tears run down her face. Earlier it was the old man who was crying at the thought of losing her. What do her tears mean at the end of the story? Perhaps she knows that she really is to be married, and she, too, is now sad at the end of childhood.
When Lucy shades her eyes with her hand, she is genuinely interested in the Flight of the pigeons, but she has not let go of her domestic routine - her hand still holds her sewing. She waits on her father - “brought him a cup, set him a plate” but lets him know that she will not give in to his demands, when she takes up her sewing.
Dialogue
This story is dramatic. A lot of it is in the form of conversation. While Lucy is calm and reasonable, the old man and Alice quarrel like children. Note how the old man asks questions with the word “Hey” - “Waiting for Steven, hey?”and “Think you're old enough to go courting, hey?”. His threats are childish: “I'll tell your mother” and “I see you!”

Language
Doris Lessing uses repetition in the story to reinforce details of the scene (sunlight, the frangipani tree, the veranda, Lucy's sewing) or to identify people (“the postmaster's son” and “his daughter” or the “woman”).
There are also many references to people's bodies - to eyes, legs and hair. Is there a reason for this? Do they show us people as they really are (as we might see them if we were present)? Or do they show us people as the old man sees them? Is his noticing Alice's “long bare legs” a bit disturbing - we perhaps think he should not see her in such a way.
Comparisons are very important here. Many of them are to natural things. Alice's long legs are likened to the frangipani stems - "shining-brown" and fragrant. The old man's fingers curl like claws (an image which suggests his own pigeons). Later Alice and Steven tumble like puppies - they are not yet enjoying adult pleasure but their play is a preparation for what comes later.
Sometimes a single word tells us a great deal: when the old man talks of “courting” he reveals the gulf between himself and Alice. She is struck by the “old-fashioned phrase”.
Symbolism
This story is very obviously one where symbolism is important to our understanding. Alice is clearly likened to the favourite pigeon. The old man can keep the bird in, where he cannot control Alice. But when he receives the new pigeon, he is able to release the favourite: he accepts that shutting it in is not right. The gift also suggests that there may be some compensation for the old man in the new situation. But really he knows that nothing can make up for the loss of his last grandchild.
Attitudes
Attitudes in the text
In this story the attitudes we learn about most clearly are those of the old man - we see most things through his eyes. Doris Lessing gives us his view as the starting point or reference point. We can see Alice's and Lucy's not through narration or description - only in what they say to him. Steven's viewpoint is almost invisible. The only clue is his gift - but Alice may have encouraged him to give the present.
Attitudes behind the text
How far does the story show (or suggest) assumptions about the world that the author makes? Are we encouraged to see any character's view as being the "right" one to accept? This is a world where men and women seem to have clearly defined rôles - can you see evidence of this?
Attitudes in the reader
Can you find any evidence of what Doris Lessing assumes about her readers? This may appear in things she explains and things she doesn't explain. For a South African reader a frangipani tree is probably a common sight, but it may seem exotic to a European reader.
One way to check this is to make a list of things you did not at first understand, or which you had to ask about. If Doris Lessing wrote the story today or for a particular audience, what might she wish to change?

The author
If you write (or talk) about this story, try to be aware that it has an author. Suppose that the events in it had really happened. Why would Doris Lessing choose to relate the things she does, while missing out others?
For example, why is Steven almost written out of the story? In the real world, all these people would be equally important as human beings. So why are they not equal as fictional characters?
Does the story reflect a woman's view of the world, in your opinion? If you did not know, could you guess the sex of the writer? How?
Why does the author write so much about details of the natural world? Is this a story about nature for its own sake, or more about nature as a way of seeing human nature? Or is it something else?
How far does the author tell the reader how to interpret the story? How far does she leave us alone to judge for ourselves?

Comparisons
It is easy to make comparisons in the story. We are led to make comparisons between these things, among others:
the attitudes of the old man and Alice
the arguments of the old man and Lucy about Alice's marrying
the old man's ideas of his granddaughters before and after marriage
Alice and the favourite pigeon
sunlight and warmth at the start and dusk and cold at the end of the story
The old man's initial defiance and eventual acceptance of Steven's courtship of Alice
Can you think of any others? You can also, of course, compare this story with others that have a similar theme - stories about growing up, gaining independence and leaving home.

Implied meaning
Are there any things in the story that are not what they at first seem? Are there situations that are gradually revealed to be other than what first appears? For example, does the reader at first accept the old man's judgement of Steven, then learn what is wrong with it?
Do we foresee that the old man will accept the loss of Alice? How do you respond to the ending of the story, where the old man is smiling proudly at his new pigeon's Flight, while tears run down Alice's face.

Reading the text
Say what you think the story means in a literal sense and in terms of theme, character and setting. Look at details of imagery, language and symbolism.
Reading the author
Try to explain what, in your view, the author wants us to think at various points. In doing this you should refer to her narrative methods.
Reading your own reading
Be prepared briefly to explain your own understanding of the story, and how this changes while you are reading it for the first time, and also on subsequent readings, where you notice more details.


The Sniper

Themes-war/violence/family/choices
this is another tragic story-a family is destroyed through war
The sniper himself-resourceful, intelligent, brave, patient.
The ending-another twist in the tail (like The Hitch-Hiker)

Feminism and sexism in The Bloody Chamber S5 from Steve

SOME THOUGHTS ON HOW TO HANDLE ESSAYS ON FEMINISM OR MALE SEXISM/CHAUVINISM-this comes out of the lesson today and may prove useful should either of these topics arise tomorrow.

Feminism-fem⋅i⋅nism–noun
1.
The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.

2.
(Sometimes initial capital letter ) an organized movement for the attainment of such rights for women.

3.
Feminine character.
Carter uses language to develop her ideas on feminism. She has many of her characters espouse feminist ideals or themes through their actions/behaviour/attitude and viewpoint.

Issues that arise:

Objectification of women-almost all the stories
Subjugation of women-almost all the stories
The way society (especially a male dominated patriarchal society) treats women. Also how men and male society view women (objects/subservient (the Soubrette in Tiger’s Bride)/deferent/lacking in power or recourse to social justice or equality).
How women take power-through accepting their desires/animalistic/erotic/forceful side and combining it with their feminine qualities (Tiger’s Bride/Mr Lyon/Puss in Boots) or through supplanting men (Erl King).
Women as narrators empowers them.
The women espouse independent views-change and develop as the stories progress. They adapt show independence and change.
Female role models-the mother in the BC.
Does the Lady of the House of love espouse feminist views-dominant woman-though she needs blood (men) to survive.
Inversions-women seem to exist mainly as rivals to each other Snow Child/Puss in Boots/The Werewolf-the girl has to kill her grandmother to “prosper”-Carter is making a point about society. Some times the women have to be morally ambiguous to get to where they want to be.
Generally instead of supplanting men Carter espouses the idea that men and women living together in a mutually inclusive relationship of equals is the ideal/


Sexism/male society/pornographers/voyeurs/chauvinism

Carter points out the inequalities of society-it’s dominated by males/dynasticism/women kept down. Women have to work extra hard to get on.
List of male characters who display the above qualities to a greater or lesser extent:

Marquis (BC)-misogynistic/solitary/sexist/voyeur/pornographer
The Beast (T Bride)-wants to watch-though he needs the girl he wants to grow and change
The Count (Snow Child)-mounted/creates sex object/mistreats his women/incest-rape/look at the way the Countess is treated/the ultimate objectifier of women
The old miser (Puss)-lecherous/impotent/miserly/treats his wife as an object and a possession
Puss and his master (Puss)-lecherous as liquorice/libertines/forceful in sexual relationships/boots symbolise male desires/emotions and attitudes
As always try to focus on attitudes, viewpoints and values. Try to focus on a few stories and deal with them in detail. Remember women in a male world is a timeless literary theme.

