KidLit Forum

Angela Carter- The Werewolf

After reading, I was very intrigued to find the answer to the main question appeared in my head. Why did she do so? And I initiated a small research.
In this story, Carter keeps resisting post feminist gender violence and the sadistic impulses of the patriarchal organization of society. So, here, we found the struggle of generations. It should be noted that the image of the Wolf is an object of gender transformation. Revealing the stages of her heroine’s physical maturity, Carter hid their gender type, changing stereotypes at the same time. Through the prism of the unconscious we should deconstruct the female images to define a separate archetype. Carter's heroine is endowed with male characteristics, traditionally masculine responses to surprises, fearless and determined behaviour.
Carter skillfully operates with symbols. For me, it was difficult to interpret the author's signs. According to the laws of the Gothic tale, Carter introduces us to a terrible and mysterious world, where: «To these upland woodsmen, the Devil is as real as you or I». The girl knows how to handle a knife and she isn’t scared; she just "does as her mother bids». So she was a brave and competent girl, while the werewolf in the face of the grandmother was causing confusion in the reader’s mind. More than that, when the little girl calls for help, then, the neighbors and all together slaughter the grandmother to death, it makes the readers feel rejection towards it. If in the forest it was an act of protecting herself against the wolf, then how can we explain her later gesture?!
To ask, I found the definition of the word carcass used in the text, and I discovered that it is an anachronism skilfully used by a writer to convey a deep feminist context. So, Carter sort of said: only by breaking the old frame of the gender superstructure can we enrich our culture and rise to a higher level of development in the society. A werewolf is an object of transformation of an obsolete paradigm. Little Red Riding Hood acquires maturity, transforms the wolf, contextually, personal transformation prevails here, and we associate it with the archetype of the Sage.
What is your point of view concerning this?

Doina, as they say, „you started talking in tongues...” The critical jargon you use here seems rather remote from your much feebler contributions. So, I’d say, you’d rather reveal your sources and/or speak in your own words...