Mirrors are a key element of the gothic, symbolising self-identity, sense of self, vanity, sensuality or ghostly other world” Explore how mirrors are used in the bloody chamber.

Mirrors, it could be argued are not merely features of the gothic that highlight how we see ourselves, vanity and what it is to be human but rather are symbolic of a reflection on society. Carter uses mirrors in abundance in her subversive and unique collection of short stories as a tool to portray her judgements on patriarchy, vanity and societies concept of otherness. A mirror perhaps reflects how we see ourselves yet Carter use mirrors to portray how others see us, for example in the Bloody Chamber’s title story the mirror reflects how the female protagonist is seen through the male gaze, in Wolf-Alice the Duke does not cast a reflection as perhaps otherness is not regarded or accepted by society. The mirrors in the Bloody Chamber provide striking reflections on society, provoking readers to question how we see the world and how others see us. Mirrors symbolise vanity, other worldly beings and a sense of self yet they perhaps work on a more metaphorical, abstract level as the mirrors beg the question how important, detrimental or beneficial are society’s views.

The use of mirrors could be used to highlight the sense of a double, a key gothic element within one character, although not a physical double like Jeckyll and Hyde, the protagonist in the Bloody Chamber could be interpreted as a double herself as she sees herself through the mirror in his eyes and in her own with her own memories of innocence and childhood. She sees “the white dress; the frail child within it; and the flashing crimson jewels round my throat, bright as arterial blood… and sensed in myself a potentiality for corruption” suggesting the mirror reflects a complex sense of identity where the girls inner sense of self and society’s patriarchal male categorisation of her become one. This could highlight that for a female an isolated, individual sense of self is impossible, within a patriarchal society a female must always be a double, as the male gaze will be imprinted upon her from the moment she steps “into the unguessable country of marriage”. There are frequent references to mirrors in the title story, the protagonist sees in the mirror “the young bride, who had become that multitude of girls”, the third person narration creates a sense of detachment and distance which could suggest she does not just see herself in the mirror but rather females as a collective framed by the male gaze. The use of “multitude” could suggest Carter’s important judgement on society as the mirror reflects that objectification for women is a common experience, which is later reinforced by “a dozen husbands impaled a dozen brides” suggesting the universal nature of the male gaze and the lack of identity for females. The mirrors here offer a poignant reflection on society, showing the “multitude” of girls who face objectification and highlighting the sense of a double for females who see themselves through their own eyes but most importantly through males eyes.

It could be argued mirrors symbolise the detrimental effects of vanity and socially constructed gender. In the Courtship of Mr Lyon, the young protagonist once in the city, symbolic of civilisation and society, becomes increasingly vain “she smiled at herself in the mirror a little too often these days” which could suggest society is not only vain but preoccupied with image and beauty. The judgemental tone in this phrase could suggest Carter’s condemnation of societies emphasis on beauty as a females best attribute. The narrator at the end of the story asks “how was it she had never noticed…his agate eyes were equipped with lids…was it because she had only looked at her own face reflected there?” which could suggest having entered the city and civilisation, away from nature, the protagonist has become self-absorbed perhaps symbolising the selfish nature of society and the detrimental effect of vanity, as it causes us to look beyond others and focus on ourselves. Mirrors, in the Tiger’s Bride could be used to highlight how females see themselves in relation and within society. For example Beauty sees her father in her mirror not her own reflection, this could suggest in society females lack individual identity and are merely dominated property of males, whether it is their fathers or their husbands. Whilst the mirror here presents this fatalistic image of objectification it could also be used to expose her exploitation which is a catalyst for her seeking the beast and discarding her social pretences. Seeing her father rich from gambling her away to the beast in the mirror reveals to her her experience as a commodity, being the feisty, petulant teenager she is “what a burden all those possessions must have been to him” she voluntarily goes to the Beast which results in her metamorphosis into a natural beast  in which she strips off her socially constructed gender “layer of successive skin” and returns to the natural world. These two stories could be argued as a mirror of each other, the first in which the lion becomes a human and the second in which the female becomes a tiger or learns to “run with the tigers” both proposing the detrimental and damaging effects of both objectification and vanity through the symbolic use of mirrors.

Another use of mirrors could be that to symbolise the ghostly other world frequently explored in the gothic. The mirrors in The Lady of the House of Love and Wolf-Alice represent how those who are of otherness and exist in a liminal experience, half human, half vampiric beast “cease to cast” a reflection on the mirror as the mirror “does not reflect a presence”. This could be symbolic of societies reaction to otherness, anything different is often perceived as a threat and therefore either ignored or condemned, perhaps the mirror which causes Wolf-Alice to form a self-identity could be representative of society and its negligence of those who are different, they are not reflected in society and thus cease to be reflected in the mirror. This could be reinforced by the affectionate ending of Wolf-Alice, who “brought into being by her soft, moist, gentle tongue, finally, the face of the Duke” by showing compassion and tenderness Wolf-Alice has accepted the Duke for his otherness and in doing so given him a sense of identity, suggesting being excluded from society means a lack of identity yet inclusion and compassion can cause even an “other worldly” being to be “as real life itself”. The mirror, on a literal level could highlight how liminal creatures and ghosts do not have a reflection as they are outside reality yet on a metaphorical level, the mirror could represent the lack of acceptance those who are deemed as other gain in society, ceasing to even be seen in a self-absorbed world.

Mirrors in the Bloody Chamber could be argued as strongly symbolic of Carter’s own judgements on society and patriarchy, of vanity and a reflection of the importance of self-identity and the male gaze. The Bloody Chamber uses a multitude of mirrors for different effect throughout the collection, beginning perhaps with the static nature of society that frames women through the male gaze in a doubling effect that hinders females own conception of identity moving through to the final story in which the characters create their own identity through compassion and acceptance, possibly reinforcing Carter’s message “can a bird sing a new song?”, can we create our own identities or will the mirror merely reflect the way society sees us through a patriarchal lens. Mirrors in the Bloody Chamber could be argued to show a reflection of society, asking readers to look closely at what they see.