The Bloody Chamber Key Quotes, Interpretations and Context
Key Quotes – The Bloody Chamber
The Bloody Chamber
‘I had, in some way, ceased to be her child in becoming his wife.' P.1
'His wedding gift, clasped round my throat. A choker of rubies [...] like an extraordinarily precious slit
throat.' P.6
'my purchaser unwrapped his bargain.' P.11
'A dozen husbands impaled a dozen brides' p.14 - violent
‘it must have been my innocence that captivated him’ p.16
'my dark newborn curiosity' p.19 -> after losing her virginity, she has a dark desire to explore his forbidden
chamber
'the instruments of mutilation' p.26 -> in the Marquis chamber
'blue imprint of his strangler's fingers' 'the dead lips smiled' p.27
'[In the Iron Maiden] She was pierced, not by one but by a hundred spikes' p.28 -> foreshadowed by the
impaling of the dozen brides?
‘He would come with me if I would lead him.' - the piano tuner is submissive (not threatening)
'The puppet master’ p.40
‘avenging angel’ - her mother
'You never saw such a wild thing as my mother' 'her black lisle legs exposed to the thigh' 'one hand on
the reins' 'other clasped my father's service revolver' p.40
'[she] put a single, irreproachable bullet through my husband's head.' P.41
-> her mother is the hero = subversive
The Werewolf
‘It is a northern country; they have cold weather, they have cold hearts’
“When they discover a witch...” “some old woman whose cheeses ripen when her neighbours’ do not,
another old woman whose black cat, oh, sinister! follows her about all the time” - implies they will
inevitably seek out anyone who is different than them and use it as a weapon against them. That is what we see as the
story continues (grandmother murdered)
‘The wolf let out a gulp, almost a sob’ ‘wolves are less brave than they seem’ -> portrays the wolf as the
victim
, ‘They knew the wart on the hand at once for a witch’s nipple; they drove the old woman, in her shift, as
she was, out into the snow with sticks, beating her old carcass’ ‘pelted her with stones until she fell
down dead’ -> Carter critiques this violent treatment of older women
‘Now the child lived in her grandmother’s house; she prospered’
The Company of Wolves
‘Children do not stay young for long in this savage country.’ -> innocence is corrupted
‘this one [...] had been indulged by her mother’ -> links to Carter being over-indulged by her mother – is this
false sense of security created by an overbearing mother a weakness in Carter’s eyes? - innocence must be
overcome
‘of all the teeming perils of the night and the forest, ghosts, hobgoblins, ogres that grill babies upon
gridirons, witches that fatten their captives in cages for cannibal tables, the wolf is the worst for he cannot
listen to reason.’ -> supernatural imagery – sets us up for a fairytale/something that is not real, and yet could
link to men within society and their lack of control over desire
She is an unbroken egg; she is a sealed vessel’ ‘she is a closed system; she does not know how to shiver.
She has her knife and she is afraid of nothing’ -> this innocence will soon be corrupted; she is almost
unknowingly prepared with her knife
‘His genitals, huge. Ah! Huge. -> threatening sexual power
‘The wolf is carnivore incarnate’ - a representation of sexual desire
‘inherent sadness in [their howling], as if the beasts would love to be less beastly if only they knew how’ -
> we feel sympathy for the wolves/for men – are they victims of the patriarchy? Their own nature?
‘There is a vast melancholy in the canticles of wolves’
she freely gave the kiss she owed him’ -> Has agency as she gives the kiss freely – using her sexuality to her
advantage? Empowering?
