'The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories' Critical Quotes

‘Her adaptations of traditional fairy tales sought to subvert the patriarchal leanings of the stories’

'Strong bond between mother and daughter'

‘Hers is not an easy feminism’

‘This long story subtly links the fairy tale, Gothic literature, and pornographic literature’

‘her Marquis belongs to a latter-day generation of Bluebeard’s progeny’

‘A true Gothic heroine, like Carter’s, goes where she should not’

‘Passivity is never a virtue, in fact, even - especially not- in women’

‘Some of their most beautiful passages are about metamorphosis’

‘The imminence of death pervades her work’

‘Her main concern is to subvert the conventional ideologies and replace them with feminist ones’

‘Carter challenges patriarchal society with a devilish passion and dexterity’

'Otherness takes center stage’

‘It is the women who become active and saviours, not the men’

‘The heroines of these stories are struggling out of the straightjacket of history and ideology’

‘The animal aspects of human nature are her particular concern’

‘Carter's work has consistently dealt with representations of the physical abuse of women.’