The first aspect is the assumption that a father is the head of a family, and she criticizes this by using the characters. The main characters who Carter focuses parenting on in the book are Grandma Chance, the mother figure, and Melchior, the father figure. Because Pretty Kitty died during birth, Dora and Nora are both brought up by Grandma Chance, an old lady who isn’t even related to either of them. This is perhaps Carter’s first step of criticism; by demythologising, and that is done through Grandma Chance who is an ageing, nudist, feminist, who is bring up two new born babies, an idea that wouldn’t be heard of within a patriarchal society. So through Grandma Chance, not only has Carter tackled the myth that old people can’t be parents, but she has also introduced Grandma Chance as an alternative or matriarchal society. There is also the blatant criticism that Melchior has left without word offering no help in bringing up the babies.
Initially in the book, neither Dora nor Nora even knew what a father was, and it wasn’t until Grandma Chance stood up and shouted “That man’s your father!” that they begun to ask questions. This could also be seen as a form of criticism, for Carter is suggesting here that Dora and Nora were quite happy being brought up by just Grandma Chance, and that they didn’t begin to want a father until they were told about one. So what Carter is really showing here is that motherhood is much stronger than fatherhood, in that the twins’ childhood was fine until Melchior entered the scene.
One of the main things that Carter looks at in the book is the legitimate against the illegitimate. It is a common myth that legitimacy is better than illegitimacy, and Carter proves that both are equal. She does this by showing both good and bad features on both sides, as well as presenting them all as equals, only packaged differently. For example, Dora is presented positively throughout the book, where as Saskia is presented in a more negative way, even though they are both illegitimate. On the legitimate side, there is Tristram, who is presented as an idiot throughout the book, and Pereguine, who is completely the opposite. So here Carter has again demythologized this idea that the legitimate are better than the illegitimate.
Carter also explores literature within a patriarchal society, and the literary canon. In a patriarchal society it is thought that all the great writers such as Shakespeare, are hero’s, and are to be thought of with great respect, and this idea has been passed down for centuries. In the book, Dora is taught about literature by Irish, and here Carter introduces this idea of the carnivalesque, by presenting Irish as the literary canon, whilst he is this drunk, who in return for teaching Dora about literature, gets sex. So Carter is almost mocking the literary canon here, and even Dora refers to Shakespeare as “Old Bill” talking about him in this casual manor. One thing which is interesting about this point is that Angela Carter wasn’t really respected as a writer until after she died, and as Salman Rushdie said, “Now that she’s dead, I’m sure that the size of her achievement will become rapidly plain.”
Another feature of the patriarchal society is colonization and empire. Carter criticizes this idea in the book through Ranulph Hazard, and his attempt to storm America with Shakespeare, as well as Melchior Hazard, and his attempt to also storm America using Shakespeare. Carter also introduces the character Gorgeous George, who represents colonization, with a huge map of Europe tattooed on his body. Throughout the book, we see Gorgeous George 3 times, and each time he is in a different condition. The first time he is introduced is on the when the girls are watching him as an upcoming comedian. Here, he has potential, and is upcoming, and happy. The second time we see him again is when he is in Hollywood, on the set of the film, and this time, he looks uncomfortable, out of place. Finally, he is at Melchior’s 100th birthday party at the end, and here he is in the gutter, a tramp. So through Gorgeous George, Carter has shown her thought about colonization, showing that it doesn’t work, plus that and the combination of both Ranulph, and Melchior’s attempts to storm America, both of which fail.
Finally, the general assumption that men are better than women and in this, Angela Carter’s opinion is not clear cut. She doesn’t try to make one sex look better than the other, again, she presents them as equal. She says her self that she is in “the demythologising business” and she does demythologise this idea that men are better than women, by showing good things and bad things on both accounts.
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