The Absence of Mother: The Relationship of Father Daughter in Gothic Fictions
The Absence of Mother: The Relationship of Father Daughter in Gothic Fictions
The Absence of Mother: The Relationship of Father Daughter in Gothic Fictions
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the bonding of father and daughter in Angela Carter’s “The
Courtship of Mr. Lyon” and Intan Paramaditha’s “Pintu Merah” (transl. “The Red
Door”). Carter and Paramaditha employ distinguished narrative structures to
highlight the interaction among the characters. They utilizes third-person narrator
and reproduces fairy tales. The absence of mother becomes an interesting pivot in
both stories. In that situation, father is inevitably the daughter’s closest figure. In
both stories, fathers are at the same time demanding and lame. While, daughters
are those dependent, submissive yet tactical figures in facing their fathers as the
sole counterparts in the story. Using the perspectives of Juliett Michelle and
Nancy Chodorow on psychoanalysis feminism, this paper unveils the roles of
father in daughter’s adolescent development. This study reveals that despite the
dependencies of the daughters toward the familial relationship, they use their
submissiveness as the weapons to break the patriarchal values represented by the
fathers.
INTRODUCTION
The bonding of parents and children possesses significant meaning in the
construction of a family. It, in fact, is a stepping stone in which human civilization
firstly created. Family have pivotal roles in the development of children. Coppelia
Kahn states that “From being mothered and fathered, we learn to be ourselves as
men and women.” (1986, p.241). The figure of father and mother are both equally
important in children development. They are the first resource from which
children learn human bonding. Their parents are their role modelling. Parents-
children bonding is particularly important in children’s self-identification process.
In this smallest construction of society, societal and gender roles are infiltrated
Hujuala Rika Ayu , The Absence of mother...(hlm. 28 - 42)
through norms and values. Children – boys and girls, sons and daughters learn and
understand their roles before they eventually merge into a larger society.
Psychoanalysis provides a comprehensive elaboration on the importance of
family bonding. According to Tyson, “family is very important in psychoanalytic
theory because we are each a product of the role we are given in the family-
complex (2006, p.13). The relationship between parents and children as well as
among siblings determine the characteristics of children. However, Juliett
Michell, underlines in Psychoanalysis and Feminism: A Radical Reassessment of
Freudian Analysis that it is not ‘family’ that contribute fundamentally in shaping
the society but it is more the structural relationship between families that
differentiates human or people from primate (2000, p.374). Michell sees family in
a larger scope that can create a wider network that further becomes the typical of
human.
Family as the smallest embodiment of society has sets of laws that innately
settle the hierarchy of the family members. This sets of laws encompasses the
roles of the family member. It inevitably resolves the power relations within the
familial structure. The power relations further exerts the patriarchal system.
Hierarchically, father is the first figure and mother is the second in the family.
Father, as the ruler in family, may have distinguished position. In a patrilineal
society, father is the patriarchal agent and the center of the family (Michell, 2000,
p.394). Father sets the familial rules and norms. Father deals with the outer
matters and mother is in charge with the domestic sites. Although nurturing
children is shared duties between father and mother, mother is instinctively given
the roles of nurturing and caring the children. Handojo and Djunjung assert that
“the society’s discourse also accepts as true that taking care of the children is the
main responsibility of a woman” (2016, p.25). Being a woman and a mother is
permanently related to the term motherhood. Fatherhood, however, as a term is
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not as common as motherhood and the term itself may suggest different meaning
(ibid).
This paper discusses the works of two female gothic writers, Angela Carter
and Intan Paramaditha. These female writers have different backgrounds. Angela
Carter and Intan Paramaditha are both well known of their capacity as gothic
fiction writers. Angela Carter was British gothic writer while Intan Paramaditha is
a young contemporary Indonesian writer. Although Intan does not declare herself
a gothic fiction writer, her short stories filled with the stories of monster or other
strange creatures. Carter and Paramaditha have something in common. They
employ a conventional story line that blends the adaptation of the classic fairy
tales and modern women’s stories in order to enrich their stories and strengthen
the characters.
