Written Task 2: First Draft

Written Task 2 (HL)

Outline

Text:The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter

Part of the Course:Part 4 (Literature – Critical Study)

Area of Study: Text and Genre 1: How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose?

Question: How does the text conform to the genre of feminist magic realism?

Written Task 2:

            Angela Carter is a feminist writer of magic realism, and her novel The Magic Toyshop is no exception. It contains many features of magic realism – such as surrealism, obscurity, terror, and hybridity – while highlighting traditional gender roles in a patriarchal society with authoritative male figures and female characters who learn to break free from them.

First of all, it displays many of the characteristics considered to be representative of magic realism. Although magic realism has a rather loose definition compared to other genres, with many different views about what it is, it can generally be agreed upon that magic realism stories fuse the real and the bizarre, incorporating fantastical elements into an otherwise realistic world. They seem normal on the surface, with believable, human characters, but contain inexplicable elements, for example the severed hand and Uncle Philip’s life-like puppets. They have a sense of surrealism, and the Flower household’s isolation helps to build this by separating the happenings of the story from the outside, normal world, creating a different reality in which the characters live. The readers are kept somewhat detached with the use of third-person narrative. We are also introduced to socially-taboo concepts like incest – Margaret and Francie who are sister and brother, Finn and Melanie who are uncle and niece – happening between the protagonists in a completely natural manner.

Another aspect of magic realism is the lack of clarity about the accuracy of events and this is abundantly seen in The Magic Toyshop. The reader never gets an objective account of what exactly happens to Uncle Philip’s puppet swan even though it is at the crux of the story. Instead, we can rely only on Finn’s retelling of it, which is questionable at best, given his sickly state that night after he “went to a burying” and worried about how it would “flop through the window to haunt” him. Aunt Margaret’s muteness is never explained other than “catastrophe” having “freed her tongue”. The severed hand Melanie found in the knife drawer is never expanded upon and either confirmed or denied. Even though the readers know that the swan is an inanimate puppet, Uncle Philip seems to have breathed life into it, giving it “passion” and allowing it to “ravish” Melanie. This life continues until its destruction by Finn, which is described as its “killing”. The novel’s ending shows the lack of clarity as the reader is left hanging; no clues are provided as to what could possibly happen next to Finn and Melanie, and the safety of the other characters is not ensured.

Many magic realism stories also include authoritative figures who wield power over the other characters and are used to show the idea of helpless terror; Uncle Philip is an example of this.

Finally, another feature of magic realism is hybridity – using clashing opposites to illustrate the themes of change and the mixing of borders. In this case, Melanie’s entrance into Uncle Philip’s household is a drastic change for all those involved. She is removed from her normal, comfortable life and thrust into a strange realm dominated by a women-hating patriarch and a band of timid yet rebellious misfits, turning all of their worlds upside down. Another example of the embodiment of opposites is how the portrayal of female characters changes throughout the novel.

            This also makes The Magic Toyshop a piece of feminist writing as authors of such stories recognise the difference between sex and gender roles, which are social constructs designed to allocate certain behaviours to each sex. Instead, they deviate from the traditional male-driven storyline and have female characters who shape their own identity.

At the beginning, the female characters are shown in positions that reflect the current patriarchal society. From the very first page, Melanie is portrayed as typically feminine through her obsession with her appearance and elaborate dreams about getting married to famous historical men. In Uncle Philip’s household, he is the dominant figure, controlling everyone’s lives. He ignores Victoria, a girl, and adores Jonathan, a boy. However, the other men – Francie and Finn – are defiant to him while the women simply accept his authority. Finn is blatantly rebellious, constantly annoying him on purpose, and Francie has an affair with Philip’s wife and has his own money which he gives to Melanie against Philip’s wishes.