The Crucible summary and analysis s4 from Steve

The Crucible
Arthur Miller

Context

Early in the year 1692, in the small Massachusetts village of Salem, a collection of girls fell ill, falling victim to hallucinations and seizures. In extremely religious Puritan New England, frightening or surprising occurrences were often attributed to the devil or his cohorts. The unfathomable sickness spurred fears of witchcraft, and it was not long before the girls, and then many other residents of Salem, began to accuse other villagers of consorting with devils and casting spells. Old grudges and jealousies spilled out into the open, fueling the atmosphere of hysteria. The Massachusetts government and judicial system, heavily influenced by religion, rolled into action. Within a few weeks, dozens of people were in jail on charges of witchcraft. By the time the fever had run its course, in late August 1692, nineteen people (and two dogs) had been convicted and hanged for witchcraft.

More than two centuries later, Arthur Miller was born in New York City on October 17, 1915. His career as a playwright began while he was a student at the University of Michigan. Several of his early works won prizes, and during his senior year, the Federal Theatre Project in Detroit performed one of his works. He produced his first great success, All My Sons, in 1947. Two years later, in 1949, Miller wrote Death of a Salesman, which won the Pulitzer Prize and transformed Miller into a national sensation. Many critics described Death of a Salesman as the first great American tragedy, and Miller gained an associated eminence as a man who understood the deep essence of the United States.

Drawing on research on the witch trials he had conducted while an undergraduate, Miller composed The Crucible in the early 1950s. Miller wrote the play during the brief ascendancy of Senator Joseph McCarthy, a demagogue whose vitriolic anti-Communism proved the spark needed to propel the United States into a dramatic and fractious anti-Communist fervor during these first tense years of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Led by McCarthy, special congressional committees conducted highly controversial investigations intended to root out Communist sympathizers in the United States. As with the alleged witches of Salem, suspected Communists were encouraged to confess and to identify other Red sympathizers as means of escaping punishment. The policy resulted in a whirlwind of accusations. As people began to realize that they might be condemned as Communists regardless of their innocence, many “cooperated,” attempting to save themselves through false confessions, creating the image that the United States was overrun with Communists and perpetuating the hysteria. The liberal entertainment industry, in which Miller worked, was one of the chief targets of these “witch hunts,” as their opponents termed them. Some cooperated; others, like Miller, refused to give in to questioning. Those who were revealed, falsely or legitimately, as Communists, and those who refused to incriminate their friends, saw their careers suffer, as they were blacklisted from potential jobs for many years afterward.

At the time of its first performance, in January of 1953, critics and cast alike perceived The Crucible as a direct attack on McCarthyism (the policy of sniffing out Communists). Its comparatively short run, compared with those of Miller's other works, was blamed on anti-Communist fervor. When Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused of spying for the Soviets and executed, the cast and audience of Miller's play observed a moment of silence. Still, there are difficulties with interpreting The Crucible as a strict allegorical treatment of 1950s McCarthyism. For one thing, there were, as far as one can tell, no actual witches or devil-worshipers in Salem. However, there were certainly Communists in 1950s America, and many of those who were lionized as victims of McCarthyism at the time, such as the Rosenbergs and Alger Hiss (a former State Department official), were later found to have been in the pay of the Soviet Union. Miller's Communist friends, then, were often less innocent than the victims of the Salem witch trials, like the stalwart Rebecca Nurse or the tragic John Proctor.

If Miller took unknowing liberties with the facts of his own era, he also played fast and loose with the historical record. The general outline of events in The Crucible corresponds to what happened in Salem of 1692, but Miller's characters are often composites. Furthermore, his central plot device—the affair between Abigail Williams and John Proctor—has no grounding in fact (Proctor was over sixty at the time of the trials, while Abigail was only eleven). Thus, Miller's decision to set sexual jealousy at the root of the hysteria constitutes a dramatic contrivance.

In an odd way, then, The Crucible is best read outside its historical context—not as a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, but as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance and hysteria can intersect and tear a community apart. In John Proctor, Miller gives the reader a marvelous tragic hero for any time—a flawed figure who finds his moral center just as everything is falling to pieces around him.
Analysis of Major Characters

John Proctor

In a sense, The Crucible has the structure of a classical tragedy, with John Proctor as the play's tragic hero. Honest, upright, and blunt-spoken, Proctor is a good man, but one with a secret, fatal flaw. His lust for Abigail Williams led to their affair (which occurs before the play begins), and created Abigail's jealousy of his wife, Elizabeth, which sets the entire witch hysteria in motion. Once the trials begin, Proctor realizes that he can stop Abigail's rampage through Salem but only if he confesses to his adultery. Such an admission would ruin his good name, and Proctor is, above all, a proud man who places great emphasis on his reputation. He eventually makes an attempt, through Mary Warren's testimony, to name Abigail as a fraud without revealing the crucial information. When this attempt fails, he finally bursts out with a confession, calling Abigail a “whore” and proclaiming his guilt publicly. Only then does he realize that it is too late, that matters have gone too far, and that not even the truth can break the powerful frenzy that he has allowed Abigail to whip up. Proctor's confession succeeds only in leading to his arrest and conviction as a witch, and though he lambastes the court and its proceedings, he is also aware of his terrible role in allowing this fervor to grow unchecked.
Proctor redeems himself and provides a final denunciation of the witch trials in his final act. Offered the opportunity to make a public confession of his guilt and live, he almost succumbs, even signing a written confession. His immense pride and fear of public opinion compelled him to withhold his adultery from the court, but by the end of the play he is more concerned with his personal integrity than his public reputation. He still wants to save his name, but for personal and religious, rather than public, reasons. Proctor's refusal to provide a false confession is a true religious and personal stand. Such a confession would dishonor his fellow prisoners, who are brave enough to die as testimony to the truth. Perhaps more relevantly, a false admission would also dishonor him, staining not just his public reputation, but also his soul. By refusing to give up his personal integrity Proctor implicitly proclaims his conviction that such integrity will bring him to heaven. He goes to the gallows redeemed for his earlier sins. As Elizabeth says to end the play, responding to Hale's plea that she convince Proctor to publicly confess: “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!”


Abigail Williams

Of the major characters, Abigail is the least complex. She is clearly the villain of the play, more so than Parris or Danforth: she tells lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town, and eventually sends nineteen innocent people to their deaths. Throughout the hysteria, Abigail's motivations never seem more complex than simple jealousy and a desire to have revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. The language of the play is almost Biblical, and Abigail seems like a Biblical character—a Jezebel figure, driven only by sexual desire and a lust for power. Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out a few background details that, though they don't mitigate Abigail's guilt, make her actions more understandable.

Abigail is an orphan and an unmarried girl; she thus occupies a low rung on the Puritan Salem social ladder (the only people below her are the slaves, like Tituba, and social outcasts). For young girls in Salem, the minister and the other male adults are God's earthly representatives, their authority derived from on high. The trials, then, in which the girls are allowed to act as though they have a direct connection to God, empower the previously powerless Abigail. Once shunned and scorned by the respectable townsfolk who had heard rumors of her affair with John Proctor, Abigail now finds that she has clout, and she takes full advantage of it. A mere accusation from one of Abigail's troop is enough to incarcerate and convict even the most well-respected inhabitant of Salem. Whereas others once reproached her for her adultery, she now has the opportunity to accuse them of the worst sin of all: devil-worship.


Reverend Hale

John Hale, the intellectual, naïve witch-hunter, enters the play in Act I when Parris summons him to examine his daughter, Betty. In an extended commentary on Hale in Act I, Miller describes him as “a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual. This is a beloved errand for him; on being called here to ascertain witchcraft he has felt the pride of the specialist whose unique knowledge has at last been publicly called for.” Hale enters in a flurry of activity, carrying large books and projecting an air of great knowledge. In the early going, he is the force behind the witch trials, probing for confessions and encouraging people to testify. Over the course of the play, however, he experiences a transformation, one more remarkable than that of any other character. Listening to John Proctor and Mary Warren, he becomes convinced that they, not Abigail, are telling the truth. In the climactic scene in the court in Act III, he throws his lot in with those opposing the witch trials. In tragic fashion, his about-face comes too late—the trials are no longer in his hands but rather in those of Danforth and the theocracy, which has no interest in seeing its proceedings exposed as a sham.

The failure of his attempts to turn the tide renders the once-confident Hale a broken man. As his belief in witchcraft falters, so does his faith in the law. In Act IV, it is he who counsels the accused witches to lie, to confess their supposed sins in order to save their own lives. In his change of heart and subsequent despair, Hale gains the audience's sympathy but not its respect, since he lacks the moral fiber of Rebecca Nurse or, as it turns out, John Proctor. Although Hale recognizes the evil of the witch trials, his response is not defiance but surrender. He insists that survival is the highest good, even if it means accommodating oneself to injustice—something that the truly heroic characters can never accept.
Act I: Opening scene to the entrance of John Proctor

Summary

The play is set in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692; the government is a theocracy—rule by God through religious officials. Hard work and church consume the majority of a Salem resident's time. Within the community, there are simmering disputes over land. Matters of boundaries and deeds are a source of constant, bitter disagreements.

As the play opens, Reverend Parris kneels in prayer in front of his daughter's bed. Ten-year-old Betty Parris lies in an unmoving, unresponsive state. Parris is a grim, stern man suffering from paranoia. He believes that the members of his congregation should not lift a finger during religious services without his permission. The rumor that Betty is the victim of witchcraft is running rampant in Salem, and a crowd has gathered in Parris's parlor. Parris has sent for Reverend John Hale of Beverly, an expert on witchcraft, to determine whether Betty is indeed bewitched. Parris berates his niece, Abigail Williams, because he discovered her, Betty, and several other girls dancing in the forest in the middle of the night with his slave, Tituba. Tituba was intoning unintelligible words and waving her arms over a fire, and Parris thought he spotted someone running naked through the trees.

Abigail denies that she and the girls engaged in witchcraft. She states that Betty merely fainted from shock when her father caught them dancing. Parris fears that his enemies will use the scandal to drive him out of his ministerial office. He asks Abigail if her name and reputation are truly unimpeachable. Elizabeth Proctor, a local woman who once employed Abigail at her home but subsequently fired her, has stopped attending church regularly. There are rumors that Elizabeth does not want to sit so close to a soiled woman. Abigail denies any wrongdoing and asserts that Elizabeth hates her because she would not work like a slave. Parris asks why no other family has hired Abigail if Elizabeth is a liar. Abigail insinuates that Parris is only worried about her employment status because he begrudges her upkeep.

Thomas Putnam and his wife enter the room. Putnam holds one of the play's many simmering grudges. His brother-in-law was a candidate for the Salem ministry, but a small faction thwarted his relative's aspirations. Mrs. Putnam reports that their own daughter, Ruth, is as listless as Betty, and she claims that someone saw Betty flying over a neighbor's barn.

Mrs. Putnam had seven babies that each died within a day of its birth. Convinced that someone used witchcraft to murder them, she sent Ruth to Tituba to contact the spirits of her dead children in order to discover the identity of the murderer. Parris berates Abigail anew and asserts that she and the girls were indeed practicing witchcraft. Putnam urges Parris to head off his enemies and promptly announce that he has discovered witchcraft. Mercy Lewis, the Putnams' servant, drops in and reports that Ruth seems better. Parris agrees to meet the crowd and lead them in a prayer, but he refuses to mention witchcraft until he gets Reverend Hale's opinion.

Once they are alone, Abigail updates Mercy on the current situation. Mary Warren, the servant for the Proctor household, enters the room in a breathless, nervous state. She frets that they will all be labeled witches before long. Betty sits up suddenly and cries for her mother, but her mother is dead and buried. Abigail tells the girls that she has told Parris everything about their activities in the woods, but Betty cries that Abigail did not tell Parris about drinking blood as a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife. Abigail strikes Betty across the face and warns the other girls to confess only that they danced and that Tituba conjured Ruth's dead sisters. She threatens to kill them if they breathe a word about the other things that they did. She shakes Betty, but Betty has returned to her unmoving, unresponsive state.

Analysis

The Crucible is a play about the intersection of private sins with paranoia, hysteria, and religious intolerance. The citizens of Arthur Miller's Salem of 1692 would consider the very concept of a private life heretical. The government of Salem, and of Massachusetts as a whole, is a theocracy, with the legal system based on the Christian Bible. Moral laws and state laws are one and the same; sin and the status of an individual's soul are public concerns. An individual's private life must conform to the moral laws, or the individual represents a threat to the public good.

Regulating the morality of citizens requires surveillance. For every inhabitant of Salem, there is a potential witness to the individual's private crimes. State officials patrol the township, requiring citizens to give an account of their activities. Free speech is not a protected right, and saying the wrong thing can easily land a citizen in jail. Most of the punishments, such as the stocks, whipping, and hangings, are public, with the punishment serving to shame the lawbreaker and remind the public that to disagree with the state's decisions is to disagree with God's will.

The Crucible introduces a community full of underlying personal grudges. Religion pervades every aspect of life, but it is a religion that lacks a ritual outlet to manage emotions such as anger, jealousy, or resentment. By 1692, Salem has become a fairly established community, removed from its days as an outpost on a hostile frontier. Many of the former dangers that united the community in its early years have lessened, while interpersonal feuds and grudges over property, religious offices, and sexual behavior have begun to simmer beneath the theocratic surface. These tensions, combined with the paranoia about supernatural forces, pervade the town's religious sensibility and provide the raw materials for the hysteria of the witch trials.

On the surface, Parris appears to be an anxious, worried father. However, if we pay close attention to his language, we find indications that he is mainly worried about his reputation, not the welfare of his daughter and their friends. He fears that Abigail, Betty, and the other girls were engaging in witchcraft when he caught them dancing, and his first concern is not the endangerment of their souls but the trouble that the scandal will cause him. It is possible—and likely, from his point of view—that members in the community would make use of a moral transgression to ruin him. Parris's anxiety about the insecurity of his office reveals the extent to which conflicts divide the Salem community. Not even those individuals who society believes are invested with God's will can control the whim of the populace.

The idea of guilt by association is central to the events in The Crucible, as it is one of the many ways in which the private, moral behavior of citizens can be regulated. An individual must fear that the sins of his or her friends and associates will taint his or her own name. Therefore, the individual is pressured to govern his or her private relationships according to public opinion and public law. To solidify one's good name, it is necessary to publicly condemn the wrongdoing of others. In this way, guilt by association also reinforces the publicization of private sins. Even before the play begins, Abigail's increasingly questionable reputation, in light of her unexplained firing by the upright Elizabeth Proctor, threatens her uncle Parris's tenuous hold on power and authority in the community. The allegations of witchcraft only render her an even greater threat to him.

Putnam, meanwhile, has his own set of grudges against his fellow Salemites. A rich man from an influential Salem family, he believes that his status grants him the right to worldly success. Yet he has been thwarted, both in his efforts to make his brother-in-law minister, and in his family life, where his children have all died in infancy. Putnam is well positioned to use the witch trials to express his feelings of persecution and undeserved failure, and to satisfy his need for revenge. His wife feels similarly wronged—like many Puritans, she is all too willing to blame the tragic deaths of her children on supernatural causes—and seeks similar retribution for what she perceives as the malevolent doings of
others.

Act I: The entrance of John Proctor to the entrance of Reverend Hale

Summary

I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons. . . .

John Proctor, a local farmer, enters Parris's house to join the girls. Proctor disdains hypocrisy, and many people resent him for exposing their foolishness. However, Proctor is uneasy with himself because he had conducted an extramarital affair with Abigail. His wife, Elizabeth, discovered the affair and promptly dismissed Abigail from her work at the Proctor home.
Proctor caustically reminds Mary Warren, who now works for him, that he forbade her to leave his house, and he threatens to whip her if she does not obey his rules. Mercy Lewis and Mary depart. Abigail declares that she waits for Proctor at night. Proctor angers her by replying that he made no promises to her during their affair. She retorts that he cannot claim that he has no feelings for her because she has seen him looking up at her window. He admits that he still harbors kind feelings for her but asserts that their relationship is over. Abigail mocks Proctor for bending to the will of his “cold, sniveling” wife's. Proctor threatens to give Abigail a whipping for insulting his wife. Abigail cries that Proctor put knowledge in her heart, and she declares that he cannot ask her to forget what she has learned—namely, that all of Salem operates on pretense and lies.