“The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” follows the story line of the famous Beauty
and the Beast. It employs a traditional plot in which parents are dominant and
intervene man woman relationship. Beauty, the female character in the story is
handed over by her father to an ugly monstrous male, Beast as a substitute of his
life. The relationship is meant to test Beauty’s truly love to Beast. Beauty, in fact,
has the power to alter Beast. Meanwhile, “The Red Door” apparently follows
Brother Grimm’s The Little Red Riding Hood. The protagonist, Dahlia, is the little
red in “The Red Door”.
Similarly, Dahlia is confronted with the animal character, wolf and the old
woman in the story. Dahlia lives alone with her father. She is the youngest and
‘handed over’ by her siblings to the father, the commanding figure in the family.
She is given responsible to take care the father. Their stories are mostly filled with
the figures of the mysterious creatures such as monsters, beasts as well as wild
animals like wolf. Ghosts and the haunting places are usually chosen as the space
or setting of gothic stories. Gothic fiction, as a genre, has qualifications that
distinguished it from other genre. Gothic fiction usually takes place in:
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DISCUSSION
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Angela Carter’s “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” was firstly published in the
short stories collection, The Bloody Chamber and Other Adult Tales, in 1979.
Most stories in The Bloody Chamber and Other Adult Tales are basically adapted
from traditional fairy tales such as “Bluebeard”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Puss in
Boots”, and “Little Red Riding Hood”. The words, ‘adult tales’ indicate the sense
of ‘pornographic’ and the categorization of the book, to whom the book is
essentially addressed to. Indeed, Carter’s stories were ‘pornographic’ as they
explore man-woman relationship which “constitutes an important part of the
contemporary discourse on sexuality” (Sheets, 1991, p.633).
The second short story, Intan Paramaditha’s “Pintu Merah” (Transl. “The
Red Door”) was initially published in Koran Tempo in 2005. “The Red Door” was
then included into her short story collection, Sihir Perempuan and published in
the same year. During the celebration of women’s body by sastrawan wangi
Indonesia, Sihir Perempuan offers another perspectives of women stories. It does
not only explore women’s body but also employ fairy tales and ghost stories to
reveal women’s fight against patriarchy. Kurnianto asserts, the figures of ghost in
Paramaditha’s story does not only add that sense of magical and haunted things
into the stories but also functions to break the myth or discourse constructed by
the patriarchal society (2016, pp. 89-90). The appearance of ghosts qualifies their
works into gothic fiction. Beauty and Dahlia, the female character in both short
stories have something in common. Both female characters live with their father.
They are motherless and father are inevitably the ‘closest’ figure in the family.
Their world are dominantly encircled by masculinities, father and their male
counterparts.
Beauty and Dahlia experience distinguished situation. The situation may
influence their physical and psychological sides. This differing situation are parts
of the important aspect in gothic fiction. In terms of gothic situation, Hogle
differentiates this aspect of gothic fiction as “terror gothic” and “horror gothic”
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(2002, p.3). Terror gothic (fiction) presents fearful climax either to the readers or
characters that threat the main character’s life, sanity and safety. Horror gothic
(fiction), on the other hand, exposes the reader or the principal character with
vulgar and violent of physical and psychological ending. It usually breaks the
daily norm with dreadful results (Ibid). “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” can be put
into terror gothic as its principal character, Beauty does not feel safe in her
relationship with the antagonist, The Beast. However, the story does not result in
sarcastic ending. In contrast, “The Red Door” shows a minor ‘bloody’ ending. The
emergence of old woman taking Dahlia away into the well can be an example of
why this story is sorted into horror gothic. Dahlia’s curiosity kills her as she enters
into the red door. Dahlia’s ‘bloody’ action carries consequences as she breaks the
realm behind the red door.
