Improved responses


'The Erl King is the most innovative and experimental of the narratives'


Response 1:
The Erl King can be seen to be innovative as it contains elements that generic gothic tales do not, such as domesticated and seemingly immature men. However, it does follow some gothic conventions as it contains a powerful male and vulnerable female in an isolated setting. Compared with the other narratives of the Bloody Chamber, this narrative too changed perspectives to jumble the narrative and also shows a woman gaining some knowledge over the one who controls her, allowing her to be saved from him as he usually dies, proving it us not innovative as it shares strong links with the other narratives.


Response 2:
The Erl King can be seen as innovative compared with the other stories within the collection as it contains elements that the generic and un-experimental narratives do not. Such as the domesticated man, this could easily be seen as a different and experimental figure for the gothic genre as it is generally and traditionally the woman who plays this role. However, The Erl king could as well be seen as un-original and similar to the other narratives as it does still seem to follow some traditional trends set by gothic literature. This can be seen through the powerful and enchanting male, taking control over as seemingly vulnerable and naïve female within the strange and isolated setting. Despite this, compared with other Bloody Chamber narratives, it seems to be more jumbled in terms of its perspectives and shifting tenses, allowing the reader to experience heightened emotion along with the narrator. This 'blurring' of the tenses could be regarded as experimental as Gothic Narratives are traditionally told through 1st person narrative, allowing for greater understanding and description.