The Bloody Chamber - The Courtship of Mr Lyon

1. The word 'Courtship' refers to a period in which is before their decided engagement or marriage. It is a more traditional word for dating, it refers to a time when sexual behaviour before marriage was deeply frowned upon, and there were certain rules that had to be followed within the partnership, in order to keep an element of innocence before marriage. Carter may have chosen the word 'Courtship' instead of 'dating' or something similar as this word implies that there may have been a gentleness about this time, and that a great deal of morality remained between this couple during this period. From the story, we can see that Mr Lyon does act as a male figure in an old fashioned courtship would do, by expressing his love by only 'kissing her hands,' he retains a gentlemanly aspect to his character. My Lyons behaviour is arguably more appropriate of the title Courtship than it would be of any other word, such as 'affair' or 'dating' as these words bring with them an implication of sexual behaviour, which is not true of the story.

2. In the opening paragraph, the girl is described as 'lovely' and her skin 'possesses light' and she could be 'made of snow'. The obvious link to the colour white could be seen to signify her purity and virginity, while the word 'snow' could have connotations of the girls delicate or fragile appearance.
The reference to her 'inner light' implies to the reader that she had a good heart or morals, and suggests she is kind. This is developed later in the plot as she becomes rich and spoiled after leaving the beast, she is now described as 'petulant' as her earlier 'freshness was fading'. Her skin, described earlier as possessing 'light,' is now described as 'pearly', suggesting the tone of it now had an opacity to it, meaning she may be trying to cover or hide some things as her nature is no longer transparent to reveal her obvious goodness, indicating she is no longer as pure or kind as she was when she lived in poverty.

3. The description of the girls father shows his poverty and indicates how little money he has. This can be seen when we are told of his 'old sheepskin coat,' which is later described as 'squirearchal'  which refers to the class of the landed gentry, in aristocratic times suggesting that once he was a fairly wealthy man. The way the father talks about his daughter shows patriarchy and possessiveness, for example, he calls her 'his girl-child, his pet.' Both terms could be seen as somewhat derogatory, but the repetition of the word 'his' shows that she is owned by her father, and is his property. Her father is also described as having 'no fear', when he first enters into the Beasts domain, this could be as he is brave and is showing strength by trying t find a way to contact his daughter, or it could be because he secretly knows that he will not be the one the Beast seeks thus he will not be in any direct danger.

4. The Beast within this story is described a number of times, each time some aspect of his appearance seems to have changed. The first description of him is given when he intercepts Beauty's father trying to steal a rose from his garden. He is described as a 'being', and later in the same description as a 'leonine apparition,' this immediately gives the reader a sense that the Beast is neither a man, yet not quite an animal either. This adds an unnerving element to his character as he does not fit into either category, meaning he is of the unknown. This first description also features a lot of the letter 'G', which adds emphasis and rhythm to the reading of the passage, 'the moonlight glittered on his great, mazy head of hair, on the eyes green as agate, on the golden hairs of the great paws that grasped his shoulders...,' The repetition of the word 'great' within this description also emphasises the majesty and the size of the Beast. However, this description is not entirely terrifying, while the Beast is shown to be a powerful and dangerous, the human features such as his 'mazy head of hair,' and his 'green as agate,' eyes help the reader to almost connect to the character more, as there are clearly still human like aspects to the Beast.

5.  Mr Lyons property is described luxuriously, giving an obvious indication of excessive wealth and power. When it is first seen by Beauty's father, it is called a 'perfect, Palladian house,' and the language in the descriptive passage concerning the property seems to be quite feminine, with words such as 'skirts, 'flourish,' 'grace,' and 'sweet,' suggesting that perhaps the Beast made it this way as he yearns for partnership from a woman and wishes to make his home inviting for them. However, the description is also very Gothic, as it has key characteristics of Gothic architecture such as the 'wrought iron gates,' and its 'melancholy grace,' and also the 'light that flickered,' giving the reader a feel of tension and mystery, as it becomes obvious from the way that the house seems to 'hide itself,' foreshadows that the owner of the house may not be all he seems.

6.The Courtship of Mr Lyon is narrated mainly in the most common style of 3rd person, this is generally used by authors as it provides the most freedom and flexibility within their story telling. We can see the 3rd person narrative as the characters within are generally referred to as 'she' or 'he'. This signals that the narration is done by an unspecified entity who is perhaps uninvolved in the plot.  However, there are some instances in the story where the narration style switches suddenly, where it can be seen to convey the thoughts of a character. For example, in the opening Beauty is in the kitchen and the narrative is still in 3rd person as it states that 'the telephone wires were down, he couldn't have called,' before making a sudden switch to 1st person narrative, with what the reader may interpret as Beauty's thoughts, 'I hope he'll be safe.' Though these seem to be a characters words or thoughts, the reader cannot be 100% sure, which leaves the story open to more questioning as mystery and tension is added.