'the forest swallows
you up... you must stay
there until it lets you
out again.'
Linking to the innovative
experimental narrative
style- as the wood swallows
you up, the sharp edges of
space and time become
blurred.
Direct address,
inescapable fate of
reader also
Female identity is
lost through their
objectification?
'Vertical bars of a
brass-coloured distillation
of light coming down
Foreshadowing of the
forest as a cage
entrapment
Set in the liminal time
between autumn and
winter reflecting the
liminality of the narrator's
mind between fear and
desire
Characters
The Erl-King
'Erl King will do
you grievous
harm.'
'tender butcher'
oxymoronic
hero-villain
Utterly part of nature
eg he 'has grown a pelt
of yellow lichen'
Part of society's standing order
Narrator
'i will be... consumed by you.'
The Male Gaze
'There are some eyes can eat you.'
Form and Structure
Constantly shifting narrative voice
Disorienting yet
enchanting
Not easily reduced to
a chronological
account of events
Narrative cohesion through tale
continuation from moment to
moment
Ambiguity and uncertainty
Shifts between
first and third
persons
Symbols
'pretty cages'
Somewhat oxymoronic
as cages are intended to
entrap
Rowe: 'fairy tales perpetuate the
patriarchal status quo by making
female subordination seem a
romantic, desirable, indeed an
inescapable fate.'
Like the objectivity of The Count which
appears appealing to The Countess, yet
'bites'
'Although he looked after them very affectionately'
Women fooled into believing
they have equality etc, or being
happy to endure this state as
they are being 'looked after'
Symbol of the
patriarchal
constructs in
society
Maniken: 'The Erl King is a complex
rendering of a subjective collusion
with objectivity and entrapment
within the male gaze. The woman
narrator both fears and desires
entrapment within the birdcage.'
The fear and desire of female towards marquis in BC
'old fiddle' with broken strings
Neglect and abuse,
yet the possibility
of harmony
There can be change
and enlightenment
regarding patriarchy
The intention of the gothic
genre is to challenge and
destabilise the way culture
has shaped our ideologies
'his great mane'
Animal imagery
Symbol of male dominance
Yet here it is used to murder
him- the double edged sword of
patriarchy and how it entraps
men also
supplanting male
domination with
female
domination