A Response to The Company of Wolves Fairy Tale by Angela Carter (Essay Sample)

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A Response to ‘The Company of Wolves’ Fairy Tale
The fairy tale “The Company of Wolves” has a lot of symbolism and imagery. Angela Carter’s short stories have a revisionist perspective that blends her interpretations of the classic world with Gothic motifs. Gothic motifs are repeated themes in a story in which the author uses supernatural forms to symbolize the theme(s) of the story. In this case, the werewolves are the supernatural forms that are the gothic motif of the Angela carter’s gothic motif. They symbolize the innate abilities of females in the author’s society; serving as a symbolic protest of the subordination of women in Angela Carter’s society. The tale prescribes an ideal life of virtue for young girls. This essay demonstrates that the female child in the tale is undergoes a metamorphosis from the traditional position of being under the subordination of males to an independent individual who is responsible for her personal decisions.
The dangers of indulging in immorality are clearly illustrated, subtly assigning girls into a societal and family role. The tale is quite feminist in tone and approach. The author is both blatant and subtle. For instance, stating that the little red riding hood went at the wolf aggressively with a hunting knife may connote an awareness of a sexual urge, while slaking the urge to eat her, once again in sexual context, reveals the feminist perspectives of the author. The reader is able to understand the challenges, in the opinion of the author, that the girl undergoes in the transitions from a child, a young girl, to a woman. The transitions are beautiful moments for children, but they are also dangerous, therefore they need utmost guidance from parents and other caretakers. As depicted throughout the text, when a young girl turns into a woman, she is indeed celebrated. However, parents and other members of the society, especially those close to her, also fear the period, because of the psychological and developmental challenges the girl must undergo. Interestingly, the author presents these insights through symbolism in the most dramatic way, vividly creating the ideas and images in the mind of the reader. There are two representations of a single character in the text. The former is the protagonist who represents the writer’s view of the real world. The later is the fictional representation of the former through her alter ego.
Understanding the text in the context of the following themes analytically provides a complete response. The main theme of Angela Carter’s classic tale is the position of women in the society. However, there are other supporting themes in contemporary terms or as an interpretation of classic presentations:
The Subordination of Women
Generally, the text is a protest of the unfair position that women hold in the author’s society. As the girl grows up, she progressively gains the courage to demand her rightful position. She wants to be treated as an equal with men. She responds to the grandmother’s story of the travelling man with contempt (Carter 112). The travelling man in the grandmother’s story is an abusive man who occasionally beats his wife. The girl responds by saying that she cannot let a man hit her like that. The girl is shocked because she cannot defend herself from the attack of the werewolf. The grandmother’s story also reveals a lot about the entrenched subordination of women in the author’s society. She says that the girl’s sister had died in the forest, because there was nobody to protect her. In her grandmother’s view, she could not defend herself unless someone came to her rescue, and the protector should definitely have been a man (Carter 115). Conventionally, her sister could not protect herself because men were supposed to protect women from danger. They could not act confidently by their dictum.
The Duality
Duality is a style Carter uses to explain what the female child goes through while growing. The werewolf in the story has both the qualities of a human being and a monster. Monsters in classic tales were known to be destructive, but the werewolf turns out to be kind. The girl in the story dreams about her mother, sisters, father, dog and the wealth of toys (Carter 115). The objects and people in her dream are symbols of different aspects of a girl’s development. In “The Company of Wolves,” the duality functions as an inversion or opposite of reality. The dreamt and dreaming versions of the girl illustrate the duality the author uses to present the theme of developmental stages of girls. On one hand, the girl in the story is depicted as a rich and spoilt one who wants to have her way in everything. When she cannot have everything according to her wishes, she locks herself in her bedroom and burst into a tantrum (Carter 116). On the other hand, the Carter depicts her as an absolute opposite of the first girl; poor and strong enough to handle the challenges she faces. The poor version of her has the capability to face different circumstances. She can explore the world and give in to the needs that arise. The duality of one persona: one that can confidently face the world and another that keeps hiding from it, wishing that her challenges will disappear.
The other aspect of duality is the werewolves that the author uses to show the desires of men to dominate and exhibit power over women. The duality of werewolves can be depicted in whichever way the reader looks at it. Perhaps, the duality of the werewolves is to be perceived as creatures hiding in the skin of humans, or that humans are an incarceration of wolves; it would still represent the dishonesty of men in regarding women as being in an inferior position in society. The duality symbolizes the lack of fair position for men. In the author’s perspective, men act in a way that implies women as subordinates.
The Werewolves Symbolize the Self-discovery of the Female Child
They possess an identity, self-recognition, and a sense of humanness. In most tales, monsters represent deviance, malevolence, b...