The Bloody Chamber

I think it's interesting that this story is told from the female's perspective. This sets up the story to be a feminist piece from the beginning. Because it was published in 1979, it is very likely that Angela Carter was influenced by the second wave of feminism throughout the late 1900s. Angela Carter herself was known for her feminist literature, and I believe that this fact is important when reading "The Bloody Chamber." Though the overarching theme within the story is feminist, and the heroine eventually "wins," there are also small hints of feminism throughout the piece.

At first, the short story appears to be focused on the narrator's journey into wifedom. On page 1484, she states, "And, in the midst of my bridal triumph, I felt a pang of loss as if, when he put the gold band on my finger, I had, in some way, ceased to be her child in becoming his wife." This one line in particular stood out to me as feminist. She feels as though she has lost part of herself in becoming a wife. Her identity shifts into some realm of which she is uncertain. By gaining her husband, she loses her mother. One identity cannot coexist with the other. She is either a wife or a daughter, but never both.