Traditional gender roles are also enforced by portraying the men as strong workers and protectors of women. Uncle Philip owns the shop and makes toys and puppets, Finn paints, Francie fiddles, and Jonathan builds model boats. Meanwhile, the women do not work except for manning Philip’s shop. The brothers are also seen as Melanie’s guardians, with Melanie imploring Finn to “keep [her] safe” and to “save” her; Francie calls her “pet” and “girly”. Having been “struck dumb on her wedding day”, Aunt Margaret’s muteness is a symbol of her weakness, of the power she lost the day she married Philip. She is also seen as ugly in her uncomfortable Sunday dress, and only turns beautiful when she puts on Melanie’s dress. This reflects current society, in which women’s clothes often come to define their beauty and others’ perception of them.

Near the end of the novel, these conventional roles are broken. Having been prohibited from wearing pants by Uncle Philip, Melanie decides to do so as an act of defiance. Aunt Margaret also “[finds] her old voice again” when order breaks down and she is “freed” from Uncle Philip, allowing her to regain her “strength”.

            Therefore, Angela Carter’s The Magic Toyshop conforms to its genre of feminist magic realism by having many surrealistic aspects of magic realism as well as female characters that, over the course of the novel, stand out against traditional gender roles.

949 words.

Works Cited:

Carter, Angela. The Magic Toyshop. 1967. Great Britain: Virago Press, October 2006. Print.

Lalwani, Puja. "Feminist Literature." Buzzle.com. Buzzle.com, 23 Sept. 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. .

Moore, Lindsay. "Magical Realism." Emory University - English Department. Emory University - Department of English, Fall 1998. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .

 Written Task 2: Final Draft

Written Task 2 (HL)

Outline:

Text:The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter

Part of the Course:Part 4, Literature – Critical Study

Area of Study: Text and Genre 1: How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose?

Question: How does the text, The Magic Toyshop, conform to the genre of feminist magic realism?

Key Points:

(i) magic realism

- its characters include the surrealistic fusion of the real and the bizarre (fantastical elements in an otherwise realistic world), the lack of clarity about the accuracy of events, and hybridity (embodiment of opposites, change)

- its themes include the idea of terror (prominent authoritarian figures have the power to torture and kill), the carnivalesque (carnival’s reflection in literature; celebrates the body, the senses, and relations between humans; dance, music or theatre), and revolution.

(ii) feminism

• feminist literature features female protagonists who defy particular gender roles, which are different from their sex and are created by society. These protagonists are defined by independent actions and decisions they make for themselves
• the gender dynamics of The Magic Toyshop begin by conforming to patriarchal stereotypes, with men as dominant and women as subservient, but through the novel the female characters learn to break free from this.

Written Task 2 (HL):

Angela Carter is a feminist writer of magic realism, and her novel The Magic Toyshop conforms to the conventions of the genre. The novel contains many features and themes of magic realism, while highlighting female protagonists who eventually defy traditional gender roles in their patriarchal community.

The Magic Toyshop displays many characteristics representative of magic realism, which is a loosely defined genre with a range of associated features instead of a strict, entirely conventionalized definition. Such stories fuse the real and the bizarre, incorporating fantastical elements into an otherwise realistic world. These stories seem normal on the surface, with believable human characters and naturalistic settings, but contain inexplicable elements, such as, in Carter’s novel, the severed hand and Uncle Philip’s life-like puppets. They have a sense of surrealism, and the Flower household’s isolation helps to build this by separating the story’s events from the normal outside world, creating a different reality in which the characters live. Third-person narrative keeps the readers somewhat detached by preventing them from fully identifying with the characters. Readers are also introduced to socially taboo concepts such as incest occurring between the characters in a completely ‘natural’ manner.

Lack of clarity is another aspect of magic realism and ever-present in The Magic Toyshop; readers are often left uncertain about how events happened or if they actually happened at all. There is no objective account of Uncle Philip’s puppet swan, although it is at the climax of the story. Instead, readers rely only on Finn’s retelling of it, which is questionable at best, given his sickly state the night after he ‘went to a burying’ (Carter 171) as he worried about how the swan would ‘flop through the window to haunt [him]’ (Carter 174). Melanie compares it to ‘the wedding-dress night’ (Carter 172) in which the ‘garden turned against [her]’ (Carter 18) as she ran through it in her mother’s wedding dress, and which she believes caused her parents’ death despite lacking a substantive rational reason. Aunt Margaret’s temporary muteness is never explained beyond ‘catastrophe [having] freed her tongue’ (Carter 196). The severed hand Melanie finds in the knife drawer is not discussed further, and is neither confirmed nor denied. The novel’s conclusion demonstrates the lack of clarity as the reader is left with no clues as to what could happen next to Finn and Melanie, and the safety of the other characters is not ensured.