The crowd in the parlor sings a psalm. At the phrase “going up to Jesus,” Betty covers her ears and collapses into hysterics. Parris, Mercy, and the Putnams rush into the room. Mrs. Putnam concludes that Betty is bewitched and cannot hear the Lord's name without pain. Rebecca Nurse, an elderly woman, joins them. Her husband, Francis Nurse, is highly respected in Salem, and many people ask him to arbitrate their disputes. Over the years, he gradually bought up the 300 acres that he once rented, and some people resent his success. He and Thomas Putnam bitterly disputed a matter of land boundaries. Moreover, Francis belonged to the faction that prevented Putnam's brother-in-law from winning the Salem ministry. Giles Corey, a muscular, wiry eighty-three-year-old farmer, joins the crowd in the room as Rebecca stands over Betty. Betty gradually quiets in Rebecca's gentle presence. Rebecca assures everyone that Ruth and Betty are probably only suffering from a childish fit, derived from overstimulation.

Proctor asks if Parris consulted the legal authorities or called a town meeting before he asked Reverend Hale to uncover demons in Salem. Rebecca fears that a witch-hunt will spark even more disputes. Putnam demands that Parris have Hale search for signs of witchcraft. Proctor reminds Putnam that he cannot command Parris and states that Salem does not grant votes on the basis of wealth. Putnam retorts that Proctor should not worry about Salem's government because he does not attend church regularly like a good citizen. Proctor announces that he does not agree with Parris's emphasis on “hellfire and damnation” in his sermons.

Parris and Giles bicker over the question of whether Parris should be granted six pounds for firewood expenses. Parris claims that the six pounds are part of his salary and that his contract stipulates that the community provide him with firewood. Giles claims that Parris overstepped his boundaries in asking for the deed to his (Parris's) house. Parris replies that he does not want the community to be able to toss him out on a whim; his possession of the deed will make it more difficult for citizens to disobey the church.

Parris contends that Proctor does not have the right to defy his religious authority. He reminds Proctor that Salem is not a community of Quakers, and he advises Proctor to inform his “followers” of this fact. Parris declares that Proctor belongs to a faction in the church conspiring against him. Proctor shocks everyone when he says that he does not like Parris's kind of authority and would love to find and join this enemy faction.

Putnam and Proctor argue over the proper ownership of a piece of timberland where Proctor harvests his lumber. Putnam claims that his grandfather left the tract of land to him in his will. Proctor says that he purchased the land from Francis Nurse, adding that Putnam's grandfather had a habit of willing land that did not belong to him. Putnam, growing irate, threatens to sue Proctor.

Analysis

In Puritan Salem, young women such as Abigail, Mary, and Mercy are largely powerless until they get married. As a young, unmarried servant girl, Mary is expected to obey the will of her employer, Proctor, who can confine her to his home and even whip her for disobeying his orders.

Proctor, in his first appearance, is presented as a quick-witted, sharp-tongued man with a strong independent streak. These traits would seem to make him a good person to question the motives of those who cry witchcraft. However, his guilt over his affair with Abigail makes his position problematic because he is guilty of the very hypocrisy that he despises in others. Abigail, meanwhile, is clearly not over their affair. She accuses Proctor of “putting knowledge” in her heart. In one sense, Abigail accuses him of destroying her innocence by taking her virginity. In another sense, she also accuses him of showing her the extent to which hypocrisy governs social relations in Salem. Abigail's cynicism about her society reveals that she is well positioned to take advantage of the witch trials for personal gain as well as revenge. Her secret desire to remove Elizabeth Proctor from her path to John Proctor drives the hysteria that soon develops.

Proctor's inquiry as to whether Parris consulted anyone before seeking out Reverend Hale illustrates another constricting aspect of Salem society: the emphasis on public morality and the public good renders individual action suspect. Proctor's question subtly insinuates that Parris has personal, private, motives for calling Reverend Hale. He compounds the tension between the two by hinting that Parris's fire and brimstone sermons further the minister's individual interests by encouraging people to obey him, lest they risk going to hell.

Parris is one of the least appealing characters in the play. Suspicious and grasping, he has a strong attachment to the material side of life. It is obvious that his emphasis on hellfire and damnation is, at least in part, an attempt to coerce the congregation into giving him more material benefits out of guilt. Parris, Miller mentions in an aside to the audience, was once a merchant in Barbados. His commercialist zeal shows in the way he uses sin as a sort of currency to procure free firewood and free houses. He would have his congregation pay God for their sins, but he wants to collect on their debts himself.

Parris's desire to own the deed to his house is likewise telling. He explains his reasons in terms of the community's fickle attitude toward its ministers—in this, at least, he has a point. Before his arrival, the Putnams and the Nurses engaged in a bitter dispute over the choice of minister, a quarrel that offers ample evidence of a minister's vulnerability to political battles and personal grudges between families. However, Parris's claim that he wants only to ensure “obedience to the Church” is suspect, given that he reacts to disagreement with the Church's edicts as though it were a personal insult. His allegation that Proctor leads a church faction intent on bringing about his downfall reveals that Parris is fairly paranoid. This paranoia, coupled with his actual political vulnerability, primes him to take advantage of the witch trials to protect his personal interests.

Rebecca's insistence to Proctor that he not “break charity” with the minister suggests that there are few ways to express individual disagreements in Salem because doing so is considered immoral. Feelings of jealousy and resentment have no outlet other than the court, which, in theocratic Salem, is also an institution of religious authority. The entire community of Salem is thus ripe for the witch trials to become an outlet for the expression of economic, political, and personal grudges through the manipulation of religious and moral authority. The land dispute between Proctor and Putnam adds the final touch to the implication that the real issues in the witch trials have much more to do with intra-societal and interpersonal concerns than with supernatural manifestations of the devil's influence.
Act I: The entrance of Reverend Hale to the closing scene

Summary

I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!

Reverend Hale is an intellectual man, and he has studied witchcraft extensively. He arrives at Parris's home with a heavy load of books. Hale asks Proctor and Giles if they have afflicted children. Giles says that Proctor does not believe in witches. Proctor denies having stated an opinion on witches at all and leaves Hale to his work.

Parris relates the tale of finding the girls dancing in the forest at night, and Mrs. Putnam reports having sent her daughter to conjure the spirits of her dead children. She asks if losing seven children before they live a day is a natural occurrence. Hale consults his books while Rebecca announces that she is too old to sit in on the proceedings. Parris insists that they may find the source of all the community's troubles, but she leaves anyway.

Giles asks Hale what reading strange books means because he often finds his wife, Martha, reading books. The night before, he tried to pray but found that he could not succeed until Martha closed her book and left the house. (Giles has a bad reputation in Salem, and people generally blame him for thefts and random fires. He cares little for public opinion, and he only began attending church regularly after he married Martha. Giles does not mention that he only recently learned any prayers and that even small distractions cause him problems in reciting them.) Hale thoughtfully considers the information and concludes that they will have to discuss the matter later. Slightly taken aback, Giles states that he does not mean to say that his wife is a witch. He just wants to know what she reads and why she hides the books from him.

Hale questions Abigail about the dancing in the forest, but Abigail maintains that the dancing was not connected to witchcraft. Parris hesitantly adds that he saw a kettle in the grass when he caught the girls at their dancing. Abigail claims that it contained soup, but Parris insists that he saw something moving in it. Abigail says that a frog jumped in. Under severe questioning, she insists that she did not call the devil but that Tituba did. She denies drinking any of the brew in the kettle, but when the men bring Tituba to the room, Abigail points at her and announces that Tituba made her drink blood. Tituba tells Parris and Hale that Abigail begged her to conjure and concoct a charm.

