'The Tiger's Bride'

Angela Carter's 'The Tiger's Bride' is the subverted tale of 'Beauty and the Beast'. It tells the story of a girl who is gambled away by her Father to a Tiger, or 'The Beast' as he is referred to by the narrator. Here, already we have a subversion of typical Gothic characters. For example, the traditional characteristics of a Father or Father-figure in Gothic texts, is meant to be paternal and protective over his daughter, in this story he is not, in fact, the opening line of this story is; 'My Father lost me to the Beast at cards.' This links to one of the key themes throughout Carter's stories of the dangers of not giving-in to one's desires, this is a key theme that runs within this story also. Here, the Father ignores the call to stop gambling and it leads to the loss of his money and his child.

This character is juxtaposed with the Tiger. In the opening line he is referred to as 'The Beast' this instantaneously objectifies his character and makes him seem inhuman, this idea is ironic as it is the Father is the more inhuman of the do because of the deed of gambling away his own daughter.

The stereotypical characteristics of beast, or animal are entirely subverted within the story, for example, he is described as having a 'sculptured calm', this quote is ironic as the Beast is described using the stereotypical features of a Gothic beast, yet, he does not behave as such by being so 'calm'. On the other hand, one could say that it is the Narrator who is the villain of the piece as she denies the Tiger of his one desire, to see her disrobed, which causes him to cry.

The character of the Tiger is further subverted by the fact this, is described as being inhuman like a typical Gothic monster, however, he also possesses the typical personality traits of a victim. An example of this would be his forced entrapment; 'The Beast bought solitude not luxury with his wealth.' This is again, the opposite to the Father as he gambles away his money and in contrast the Tiger uses it to hide himself from the world and in this sense he has victimized himself, because as we can see of his request from the Narrator, he is lonely.

In the story's conclusion we see Carter subverting the idea of a traditional fairy tale ending as it is the Narrator who becomes an animal in order to be with the Tiger. This leads me back to Carter's theme of giving-in to ones desires. 'My beautiful fur.' This quote leads us to believe that, in becoming an animal the Narrator has reached a higher state of being. Here, Carter is saying that by releasing your inner animal you can become your true self.