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Literature Analysis

F
Farhood Rashidi

This document provides an analysis of Angela Carter's short story "The Company of Wolves" from her 1979 collection The Bloody Chamber. The story uses magical realism and postmodern styles to explore themes of feminism during the Victorian era in England. It examines the unequal relationship between men and women through symbols like wolves representing men and their oppression of women. The story is set in a dark forest and village to depict the harsh social conditions facing women at the time. Through its use of symbols, figures of speech, and depiction of the cultural and political climate, the story critiques gender relations and asserts women's rights in line with feminist theory during this historical period in Britain.

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Farhood Rashidi Professor Padgett English 102 24 November 2015 Feminism in The Company of Wolves Angela Carters text titled The Company of Wolves, published in The Bloody Chamber an other stories novel in 1979 and filmed in 1984 as the same name directed by Neil Jordan. This story was made in the genre of fantasy-horror, which combines two fantasy and horror genres. The literatures location is London, England, the center of the British Postmodernist writers. This text is a short fiction and written in the Magic Realist and Postmodern style. The subject matter of this literature is a real image of jealousy and contrast between males and females, who contributed to the society in England, Europe, during the Vic- torian era between 1840 and 1900. Feminism is a theme of this story to show the Womens rights against men. Carter is one of the Feminist writers, who wrote the strong plot is based on Feminism. The plot of The Company of Wolves describes how to change a face of human to wolf, symbol of jealousy and violence; in other words, wolf is a symbol of the male who strive to replace the female and reach an absolute position as they expect. This story is set by the girl as a pratagonist, heroine, and wolves as the antihero characters and is located in the winter and cold forest as a dark location to display the dark society in the modern World and also, the grannys house; That means people who lived in Eu- rope had been changed during the Industrialization era and preferred a hunor over emotion and morality. Angela tries to show the elements of Feminism such as feminary anad female in this fiction. The style of The Company of Wolves is a Postmodern and Magic Realism. Pastiche is one of the characteristics of this text to show the blending of two or more Feminism tales such as the British and Gothic fiction, which combines the horror and romance stories. Another fact is a death of narrator (author) of this story. The reason is hearing just a single voice during the fiction to show the universality of human rights such as the womens rights. Carter uses the symbols of Feminism in this literature; for instance, sheep and goat are the symbols of the female and, on the otherside, wolf is a symbol of the masked male. The narrator says: There was a hunter once, near here, that trapped a wolf in a pit. This wolf had massa- cred the sheep and goats(1). Carter tends to be use Magic Realism to dramatize this fiction. This text ends Rashidi 1 by the magic element same as disappointment of the author and demonstrates the sleeping of woman between the paws of wolf. This emotional image of the ending of story seems to be a vivid and magical.
Carter is one of the Postmodern novelist, who utilizes the disorganized writing pattern. The pattern of The Company of Wolves is a classification of narration and dialogs in the differ- ent parts. Some of these dialogs are the rhetorical questions such as Whos there? (5) and some of them are the short answers such as A kiss (4). Also, some of these dialogs are the exclamation sentences such as What big teeth you have! (6), to better illustration of the characters reaction and Femisnist elements; however, Carter tries to clearly show the movement and Femisnist development during this story includes the old english words such as integument and prothalamion (6). Disorganization is an obvious written pattern of The Company of Wolves same as nonlinear structure of the story and flashback and flashfor- ward during this fiction. The opening statement of this fiction is: One beast and only one howls in the woods by night (1); whereas, the story ends by this paragraph: See! sweet and sound she sleep in gran- nys bed, between the paws of the tender wolf (6). As shown above, there isnt a logical order between the beginning and the ending of the fiction; in other words, this story breaks up on the grannys house and forest. Also, repetition is an obvious pattern of the story