Mirrors

Mirrors

The Bloody Chamber
1. The Marquis surrounds the narrator with mirrors, turning her into a pornographic image reflected 12 times.
  1. Carter emphasises the objectification of women as beautiful rather than strong.
  2. when she becomes aroused by this, she realises how she is also viewing herself as only the way the Marquis sees her.
    1. "I caught sight of myself in the mirror. And I saw myself, suddenly, as he saw me"
  3. she looks into the mirrors and realises how she is being objectified by the Marquis
In the Gothic
1. mirrors are a symbol used often in the Gothic genre, often to represent:
  1. sense of self
  2. vanity
  3. identity
  4. an ethereal, ghostly other-world
The Courtship of Mr Lyon
1. by looking too often in the mirror, Beauty is transformed from an innocent girl to a spoilt young woman
  1. she becomes obsessed with her own physical image
    1. "in front of the mirror, Beauty" the adjective suggests that she is merely beautiful, objectifying herself.
  2. "was learning, at the end of her adolescence, how to be a spoiled child."
  3. "smiled at herself in the mirror a little too often these days"
  4. Carter uses this to highlight and criticise society's view of women as vain and shallow
The Tiger's Bride
1. she looks into the mirror and sees her father's face rather than her own- symbolising that she is treated as the property of her father- reinforced by his losing her at cards
2. the 2nd time, she sees her father celebrating the return of his wealth, and then realises that she herself finds wealth unimportant
  1. then can she be truly free from her father and society's expectations to transform into a strong, independent tigress
    1. "send her back to perform the part of my father's daughter", she distances herself from society's expectations
    2. Carter uses the image of the 'soubrette' contrasting with the narrator to show how the view of women weakens characters.
      1. "glossy, nut-brown, rosy cheeks, blue, rolling eyes"
    3. the heroine needs to accept the animal nature in herself in order to break free of the social constraints upon her.
3. the mirror represents:
  1. the contrast between the heroine and the soubrette
  2. the heroine's sense of self
  3. transformation from a girl to a woman

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