Bettelheim

Fairy Tales and the Existential Predicament

1. How might Bettelheim's Ideas help us to understand fairy tales?

Betteleheim's interpretations of fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast suggests that the duality of characters, good and evil, beautiful and beastly creates a simplistic view of moral dilemmas for a child to understand. Fairy Tales are designed to deal with unconscious feelings, expressing them in a safe way that allows the child to comprehend and understand their own feelings. Bettelheim expresses the belief that fairy tales expose a child to the darker sides of life without damaging them and work to prepare them for later conflicts they may have in their psyche by training their imaginations through these tales.

2. How do Bettelheim's ideas help us to understand the purposes of the gothic?

The gothic and its link to romanticism revolves around the forbidden feelings that are ingrained in fairy tales. Bettelheim highlights the issue of duality in fairy tales, the omnipresence of evil and the simulacra of the typical characters all of which are concepts touched by the gothic genre and specifically Angela Carter. The outlines of morality are also important to both forms however in gothic the boundaries are more blurred.

3. Why do you think Angela Carter mixes the fairy tale and gothic genres?

The mix of Gothic and fairy tales allows Carter to subtlety expose the darker conventions of fairy tales by portraying them through the Gothic's warped morality. The mix, creating a sense of magical realism, creates new messages that reveal underlying truths in today's society. Specifically through the magically simularcra which plays on the playfulness of fairy tales but also the disturbing elements of the Gothic genre.   

Analysis of Angela Carter

1. Questions and Answers on the Text
 - Who is Paulina Palmer?
A feminist critic on contemporary women's writing.




2. 5 Sentences


1. Gender roles are challenged through psychic transformations to challenge ideological limitations proposed in society.
2. The simulacra of what we are stems from what society has created of us
3. Woman are warned about the consumption of marriage as something to fear as society believes a sexual liberation is damaging to femininity.
4. The masks hide both what we don't want others to see (the tiger) but what society doesn't want us to see.
5. By exposing men and women as beasts Carter prosposes androgyny


5 Words
- Transformations
- Simulacra
- Femininity
- Masks
- Beasts


Masks imposed by society hide the true nature of humans as beasts.


3. 100 words


Original fairy tale characters and themes allow Carter to explore the interval, dark desires and fears of humans. Female narrators transcend the accepted social view by transforming and highlighting the dominance of patriarchy and social conformity. The polarities created her (man/woman) and those used in fairy tales (good/bad) are questioned by the ambiguity of the characters who wear masks. The unsubtly of the masks exemplify what is hidden, exposing the simulacra of mankind. Carter plays on social fears, the female annihilation by men and narcissistic obsessions which the narrators overcome. It is the deconstruction of these ideas that exposes faults in society.