English Literature: Marxist Lens Analysis questions.

• Is there an outright rejection of socialism in the work?

I don’t believe that there is an outright rejection of socialism in The Lady house of love or The Erl-king, but there is subtilizes in both stories where the aristocracy should be overthrown or overcome. To show the communism and socialism, in both stories, they died from a pure character whom is a virgin and they are the results of the deaths.

• Does the text raise fundamental criticism about the emptiness of life in bourgeoisie society?

In The Lady house of love, the countess is isolated from herself, she is the only vampire left and she keeps herself hidden away, as her family before then surfed out the peasants. The only company she has is her servants that work for her. She has no real meaning to her life as she hates the ways she lives by the many ‘shadows’ that are present within the story. In The Erl-king the only companionship that he had was nature and he lures women in by playing the pipe, and then cages them up so they can’t leave. He objectifies the free souls of the women or proletariats as he is lonely and that is all he knows in his emptiness of life.

• In portraying society, what approximation of totality does the author achieve? What is emphasized, what is ignored? Why?

The author manages to take some aspects of the approximation of totality in society, as she explores the inequalities that were faced in the late 1970’s. Class inequalities were only the increase as the proletariats were penurious and the bourgeoisie were just getting more and more wealthy. Carter tries to emphasis on the binary opposites, as she wants to challenge to stereotypes and assumptions, but still keep it as classic fairy tale qualities as she always has the heroine, or the insubstantial character beat and overcome the villain. The Lady house of love and The Erl-king both support this idea, as in the end they both die as the Lady dies by a solider and the Erl, by a strong female.

• How well is the fate of the individual linked organically to the nature of societal forces?

The fate of the characters aren’t decided by the nature of the society, as in these circumstances the two weaker characters should have died as they are the symbols of the proletariats, whereas in the end of the story, both of the ‘stronger’ characters die as the proletariats manage a way to kill them, as they triumph over the bourgeoisie.

• At what points are actions or solutions to problems forced or unreal?

As Angela Carter’s stories are fairy tales, many elements of the story are unreal and hard to achieve, as vampires in The Lady House of Love aren’t real, and she dies as a result of exposing herself to the light because of a solider. Then in The Erl-king he dies as a result of the girl killing him with his own hair, which is unreal.

• Are the characters from all social levels equally well sketched?

In Angela Carter’s stories she well represents the social class of each character, even though the bourgeoisie have the economic power and cultural capital, she creates binary opposites for the characters and makes the weaker characters come out on top and have the power.

• What are the values of each class in the work?

The social class of the characters are important as they show how powerful that character is whether they like it or not.

• What is valued most? Sacrifice? Assent? Resistance? Individuality?

In The Lady House of Love the most powerful value is sacrifice as she kills herself over the purity and innocence of the solider. Whereas in The Erl-King the value is individuality as he is distinct from the rest of them as he is the nature.

• How clearly do narratives of disillusionment and defeat indicate that bourgeoisie values—competition, acquisitiveness, chauvinism—are incompatible with human happiness?

In The Lady House of Love the narrative shows that she is a countess and she isn’t happy with her position whether that is because she is a vampire or if she is a bourgeoisie. This then results in her unhappiness as she doesn’t like what she is and wishes she didn’t have to do what she does. The narrator in The Erl-King suggests that she was seduced by him, and she was happy until she found out what the king was planning to do to her then it all changed.

• Does the protagonist defend or defect from the dominant values of society? Are those values in ascendancy or decay?
In The Erl-King the protagonist defeats the dominant values as she kills him with his own resources. Killing the king empowers the girl making her ascendancy. And in The Lady House of Love she defeats herself as she kills herself in order to be free and away from the dominance, which is decay.