Tituba insists that someone else is bewitching the children because the devil has many witches in his service. Hale counsels her to open herself to God's glory, and he asks if she has ever seen someone that she knows from Salem with the devil. Putnam suggests Sarah Good or Goody Osburn, two local outcasts. In a rising tide of religious exultation, Tituba says that she saw four people with the devil. She informs Parris that the devil told her many times to kill him in his sleep, but she refused even though the devil promised to grant her freedom and send her back to her native Barbados in return for her obedience. She recounts that the devil told her that he even had white people in his power and that he showed her Sarah Good and Goody Osburn. Mrs. Putnam declares that Tituba's story makes sense because Goody Osburn midwifed three of her ill-fated births. Abigail adds Bridget Bishop's name to the list of the accused. Betty rises from the bed and chants more names. The scene closes as Abigail and Betty, in feverish ecstasy, alternate in piling up names on the growing list. Hale calls for the marshal to bring irons to arrest the accused witches.

Analysis

In a theocracy, part of the state's role is policing belief. Therefore, there is a good deal of pressure on the average citizen to inform on the blasphemous speech of his or her neighbors in the name of Christian duty. Giles's claim to Hale that Proctor does not believe in witches does not necessarily arise out of a desire to do his Christian duty—he may only be making a joke. However, the very offhand nature of his statement indicates that reporting a neighbor's heretical words or thoughts is a deeply ingrained behavior in Salem
Rebecca, a figure of respectability and good sense, fears that an investigation into witchcraft will only increase division within the Salem community. Parris's declaration that a thorough investigation could get at the root of all the community's problems proves accurate, though not in the way that he foresees. The witch trials do bring out all of the community's problems, but in the worst possible way. The specter of witchcraft allows citizens to blame political failures, the deaths of children, and land squabbles on supernatural influences. No one has to accept individual responsibility for any of the conflicts that divide the community or confront any of his or her personal issues with other individuals because everyone can simply say, “The devil made me do it.”

Reverend Hale's reaction to Giles's story about Martha reveals the dangerous implications of a zealous witch-hunt. Ordinarily, reading books not related to the Bible would be considered an immoral use of one's time, but it certainly would not be interpreted as evidence of witchcraft. But with Hale present and the scent of witchcraft in the air, the slightest unorthodox behavior automatically makes someone suspect.

Abigail's reaction to the mounting pressure determines the way in which the rest of the witch trials will play out. Because she can no longer truly deny her involvement in witchcraft, she accepts her guilt but displaces it onto Tituba. She admits being involved in witchcraft but declares that Tituba forced her into it. Tituba's reaction to being accused follows Abigail's lead: she admits her guilt in a public setting and receives absolution and then completes her self-cleansing by passing her guilt on to others. In this manner, the admission of involvement with witchcraft functions like the ritual of confession.

The ritual of confession in the witch trials also allows the expression of sentiments that could not otherwise be verbalized in repressive Salem. By placing her own thoughts in the devil's mouth, Tituba can express her long-held aggression against the man who enslaves her. Moreover, she states that the devil tempted her by showing her some white people that he owned. By naming the devil as a slave owner, she subtly accuses Parris and other white citizens of doing the devil's work in condoning slavery. Tituba is normally a powerless figure; in the context of the witch trials, however, she gains a power and authority previously unknown to her. No one would have listened seriously to a word she had to say before, but she now has a position of authority from which to name the secret sins of other Salem residents. She uses that power and authority to make accusations that would have earned her a beating before. The girls—Abigail and Betty—follow the same pattern, empowering themselves through their allegedly religious hysteria.

Act II

Summary

John Proctor sits down to dinner with his wife, Elizabeth. Mary Warren, their servant, has gone to the witch trials, defying Elizabeth's order that she remain in the house. Fourteen people are now in jail. If these accused witches do not confess, they will be hanged. Whoever Abigail and her troop name as they go into hysterics is arrested for bewitching the girls.

Proctor can barely believe the craze, and he tells Elizabeth that Abigail had sworn her dancing had nothing to do with witchcraft. Elizabeth wants him to testify that the accusations are a sham. He says that he cannot prove his allegation because Abigail told him this information while they were alone in a room. Elizabeth loses all faith in her husband upon hearing that he and Abigail were alone together. Proctor demands that she stop judging him. He says that he feels as though his home is a courtroom, but Elizabeth responds that the real court is in his own heart.

When Mary Warren returns home, she gives Elizabeth a doll that she sewed in court, saying that it is a gift. She reports that thirty-nine people now stand accused. John and Mary argue over whether Mary can continue attending the trials. He threatens to whip her, and Mary declares that she saved Elizabeth's life that day. Elizabeth's name was apparently mentioned in the accusations (Mary will not name the accuser), but Mary spoke out in Elizabeth's defense. Proctor instructs Mary to go to bed, but she demands that he stop ordering her around. Elizabeth, meanwhile, is convinced that it was Abigail who accused her of witchcraft, in order to take her place in John's bed.

Hale visits the Proctors because he wants to speak with everyone whose name has been mentioned in connection with witchcraft. He has just visited Rebecca Nurse. Hale proceeds to ask questions about the Christian character of the Proctor home. He notes that the Proctors have not often attended church and that their youngest son is not yet baptized. Proctor explains that he does not like Parris's particular theology. Hale asks them to recite the Ten Commandments. Proctor obliges but forgets the commandment prohibiting adultery.

At Elizabeth's urging, Proctor informs Hale that Abigail told him that the children's sickness had nothing to do with witchcraft. Taken aback, Hale replies that many have already confessed. Proctor points out that they would have been hanged without a confession. Giles and Francis rush into Proctor's home, crying that their wives have been arrested. Rebecca is charged with the supernatural murders of Mrs. Putnam's babies. A man bought a pig from Martha Corey and it died not long afterward; he wanted his money back, but she refused, saying that he did not know how to care for a pig. Every pig he purchased thereafter died, and he accused her of bewitching him so that he would be incapable of keeping one alive.

Ezekiel Cheever and Herrick, the town marshal, arrive with a warrant for Elizabeth's arrest. Hale is surprised because, last he heard, Elizabeth was not charged with anything. Cheever asks if Elizabeth owns any dolls, and Elizabeth replies that she has not owned dolls since she was a girl. Cheever spies the doll Mary Warren gave her. He finds a needle inside it. Cheever relates that Abigail had a fit at dinner in Parris's house that evening. Parris found a needle in her abdomen, and Abigail accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. Elizabeth brings Mary downstairs. Mary informs the inquisitors that she made the doll while in court and stuck the needle in it herself.
As Elizabeth is led away, Proctor loses his temper and rips the warrant. He asks Hale why the accuser is always considered innocent. Hale appears less and less certain of the accusations of witchcraft. Proctor tells Mary that she has to testify in court that she made the doll and put the needle in it. Mary declares that Abigail will kill her if she does and that Abigail would only charge him with lechery. Proctor is shocked that Abigail told Mary about the affair, but he demands that she testify anyway. Mary cries hysterically that she cannot.

Analysis

Abigail and her troop have achieved an extremely unusual level of power and authority for young, unmarried girls in a Puritan community. They can destroy the lives of others with a mere accusation, and even the wealthy and influential are not safe. Mary Warren is so full of her newfound power that she feels able to defy Proctor's assumption of authority over her. She invokes her own power as an official of the court, a power that Proctor cannot easily deny.

Proctor's sense of guilt begins to eat away at him. He knows that he can bring down Abigail and end her reign of terror, but he fears for his good name if his hidden sin of adultery is revealed. The pressing knowledge of his own guilt makes him feel judged, but Elizabeth is correct when she points out that the judge who pursues him so mercilessly is himself. Proctor has a great loathing for hypocrisy, and, here, he judges his own hypocrisy no less harshly than that of others.

Proctor's intense dilemma over whether to expose his own sin to bring down Abigail is complicated by Hale's decision to visit everyone whose name is even remotely associated with the accusations of witchcraft. Hale wants to determine the character of each accused individual by measuring it against Christian standards. His invasion of the home space in the name of God reveals the essential nature of the trials—namely, to root out hidden sins and expose them. Any small deviation from doctrine is reason for suspicion. Proctor tries to prove the upright character of his home by reciting the Ten Commandments. In forgetting to name adultery, however, just as he “forgot” it during his affair with Abigail, he not only exposes the deficiency of his Christian morality but also suggests the possibility that his entire household has succumbed to the evil influence of the devil and witchcraft.