‘The girl burst out laughing; she knew she was nobody’s meat.’ -> empowering, Carter’s message
Sweet and sound she sleeps in granny’s bed, between the paws of the tender wolf’ -> she has used her
sexuality to tame him and save herself – Carter empowering women to use their sexuality
Wolf-Alice
‘Her legs are long, lean and muscular’ ‘Her elbows, hands and knees are thickly callused’ ‘she trots or
gallops’ ‘Her pace is not our pace’ -> strong, animalistic goes against society’s standards
‘she always seemed wild, impatient of restraint, capricious in temper’ -> cannot be controlled/not what a
woman is expected to act like in society
‘they tied her up by force’ -> criticising humanity’s violence – positioning humans as uncaring
Key Quotes – The Bloody Chamber
The Bloody Chamber
‘I had, in some way, ceased to be her child in becoming his wife.' P.1
'His wedding gift, clasped round my throat. A choker of rubies [...] like an extraordinarily precious slit
throat.' P.6
'my purchaser unwrapped his bargain.' P.11
'A dozen husbands impaled a dozen brides' p.14 - violent
‘it must have been my innocence that captivated him’ p.16
'my dark newborn curiosity' p.19 -> after losing her virginity, she has a dark desire to explore his forbidden
chamber
'the instruments of mutilation' p.26 -> in the Marquis chamber
'blue imprint of his strangler's fingers' 'the dead lips smiled' p.27
'[In the Iron Maiden] She was pierced, not by one but by a hundred spikes' p.28 -> foreshadowed by the
impaling of the dozen brides?
‘He would come with me if I would lead him.' - the piano tuner is submissive (not threatening)
'The puppet master’ p.40
‘avenging angel’ - her mother
'You never saw such a wild thing as my mother' 'her black lisle legs exposed to the thigh' 'one hand on
the reins' 'other clasped my father's service revolver' p.40
'[she] put a single, irreproachable bullet through my husband's head.' P.41
-> her mother is the hero = subversive
The Werewolf
‘It is a northern country; they have cold weather, they have cold hearts’
“When they discover a witch...” “some old woman whose cheeses ripen when her neighbours’ do not,
another old woman whose black cat, oh, sinister! follows her about all the time” - implies they will
inevitably seek out anyone who is different than them and use it as a weapon against them. That is what we see as the
story continues (grandmother murdered)
‘The wolf let out a gulp, almost a sob’ ‘wolves are less brave than they seem’ -> portrays the wolf as the
victim
, ‘They knew the wart on the hand at once for a witch’s nipple; they drove the old woman, in her shift, as
she was, out into the snow with sticks, beating her old carcass’ ‘pelted her with stones until she fell
down dead’ -> Carter critiques this violent treatment of older women
‘Now the child lived in her grandmother’s house; she prospered’
The Company of Wolves
‘Children do not stay young for long in this savage country.’ -> innocence is corrupted
‘this one [...] had been indulged by her mother’ -> links to Carter being over-indulged by her mother – is this
false sense of security created by an overbearing mother a weakness in Carter’s eyes? - innocence must be
overcome
‘of all the teeming perils of the night and the forest, ghosts, hobgoblins, ogres that grill babies upon
gridirons, witches that fatten their captives in cages for cannibal tables, the wolf is the worst for he cannot
listen to reason.’ -> supernatural imagery – sets us up for a fairytale/something that is not real, and yet could
link to men within society and their lack of control over desire
She is an unbroken egg; she is a sealed vessel’ ‘she is a closed system; she does not know how to shiver.
She has her knife and she is afraid of nothing’ -> this innocence will soon be corrupted; she is almost
unknowingly prepared with her knife
‘His genitals, huge. Ah! Huge. -> threatening sexual power
‘The wolf is carnivore incarnate’ - a representation of sexual desire
‘inherent sadness in [their howling], as if the beasts would love to be less beastly if only they knew how’ -
> we feel sympathy for the wolves/for men – are they victims of the patriarchy? Their own nature?
‘There is a vast melancholy in the canticles of wolves’
she freely gave the kiss she owed him’ -> Has agency as she gives the kiss freely – using her sexuality to her
advantage? Empowering?
‘The girl burst out laughing; she knew she was nobody’s meat.’ -> empowering, Carter’s message
Sweet and sound she sleeps in granny’s bed, between the paws of the tender wolf’ -> she has used her
sexuality to tame him and save herself – Carter empowering women to use their sexuality
Wolf-Alice
‘Her legs are long, lean and muscular’ ‘Her elbows, hands and knees are thickly callused’ ‘she trots or
gallops’ ‘Her pace is not our pace’ -> strong, animalistic goes against society’s standards
‘she always seemed wild, impatient of restraint, capricious in temper’ -> cannot be controlled/not what a
woman is expected to act like in society
‘they tied her up by force’ -> criticising humanity’s violence – positioning humans as uncaring