Another feature of magic realism is hybridity – using clashing opposites to illustrate change and the mixing of boundaries. Melanie’s entrance into Uncle Philip’s household represents a drastic change for those involved. She is removed from her normal, comfortable life and thrust into a strange realm by a misogynistic patriarch and a band of timid yet rebellious misfits, turning all of their worlds upside. A further example of the embodiment of opposites is how the portrayal of female characters changes throughout the novel: from subservient to independent, as they rebel against Philip.

This links to the common themes of magic realism, including the use of terror by authoritarian figures, the carnivalesque, and revolution. Uncle Philip is a tyrannical figure that induces helpless terror, wielding power over the household and abusing this in his treatment of the other characters that live in fear of him. The carnivalesque is presented through Jowle siblings’ secretive, celebratory music and dancing, contrasted against Uncle Philip’s forced theatre productions. Revolution happens towards the end, as the oppressed characters revolt against Philip, overthrowing him from his position as master of the household – symbolized by Finn sitting in his seat at the dining table, and Melanie and Margaret defying his expectations of women.

This shift in the portrayal of female characters contributes to the novel as a work of feminist literature since such works recognize the difference between sex and gender roles (that is social constructs attributing certain behaviours to sex). Feminist literature deviates from traditional androcentric storylines and includes female characters that determine and shape their own identity.

Initially, female characters are shown in positions that reflect patriarchal society. From the first page, Melanie is portrayed as typically feminine through her obsession with her appearance and elaborate dreams about getting married to famous historical men. In Uncle Philip’s household, he is the dominant figure, controlling everyone’s lives. He ignores Victoria, a girl, and adores Jonathan, a boy. However, the other men – Francie and Finn – defy him whilst women simply accept his authority. Finn is more blatantly rebellious, constantly and deliberately annoying Uncle Philip, while Francie has an affair with Philip’s wife and makes his own money that he gives to Melanie against Philip’s wishes.

Traditional gender roles are also enforced by portraying the men as workers and protectors. Uncle Philip owns the shop and makes toys and puppets, Finn paints, Francie fiddles, and Jonathan builds model boats. Meanwhile, the women do not work except for manning Philip’s shop. The brothers are also seen as Melanie’s guardians, with Melanie imploring Finn to ‘keep [her] safe’ (Carter 196) and to ‘save’ her (Carter 196); Francie calls her ‘pet’ (Carter 120) and ‘girly’ (Carter 120). Having been ‘struck dumb on her wedding day’ (Carter 197), Aunt Margaret’s muteness symbolizes her weakness and the power she lost the day she married Philip. She is also seen as ugly in her uncomfortable Sunday dress, and only turns beautiful when she puts on Melanie’s dress. This reflects patriarchal society, in which women’s clothes often come to define their beauty and others’ perceptions of them.

Near the novel’s end, these conventional roles are broken. Having been prohibited from wearing pants by Uncle Philip, Melanie determines to do so in an act of defiance. Aunt Margaret also ‘[finds] her old voice again’ (Carter 197) when order breaks down and she is ‘freed’ (Carter 197) from Uncle Philip, allowing her to regain her ‘strength’ (Carter 197). This shows women reasserting control over their selves.

Therefore, Carter’s The Magic Toyshop conforms to genre conventions of feminist magic realism by having many aspects and themes of magic realism as well as female characters that, over the course of the novel, revolt against traditional gender conventions.

Word Count: 989

Works Cited:

Carter, Angela. The Magic Toyshop. 1967. Great Britain: Virago Press, October 2006. Print.

Bibliography:

Lalwani, Puja. "Feminist Literature." Buzzle.com. Buzzle.com, 23 Sept. 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. .

Moore, Lindsay. "Magical Realism." Emory University - English Department. Emory University - Department of English, Fall 1998. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .