Demythologysing the "Happily Ever After": Marriage, Motherhood and Generational Oppression in Carter’s Fairy-Tale Retellings

Abstract

This study examines Angela Carter's portrayal of marriage, motherhood and the cyclical transmission of oppressive practices from mothers to daughters through a close textual analysis of a selection of Carter’s fairy-tale retellings. My purpose is to investigate how Carter debunks or “demythologizes” the trope of the “happily ever after”, which positions marriage and motherhood as the ultimate fulfilment of a woman’s life. Additionally, the study investigates how Carter acknowledges women’s role in upholding this myth, as both oppressive mothers who perpetuate patriarchal practices and obedient daughters who passively comply. In the first chapter, I provide the historical and literary context for my close readings by discussing the evolution of the fairy-tale genre, emphasizing elements relevant to Carter’s retellings such as the genre’s inherent adaptability and intertextuality. Furthermore, I discuss the surge in feminist rewritings in the latter half of the 20th century, driven by the rise of second-wave feminism and the development of fairy-tale scholarship. The second chapter focuses on Carter’s feminist theory, with particular attention to her influential work, The Sadeian Woman and the Ideology of Pornography. Here, I discuss Carter’s “demythologizing” approach and her critique of patriarchal myths of femininity, gender relations, motherhood, and heterosexual marriage, drawing on her theories as well as insights from feminist scholars such as Luce Irigaray, Simone de Beauvoir, and Julia Kristeva. The final chapter presents close readings of three of Carter’s retellings, namely “The Bloody Chamber,” “The Snow Child,” and “Ashputtle or The Mother’s Ghost: Three Versions of One Story.” These stories are analysed both in terms of style and content to explore the key themes of this study.