such as: The blizzard will die down and The blizzard died down (6). Angela uses some figures of speech to better display of the elements of Feminism. In terms of the figures of speech in The Company of Wolves, there is a paradox between the be- ginning and the ending of this story such as a contrast between howl of wolf (6) and paws of the tender wolf (6), means wolf seems to be a both peaceful and angry!. Another term is metaphor such as howls is derived by the scream of the men against the women or the image of weakness of the womens role in the modern society (1). Simile is an another figure of speech in this text such as At night the eyes of wolves shine like candle glames, yellowish, reddish (1), means the horrific face of men is similar to the face of wolf. Another interesting the figure of speech is hyperbole such as The wolfsong is the sound of the rending you will suffer, in itself a murdering (1), to show the exaggerated and horrifying song of the wolf, song of the man. Overall, the figures of speech help to create the imagery and cultural story. Carter asserts to show the cultural story with the Feminism background. The Company of Wolves is a great fiction to display the culture of England, generally, Europe in the historical movement. In the Victorian era, vast majority of the females was activated through the soci- ety; for instance, after the Industrial Revolution, women was working in the factories and offices. Most of those were labors and low-level employees, who worked under the hard conditions; Therefore, the females tended to be an activist against the unfair laws in England. Rashidi 2
Angela sinks in the basic principles of Feminist theory in this story. The theme of The Company of Wolves is Feminism. This theory explains the unequal relationship between men and women; in other words, Feminism is an ideology against the mans authority. During this story, the principles of Feminist theory such as inequality and oppressive law are viewed; for example, the narrator as a second person POV describes the unequal and dark condition and says: You are always in danger in the forest, where no people are (1). Oppressive law is an another principle of Feminism is used in this text same as the forest law. The narrator expresses: if you stray from the path for one instant, the wolves will eat you (1), means the danger movement of women in the lifetime. Carter combines both the social and political conditions in this fiction. The Company of Wolves describes the image of village in England correctly and sharply; for instance, the narrator says: The grave-eyed children of the sparse villages always carry knives with them when they go out to tend the little folks of goats (1). This sentence seems to be the vivid image of the village society in the Victorain era; however, this story expresses the tension and conflict between the males and females such as: Their knives are half as big as they are, the blades are sharpened daily (1). That means the young girls are ready to fight over men with the sharpen blades! obviously, the Feminist solution is ob- served, defence for the Wemens right. With The Company of Wolves, Angela focuses on the the Victorian era. The Victorian era started on 1840 and ended on 1900. During this era, most of the Moderinst elements such as the Factory and skyscape were built in the big cities; thus, the society of Europe and America had been changed and transmitted to the Modernism. In this era, most idealogies were founded such as Feminism and Socialism, which defines the principles of the modern society. Even though, Femi- nism is the historical and social movement to assert the female powers and Wemans rights. The narrator says: She closed the window on the wolves threnody and took off her scarlet shawl (5); means the main character fights over the wolves, symbol of the masked man, to reach out the principles of Feminist theory. In conclusion, Angela Carter combines the Magic Realism and Feminism in The Company of Wolves and tries to show the negative image of the British society. She challanges the psychological action and reaction between the males and females and also, an effect of technology and industrialization upon the human life. Jealousy, contrast, and defiance are the human attitude on Angelas belief. I believe this text is achived to demonstarte the culture and society of the Victorian era; Indeed, my opinion in relation to European society has been changed and attracted to the Feminism movement in the different time periods. Rashidi 3
Works Cited 1- Carter, Angela. The Company of Wolves. The Bloody Chamber an other stories. England: 1979. Print. 2- The Company of Wolves. Dir. Neil Jordan. Palace Productions, 1984. Film. UK. 3- The Company of Wolves, WIKIPEDIA, 11 Nov. 2015. Web. 6 May 2014. Rashidi 4