When Proctor asks indignantly why the accusers are always automatically innocent, he comments upon the essential attractiveness of taking the side of the accusers. Many of the accusations have come through the ritual confession of guilt—one confesses guilt and then proves one's “innocence” by accusing others. The accusing side enjoys a privileged position of moral virtue from this standpoint. Proctor laments the lack of hard evidence, but, of course (as Danforth will later point out), in supernatural crimes, the standards of evidence are not as hard and fast. The only “proof” is the word of the alleged victims of witchcraft. Thus, to deny these victims' charges is almost a denial of the existence of witchcraft itself—quite a heretical claim. Therefore, those who take the side of the accusers can enjoy the self-justifying mission of doing God's will in rooting out the devil's work, while those who challenge them are threatening the very foundations of Salem society.

Hale, meanwhile, is undergoing an internal crisis. He clearly enjoyed being called to Salem because it made him feel like an expert. His pleasure in the trials comes from his privileged position of authority with respect to defining the guilty and the innocent. However, his surprise at hearing of Rebecca's arrest and the warrant for Elizabeth's arrest reveals that Hale is no longer in control of the proceedings. Power has passed into the hands of others, and as the craze spreads, Hale begins to doubt its essential justice.

Act III

Summary

A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.

Back in Salem, the court is in session. Giles interrupts the proceedings by shouting that Putnam is only making a grab for more land. He claims to have evidence to back up this assertion. Judge Hathorne, Deputy Governor Danforth, and the Reverends Hale and Parris join Giles and Francis in the vestry room to get to the bottom of the matter. Proctor and Mary Warren enter the room. Mary testifies that she and the other girls were only pretending to be afflicted by witchcraft. Judge Danforth, shocked, asks Proctor if he has told the village about Mary's claims. Parris declares that they all want to overthrow the court.
Danforth asks Proctor if he is attempting to undermine the court. Proctor assures him that he just wants to free his wife, but Cheever informs the judge that Proctor ripped up the warrant for Elizabeth's arrest. Danforth proceeds to question Proctor about his religious beliefs. He is particularly intrigued by the information, offered by Parris, that Proctor only attends church about once a month. Cheever adds that Proctor plows on Sunday, a serious offense in Salem.

Danforth and Hathorne inform Proctor that he need not worry about Elizabeth's imminent execution because she claims to be pregnant. She will not be hanged until after she delivers. Danforth asks if he will drop his condemnation of the court, but Proctor refuses. He submits a deposition signed by ninety-one land-owning farmers attesting to the good characters of Elizabeth, Martha, and Rebecca. Parris insists that they all be summoned for questioning because the deposition is an attack on the court. Hale asks why every defense is considered an attack on the court.

Putnam is led into the room to answer to an allegation by Giles that he prompted his daughter to accuse George Jacobs of witchcraft. Should Jacobs hang, he would forfeit his property, and Putnam is the only person in Salem with the money to purchase such a tract. Giles refuses to name the man who gave him the information because he does not want to open him to Putnam's vengeance. Danforth arrests Giles for contempt of court.

Danforth sends for Abigail and her troop of girls. Abigail denies Mary's testimony, as well as her explanation for the doll in the Proctor home. Mary maintains her assertion that the girls are only pretending. Hathorne asks her to pretend to faint for them. Mary says she cannot because she does not have “the sense of it” now. Under continued pressure, she falters and explains that she only thought she saw spirits. Danforth pressures Abigail to be truthful. Abigail shivers and the other girls follow suit. They accuse Mary of bewitching them with a cold wind.

Proctor leaps at Abigail and calls her a whore. He confesses his affair with her and explains that Elizabeth fired her when she discovered it. He claims that Abigail wants Elizabeth to hang so that she can take her place in his home. Danforth orders Abigail and Proctor to turn their backs, and he sends for Elizabeth, who is reputed by Proctor to be unfailingly honest. Danforth asks why she fired Abigail. Elizabeth glances at Proctor for a clue, but Danforth demands that she look only at him while she speaks. Elizabeth claims to have gotten the mistaken notion that Proctor fancied Abigail, so she lost her temper and fired the girl without just cause. As marshal, Herrick removes Elizabeth from the room. Proctor cries out that he confessed his sin, but it is too late for Elizabeth to change her story. Hale begs Danforth to reconsider, stating that Abigail has always struck him as false.
Abigail and the girls begin screaming that Mary is sending her spirit at them. Mary pleads with them to stop, but the girls repeat her words verbatim. The room erupts into a hectic frenzy of fear, excitement, and confusion. Mary seems to become infected with the hysteria of the other girls and starts screaming too. Proctor tries to touch her, but she dashes away from him, calling him the devil's man. She accuses him of consorting with the devil and pressuring her to join him in his evil ways. Danforth orders Proctor's arrest against Hale's vocal opposition. Hale denounces the proceedings and declares that he is quitting the court.

It is a whore's vengeance. . . .
Analysis

The desperate attempt by Giles, Proctor, and Francis to save their respective wives exposes the extent to which the trials have become about specific individuals and institutions struggling to maintain power and authority. Deputy Governor Danforth and Judge Hathorne do not want to admit publicly that they were deceived by a bunch of young women and girls, while Parris does not want the trials to end as a fraud because the scandal of having a lying daughter and niece would end his career in Salem. Predictably, the judge and the deputy governor react to Proctor's claims by accusing him of trying to undermine “the court,” which, in theocratic Salem, is tantamount to undermining God himself.

In order to dispose of Proctor's threat, Danforth and Hathorne exercise their power to invade his privacy. Although Proctor has not yet been formally accused of witchcraft, Danforth and Hathorne, like Hale earlier, question him about his Christian morals as though he were already on trial. They hope to find in his character even the slightest deviation from Christian doctrine because they would then be able to cast him as an enemy of religion. Once thus labeled, Proctor would have virtually no chance of anyone in God-fearing Salem intervening on his behalf.

The reaction of Danforth and Hathorne to the deposition signed by ninety-one land-owning citizens further demonstrates the power of the court to invade the private lives of citizens, and indicates the extent to which the court believes in guilt by association. In the witch trials, guilt need not be proven by hard evidence, and signing a deposition attesting to the good character of the accused is enough to put oneself under the same suspicion of guilt. Over the protests of Francis, Danforth states that the signers should have nothing to worry about if they are innocent. The desire for privacy becomes an automatic sign of guilt. Revealingly, Parris states that the goal of the trials is to find precisely what is not seen—in both the supernatural realm and the realm of people's private lives.

During a bout of hysteria such as the witch trials, authority and power fall to those who can avoid questioning while forcing others to speak. By virtue of their rank, Danforth and Hathorne have the authority to cast any questions put to them as an attack on the court. Similarly, Abigail responds to Proctor's charges of harlotry with a refusal to answer questions. Although Danforth's patience with her presumptuous manner is limited, the fact that a young girl can so indignantly refuse to answer a direct question from a court official indicates that she possesses an unusual level of authority for her age and gender.

Much of Act III has to do with determining who will define innocence and guilt. Proctor makes one desperate bid for this authority by finally overcoming his desire to protect his good name, exposing his own secret sin. He hopes to replace his wife's alleged guilt with his own guilt and bring down Abigail in the process. Unfortunately, he mistakes the proceedings for an actual search for the guilty, when, in fact, the proceedings are better described as a power struggle. He exposes his private life to scrutiny, hoping to gain some authority, but he does not realize that too many influential people have invested energy into the proceedings for him to be able to stop them now. Too many reputations are at stake, and Proctor's revelation comes too late to stop the avalanche.
Act IV–Epilogue

Summary: Act IV

How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!

