Summary Of The Courtship Of Mr Lyon

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The story, “The Courtship of Mr Lyon”, Carter once again subverts the traditional fairy tale character paradox that is generally associated with “Beauty and the Beast”. This is achieved by Carter through the two main characters; Beauty's character represents, what would typically, be represented by a male character within a fairytale. The author instead develops the heroine to possess “beastly” traits such as arrogance and materialism. This is evident as she initially dismisses the Beast because of his appearance which serves to depict her as a shallow character as the Beast’s “strangeness made her shiver” which appears to reference his difference in appearance as despite the thought to “drop a kiss upon his shaggy mane… she could not bring herself to touch him of her …show more content…

It is evident that Beauty is trapped within a society that objectifies her as she is depicted to be “white and unmarked as a spoiled bolt of bridal satin” reflecting society’s expectations of young women to be feminine and innocent. Whilst the Beast portrays the opposite of what the reader may expect him to as Carter depicts his character to be gentle and loving which are reflected when Beauty realises the “rough lapping of his tongue” is the Beast “kissing [my] hands” and upon her time to leave the Beast “helplessly fell before her to kiss her hands”; these actions serve to show the Beast in a vulnerable light as he is subjective to her which is a contrast to the stereotypical tale of “Beauty and the Beast”. In comparison to Beauty, the Beast has good intentions which is represented by the “solid gold” knocker which gives the impression that he has a pure heart. The theme of vulnerability is arguably a typical traits shown by females within the gothic genre, and supports the idea that “The Courtship of Mr Lyon” are based on a dichotomy between the two main

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