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Literature Analysis

  • 1. Farhood Rashidi Professor Padgett English 102 24 November 2015 Feminism in The Company of Wolves Angela Carters text titled The Company of Wolves, published in The Bloody Chamber an other stories novel in 1979 and filmed in 1984 as the same name directed by Neil Jordan. This story was made in the genre of fantasy-horror, which combines two fantasy and horror genres. The literatures location is London, England, the center of the British Postmodernist writers. This text is a short fiction and written in the Magic Realist and Postmodern style. The subject matter of this literature is a real image of jealousy and contrast between males and females, who contributed to the society in England, Europe, during the Vic- torian era between 1840 and 1900. Feminism is a theme of this story to show the Womens rights against men. Carter is one of the Feminist writers, who wrote the strong plot is based on Feminism. The plot of The Company of Wolves describes how to change a face of human to wolf, symbol of jealousy and violence; in other words, wolf is a symbol of the male who strive to replace the female and reach an absolute position as they expect. This story is set by the girl as a pratagonist, heroine, and wolves as the antihero characters and is located in the winter and cold forest as a dark location to display the dark society in the modern World and also, the grannys house; That means people who lived in Eu- rope had been changed during the Industrialization era and preferred a hunor over emotion and morality. Angela tries to show the elements of Feminism such as feminary anad female in this fiction. The style of The Company of Wolves is a Postmodern and Magic Realism. Pastiche is one of the characteristics of this text to show the blending of two or more Feminism tales such as the British and Gothic fiction, which combines the horror and romance stories. Another fact is a death of narrator (author) of this story. The reason is hearing just a single voice during the fiction to show the universality of human rights such as the womens rights. Carter uses the symbols of Feminism in this literature; for instance, sheep and goat are the symbols of the female and, on the otherside, wolf is a symbol of the masked male. The narrator says: There was a hunter once, near here, that trapped a wolf in a pit. This wolf had massa- cred the sheep and goats(1). Carter tends to be use Magic Realism to dramatize this fiction. This text ends Rashidi 1 by the magic element same as disappointment of the author and demonstrates the sleeping of woman between the paws of wolf. This emotional image of the ending of story seems to be a vivid and magical.
  • 2. Carter is one of the Postmodern novelist, who utilizes the disorganized writing pattern. The pattern of The Company of Wolves is a classification of narration and dialogs in the differ- ent parts. Some of these dialogs are the rhetorical questions such as Whos there? (5) and some of them are the short answers such as A kiss (4). Also, some of these dialogs are the exclamation sentences such as What big teeth you have! (6), to better illustration of the characters reaction and Femisnist elements; however, Carter tries to clearly show the movement and Femisnist development during this story includes the old english words such as integument and prothalamion (6). Disorganization is an obvious written pattern of The Company of Wolves same as nonlinear structure of the story and flashback and flashfor- ward during this fiction. The opening statement of this fiction is: One beast and only one howls in the woods by night (1); whereas, the story ends by this paragraph: See! sweet and sound she sleep in gran- nys bed, between the paws of the tender wolf (6). As shown above, there isnt a logical order between the beginning and the ending of the fiction; in other words, this story breaks up on the grannys house and forest. Also, repetition is an obvious pattern of the story such as: The blizzard will die down and The blizzard died down (6). Angela uses some figures of speech to better display of the elements of Feminism. In terms of the figures of speech in The Company of Wolves, there is a paradox between the be- ginning and the ending of this story such as a contrast between howl of wolf (6) and paws of the tender wolf (6), means wolf seems to be a both peaceful and angry!. Another term is metaphor such as howls is derived by the scream of the men against the women or the image of weakness of the womens role in the modern society (1). Simile is an another figure of speech in this text such as At night the eyes of wolves shine like candle glames, yellowish, reddish (1), means the horrific face of men is similar to the face of wolf. Another interesting the figure of speech is hyperbole such as The wolfsong is the sound of the rending you will suffer, in itself a murdering (1), to show the exaggerated and horrifying song of the wolf, song of the man. Overall, the figures of speech help to create the imagery and cultural story. Carter asserts to show the cultural story with the Feminism background. The Company of Wolves is a great fiction to display the culture of England, generally, Europe in the historical movement. In the Victorian era, vast majority of the females was activated through the soci- ety; for instance, after the Industrial Revolution, women was working in the factories and offices. Most of those were labors and low-level employees, who worked under the hard conditions; Therefore, the females tended to be an activist against the unfair laws in England. Rashidi 2
  • 3. Angela sinks in the basic principles of Feminist theory in this story. The theme of The Company of Wolves is Feminism. This theory explains the unequal relationship between men and women; in other words, Feminism is an ideology against the mans authority. During this story, the principles of Feminist theory such as inequality and oppressive law are viewed; for example, the narrator as a second person POV describes the unequal and dark condition and says: You are always in danger in the forest, where no people are (1). Oppressive law is an another principle of Feminism is used in this text same as the forest law. The narrator expresses: if you stray from the path for one instant, the wolves will eat you (1), means the danger movement of women in the lifetime. Carter combines both the social and political conditions in this fiction. The Company of Wolves describes the image of village in England correctly and sharply; for instance, the narrator says: The grave-eyed children of the sparse villages always carry knives with them when they go out to tend the little folks of goats (1). This sentence seems to be the vivid image of the village society in the Victorain era; however, this story expresses the tension and conflict between the males and females such as: Their knives are half as big as they are, the blades are sharpened daily (1). That means the young girls are ready to fight over men with the sharpen blades! obviously, the Feminist solution is ob- served, defence for the Wemens right. With The Company of Wolves, Angela focuses on the the Victorian era. The Victorian era started on 1840 and ended on 1900. During this era, most of the Moderinst elements such as the Factory and skyscape were built in the big cities; thus, the society of Europe and America had been changed and transmitted to the Modernism. In this era, most idealogies were founded such as Feminism and Socialism, which defines the principles of the modern society. Even though, Femi- nism is the historical and social movement to assert the female powers and Wemans rights. The narrator says: She closed the window on the wolves threnody and took off her scarlet shawl (5); means the main character fights over the wolves, symbol of the masked man, to reach out the principles of Feminist theory. In conclusion, Angela Carter combines the Magic Realism and Feminism in The Company of Wolves and tries to show the negative image of the British society. She challanges the psychological action and reaction between the males and females and also, an effect of technology and industrialization upon the human life. Jealousy, contrast, and defiance are the human attitude on Angelas belief. I believe this text is achived to demonstarte the culture and society of the Victorian era; Indeed, my opinion in relation to European society has been changed and attracted to the Feminism movement in the different time periods. Rashidi 3
  • 4. Works Cited 1- Carter, Angela. The Company of Wolves. The Bloody Chamber an other stories. England: 1979. Print. 2- The Company of Wolves. Dir. Neil Jordan. Palace Productions, 1984. Film. UK. 3- The Company of Wolves, WIKIPEDIA, 11 Nov. 2015. Web. 6 May 2014. Rashidi 4