That fall, Danforth and Hathorne visit a Salem jail to see Parris. Parris, worn and gaunt, greets them. They demand to know why Reverend Hale has returned to Salem. Parris assures them that Hale only wants to persuade the holdout prisoners to confess and save themselves from the gallows. He reports that Abigail and Mercy vanished from Salem after robbing him. Hale now appears, haggard and sorrowful. He begs the men to pardon the prisoners because the prisoners will not confess. Danforth replies that postponement or pardons will cast doubt not only on the guilt of the seven remaining prisoners but also on that of the twelve who have hanged already. Hale warns that the officials are courting rebellion. As a result of the trials, cows are wandering loose, crops are rotting in the fields, and orphans are wandering without supervision. Many homes have fallen into neglect because their owners were in jail or had to attend the proceedings. Everyone lives in fear of being accused of witchcraft, and there are rumors of revolt in nearby Andover.

Hale has not yet spoken to Proctor. Danforth hopes that Elizabeth can persuade him to confess. Elizabeth agrees to speak with Proctor, but she makes no promises. Everyone leaves the room to allow Elizabeth and Proctor privacy. Elizabeth tells Proctor that almost one hundred people have confessed to witchcraft. She relates that Giles was killed by being pressed to death by large stones, though he never pleaded guilty or not guilty to the charges against him. Had he denied the charges, the court would have hanged him, and he would have forfeited his property. He decided not to enter a plea, so that his farm would fall to his sons. In order to force him to enter a plea, the court tortured him on the press, but he continually refused, and the weight on his chest eventually became so great that it crushed him. His last words were “more weight.”

Proctor asks Elizabeth if she thinks that he should confess. He says that he does not hold out, like Rebecca and Martha, because of religious conviction. Rather, he does so out of spite because he wants his persecutors to feel the weight of guilt for seeing him hanged when they know he is innocent.

After wrestling with his conscience for a long time, Proctor agrees to confess. Hathorne and Danforth are overjoyed and Cheever grabs paper, pen, and ink to write the confession. Proctor asks why it has to be written. Danforth informs him that it will be hung on the church door.

The men bring Rebecca to witness Proctor's confession, hoping that she will follow his example. The sight of Rebecca shames Proctor. He offers his confession, and Danforth asks him if he ever saw Rebecca Nurse in the devil's company. Proctor states that he did not. Danforth reads the names of the condemned out loud and asks if he ever saw any of them with the devil. Proctor again replies in the negative. Danforth pressures him to name other guilty parties, but Proctor declares that he will speak only about his own sins.

Proctor hesitates to sign the confession, saying that it is enough that the men have witnessed him admitting his alleged crimes. Under pressure, he signs his name but snatches the sheet from Danforth. Danforth demands the confession as proof to the village of Proctor's witchcraft. Proctor refuses to allow him to nail the paper with his name on the church door and, after arguing with the magistrates, tears the confession in two and renounces it. Danforth calls for the marshal. Herrick leads the seven condemned prisoners, including Proctor, to the gallows. Hale and Parris plead with Elizabeth to remonstrate with Proctor, but she refuses to sway him from doing what he believes is just.

Summary: Epilogue
Not long afterward, Parris is voted out of office. He leaves Salem, never to be heard from again. Rumors have it that Abigail became a prostitute in Boston. Elizabeth remarries a few years after her husband's execution. In 1712, the excommunications of the condemned are retracted. The farms of the executed go fallow and remain vacant for years.

Analysis

Months have passed, and things are falling apart in Massachusetts, making Danforth and Hathorne increasingly insecure. They do not want to, and ultimately cannot, admit that they made a mistake in signing the death warrants of the nineteen convicted, so they hope for confessions from the remaining prisoners to insulate them from accusations of mistaken verdicts. Danforth cannot pardon the prisoners, despite Hale's pleas and his obvious doubts about their guilt, because he does not want to “cast doubt” on the justification of the hangings of the twelve previously condemned and on the sentence of hanging for the seven remaining prisoners. In the twisted logic of the court, it would not be “fair” to the twelve already hanged if the seven remaining prisoners were pardoned. Danforth prioritizes a bizarre, abstract notion of equality over the tangible reality of potential innocence.

Clearly, the most important issue for the officials of the court is the preservation of their reputations and the integrity of the court. As a theocratic institution, the court represents divine, as well as secular, justice. To admit to twelve mistaken hangings would be to question divine justice and the very foundations of the state and of human life. The integrity of the court would be shattered, and the reputations of court officials would fall with it. Danforth and Hathorne would rather preserve the appearance of justice than threaten the religious and political order of Salem.

Danforth and Hathorne's treatment of Proctor reveals an obsessive need to preserve the appearance of order and justify their actions as well as a hypocritical attitude about honesty. They want Proctor to sign a confession that admits his own status as a witch, testifies to the effect that he saw the other six prisoners in the company of the devil, and completely corroborates the court's findings. While they seek to take advantage of Proctor's reputation for honesty in order to support their claims of having conducted themselves justly, Danforth and Hathorne are wholly unwilling to believe Proctor when he says that he has conducted himself justly.
Proctor's refusal to take part in the ritual transfer of guilt that has dominated the play—the naming of other “witches”—separates him from the rest of the accused. His unwillingness to sign his name to the confession results in part from his desire not to dishonor his fellow prisoners' decisions to stand firm. More important, however, Proctor fixates on his name and on how it will be destroyed if he signs the confession. Proctor's desire to preserve his good name earlier keeps him from testifying against Abigail, leading to disastrous consequences. Now, however, he has finally come to a true understanding of what a good reputation means, and his defense of his name, in the form of not signing the confession, enables him to muster the courage to die heroically. His goodness and honesty, lost during his affair with Abigail, are recovered.

Some issues arising from The Bloody Chamber from Steve

Some final thought/opinions/analysis on the various stories. Please try to remember that the exam will be testing your understanding of the issues. The following notes are simply some general impressions from me-themes/characterisation issues and social or contextual points. However, they should help you to link the stories together and get a handle on what Carter is trying to do in this collection and what her characters represent and symbolise. These notes are only a checklist to go along with all the other work we have done. They do not provide an exhaustive list of issues-only a list (in no particular order of importance) of some of the key issues you will need to be conversant with. The only thing I haven’t added here are corroborating quotes-though as we have spent months looking at the text adding these should be well within your abilities. Read, think and reflect. Good luck with your last few days of revision.

Please try to keep in mind that it is likely you will be asked to focus on the attitudes and values of the characters and Carter herself. Try to refer back to these words when you are answering questions

Attitude-how you accept/face/deal with issues. Definition: manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, esp. of the mind:

Values-your personal opinions/morals. Definition: the ideals, customs, institutions, etc., of a society toward which the people of the group have an affective regard. These values may be positive, as cleanliness, freedom, or education, or negative, as cruelty, crime, or blasphemy.

Viewpoint-the way that you think and look at the world around you. Definition: an attitude of mind, or the circumstances of an individual that conduce to such an attitude, standpoint, perspective, position, stance, angle.

The Bloody Chamber
First person Narrator-unusual as it is female/young/the heroine of the story. This inverts the normal fairy tale ideal. Story is related in retrospect after she has grown and transformed through her ordeal. Which may explain some of the overly mature and exotic phrases she utilises throughout the story. Also the role of narrator empowers the girl. By leaving her nameless Carter universalises her triumph so that she represents all women.
Narrator­-young, naive, materialistic, interested in dynastic advancement
Marriage-critical presentation-money paramount. Heroine has a choice as to what she does. Is her mother complicit in this choice? Interesting as she married for love and indeed beggared herself. Marriage equated with exile-compare the mocking presentation of marriage in The importance of Being Earnest.
Marquis-libertine/animalistic/jaded/older/hedonistic
The story literally brims with foreshadowing-too many examples to list them all (the chocker/flowers/Saint Cecilia/Tristan and Isolde/the season in which the story is set)
The castle-liminal state-on the dividing line between land and sea/reality and unreality
Heroine is both attracted to and repulsed by the Marquis (see the first two beast stories to witness this issue replayed).
Subjugation of women key-she allows this throughout-the stripping/ voyeurism/ sexual acts. Even when she knows she is about to die she seems to be almost accepting of her fate. She is described as his “bargain” and he as her “purchaser.”
The issue of temptation rears its head-Eve links. Is curiosity good or bad or both?
Heroine-spoilt/materialistic at first-orders servants around/marries a man she does not love/chooses money over happiness. Though she does grow and develop.
Identity is important throughout the story-her attitudes and values change and develop. The chamber is the key to his identity.
The mother-a symbol of female empowerment and strength-her history her choices/she is the rescuer not some male Prince Charming.
Heroine’s changes-Bloody chamber brings torment/violence (or at least her the definite threat of such things)/growth/enlightenment and transformations. She gives away her wealth-moves back with her mother and the blind piano tuner. It can be said she has grown and imposed herself upon a patriarchal world. Her choice of male companion at the end is interesting, as he cannot see her-thus he cannot objectify her simply due to her beauty.
The mark of Cain at the end-her shame/a reminder that it is all to easy for women to allow themselves to be subjugated by men and male attitudes and society in general. She wears it as a badge to remind herself of what she almost lost.
Virginity-power in the story is located largely in sexual interactions. Her virginity is linked to the marquis’ desire for her and a realisation of her own “potential for corruption.” Her loss of virginity (the bridal bedroom being another Bloody Chamber ) is the first step on her road to enlightenment and transformation.
Again there is a great deal of symbolism in the story-by now you should be cool when it comes to analysing the role of mirrors/ the train/ art/ music/ pornography/flowers/ the seasons).
Bloody Chambers-the dungeon and the bedroom. Both see the heroine transformed/enlightened/changed. Both help provide her with wisdom and enlightenment. Bloody chamber can even refer to the womb-which leads us to the pain of childbirth as well as the pain we must inevitably go through on the road to knowledge and wisdom.
Happy ending-though it is again inverted-she rejects wealth and enters into a marriage of mutual affection and equality-What Carter would see as the ideal state of things.

Courtship of Mr Lyon

Third person narrator.
Tale of self discovery-like most of the stories the character arc witnesses development and enlightenment.
Inversion of the Beauty and the Beast story-she begins as penniless girl who the rich, world-weary beast forces to live in his house. She rapidly becomes the more adventurous, active and experienced character. Female empowerment again eh-marvellous! At the end he is wasting away and she has to rescue him.
City v county issue arises (a la Wilde) though here it is cleverly inverted. The county is innocent-but devoid of activity, here the Beast weakens and fades. The city is worldly and so full of superficiality that Beauty finds herself changing and hardening. Carter is using these long-term literary constructs as symbols to show that a person needs both the masculine (city) and feminine (country) to lead a real and fulfilled existence.
Choices-all Carter’s characters have them. Beauty chooses in the end to live with the beast, thus empowering herself. That she does so at first is done to protect her father (again the female becoming empowered through active decision making).
The Beast is another liminal creature-his otherworldliness condemns him to loneliness.

The Tiger’s Bride

Narrator (the female lead character) once again tells the story in retrospect.
She is objectified-“pearl…treasure.” Her father “loses” her in a card game. Woman as objects with no real position of their own-a common Carter theme.
The Soubrette (the artificial maid) hammers home the way patriarchal society views women. It is a social perception of the feminine-societies idea (well at least male society) of the perfect woman-compliant, loyal, servile with no mind of its own.
Appearances-the Beast-awesome yet terrifying/beautiful yet capable of inspiring revulsion. His mask is too perfect and revolts the narrator.
Carter’s attitude-the feminist agenda-both the narrator and the beats accept (eventually) their animal natures-to make their mark on a male world women must embrace their strength and desire (not like Portia in The Merchant of Venice who has to pretend to be a man to make her way in Renaissance Venice) in order to break free of the human world of social constructs and assumptions.
Symbolism again is used heavily-flowers especially. The white rose=virginity. The flower covered with her blood after she pricks her finger=her transformation.
The bizarre ending-the easiest way to look at this is to consider that the heroine here is claiming herself (she is choosing/she is claiming power). She is being reborn by accepting her fierce, animalistic and vital nature. Though like all the transformations in the collection this rebirth or coming into one’s selfhood is a painful task. Though at the end she has been transformed and is fully alive.

Puss in Boots

The most comic of the stories-filled with puns and bawdy humour-it almost has a feel of Chaucer or Bocaccio’s The Decameron about it-Look these two literary masterworks up on Wikipedia if you feel the urge-or ask me on Monday (if nothing else this will prove some of you have been reading and using this blog).
Uses a number of literary and fairy tale clichés-the imprisoned virgin in the tower. Though this time the tower is in the middle of a busy town-thus we cannot absolve society of blame in regard to the girl’s imprisonment
Once again this story deals with the subjugation and objectification of women.
Women are seen as property in this story-indeed there is a deep streak of chauvinism running through the narrative. Look at Puss’ behaviour/dress/attitudes to examine this issue fully. His boots in particular represent his “maleness.” He is still as chauvinistic at the end of the story at least his lovesick master can be said to have undergone some sort of transformation. Look at the way the cat “takes” what he wants from Tabby.
The old miser in the story is another literary staple-though here he represents the unfairness, impotent lechery. Greed and dominance of the very worst of male dominated society. Once again we see at the end of the story that equal, mutally beneficial relationships are seen as the ideal by Carter. Though it must be said that there is a good deal of moral ambiguity in this story.
Deceit, adultery and murder are necessary here for sexual mutuality (two people living together as equals) to overcome sexual subjugation.
It might be worth considering how the young woman found herself married to her old lecherous husband-was it a financial and dynastic marriage (much like the heroine of The Bloody Chamber?) Do you feel sympathy for her?

The Erl-King

Heroine complicit in her won endangerment-though unlike the narrator of the first story she is mature and nowhere near the naïve child the aforementioned girl is.
Presentation of nature-the Romantic poets (Wordsworth, Keats, Coleridge etc) viewed nature as enlightenment and life. Here unfettered nature is seen as representing confinement and death. Another Carter inversion that might be worth considering.
The Erl-king is at harmony with nature though he does represent both the beauty and wonder as well as the destructiveness and violent power of nature. This duality is well worth noting when you discuss him in the exam. Look at the descriptions of his house.
He subjugates and shapes women to his will like many of the other “male/beast” characters. What does this say about the way Carter views the world and the way it treats women? Does society reduces females to beautiful objects singing for the pleasure of their male overlords?
The Erl-king is one of the key liminal creatures-she even describes him as a “tender butcher.”
Once again there is the sense of the female character caught between erotic desire of the dominant male presence and the desire to be her own person and strive for independence. If many of the other stories represent Carter’s Martin Luther King viewpoint then this is her Malcolm X story. Carter has suggested previously that mutual sociability and a merging of ones male and female characteristics ( or put simply an acceptance of both animal and human in all of us) is necessary for happiness then here she shows that to replace the dominant male presence the heroine has to kill and supplant him. This is not “working together” (MLK) it is taking the power back from those who would deny it to you (Malcolm X). At the end of the story the fiddle strung with the Erl-king’s hair calls her “mother” highlighting the fact that she is the master (pun intended) at the end.

The Snow Child

This is one weird story though in a very simple sense it sums up Carter’s feminist viewpoint and highlights many of her key thematic issues regarding the objectification and subjugation of women.
The child is an object, purely and simply the product of her creator’s mind. The girl is helpless (another point about male dominated society and the place of women within it). He creates her and is only interested in her value as a sexual object.
The count can be seen, like the marquis, as a pornographer- he (clothed/on a horse) imagines and then creates a sexual image of a young woman that he can deflower and defile (in many ways the parallels with the treatment of the girl in the first story-“impaled”-are obvious.
The Countess is a subject to the Count’s whims as the girl yet she sees her as a rival. Q. Do women co-exist only as rivals?
Symbolism-the rose=a symbol of femininity, so the bite represents the suffering that always accompanies being female.The girl was never real in any concrete sense-her character arc is relatively easy to summarise- when she appears she is still a girl, when the rose pricks her and she bleeds she comes of age. Once she has fulfilled her purpose of becoming a sexual object she can die. Just as in the Bloody Chamber/Erl-King becoming the idealized male objectification of a woman is a death sentence. This is one heavy story though it does link in with many themes-objectification/subjugation/powerlessness/pornography-voyeurism/male wishes regaring the ideal women/societies attitudes etc. It is well worth reading a few times so as to be able to reference it, even if only briefly.