The familial structure in “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” comprises the
character father and Beauty. The figure of mother and siblings are nonexistent in
the story. “The Red Door” shows the familial structure of father and daughter.
Siblings are present. “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” begins with Beauty set in the
kitchen doing her chores. The initial setting, the kitchen, is described as “mean
kitchen” (Carter, 1993, p.50) as to represent Beauty’s situation of being alone and
neglected. The kitchen seems to contrast the physical appearance of Beauty who is
analogized as “made all of snow” (ibid).
“The Red Door”, on the other hand, is initiated with Dahlia and the father’s
short conversation. The short conversation is written in italics as to separate the
lines from the description of the stories.
I’m not going to go home late.
I’m ill if you go home late. I’m so ill.
Yes, Papa. I know. I’ll see you, later, Pa.
(Paramaditha, 2005, p.49).
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The conversation between Dahlia and her father reveals the father’s
dependence toward her daughter. Dahlia seems to understand her father’s
dependence and assures him that she is not going to go home late and be back
soon. Paramaditha employs italic’s way of writing in some parts of her stories.
This way of writing brings the readers to the closeness. Readers may behold or
feel Dahlia’s sentiment more clearly. It also shows the minor characters’ action or
feeling toward their father. “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” is told in the third
narrative point of view. It uses the names of the characters. While “The Red
Doors” is seen from the perspective of the third person by the using of the ‘I’.
They can be then categorized into the genre of gothic fiction as it exposes the
character of beast and its haunting residence.
The settings of the stories, however, imply the manly characteristics of the
male figures. “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” dominantly takes place in the beast’s
residence. The residence is depicted as a “Palladian house that seemed to hide
itself shyly behind snow-laden skirts of an antique cypress” (Carter, 1993, p.51).
The description of the house signifies the nature of the beast. The Beast is
Beauty’s male counterpart. He is the binary opposition of Beauty. Beast mostly
hides himself against public. He does not accept any ‘human’ companion in his
Palladian house. His only companion is “a liver and white King Charles spaniel”
(ibid). Correspondingly, “The Red Door” is situated in an antiquated Dutch era
house. The house was “splendid for such a house in a small city” (Paramaditha,
2005, p.51) and typically masculine as it was inherited from the grandfather who
was a respected official in the past. It represents the dictatorial grandeur of the
owners as well as the fading authority of the father who was a very important
person in the past.
The figures of fathers in both stories have similar qualities. Both fathers are
in the transitional phase. Beauty’s father is in his edge of bankruptcy. Her father is
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unsuccessful with his business. He has troubles with law that later change him
from someone “who had been so rich, [then] had come to be so poor” (Carter,
1993, p.56). Dahlia’s papa similarly was once a commanding individual. He is
then retired and ill. He is described as:
“And look how lame he is: he whose voice has ever echoed in the
alley’s house, he who can feel his children’s vibration of lies even
though they hide under the bed, he is the dictator using his iron hands
in the name of love. Now he is just a retired man with his smelly grey
hair who has to nap. His seventy years old heart is weak, and he is so
dependent to her daughter that he has always to grip her hands”
(Paramaditha, 2005, p.50).
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the same line. The sameness seem to underscore Beauty’s being as the female
character and daughter whose roles as caregiver of the house and the father.
Beauty substitutes the roles of mother in the house. Through the absence of the
mother, Beauty inherits that sense of motherhood and learns how to be a ‘wife’.
She is, therefore, a daughter and a wife at the same time. Beauty’s dual roles in
the story, however, are problematic. She is his. She belongs to her father. In the
beginning of the short story, Beauty’s position to her father is emphasized as “his
Beauty, his girl-child, his pet” (ibid). The word “his” is repeated three times in
that sentence to expose the dominance of the father and his sense of belongingness
toward the daughter. Meanwhile, the word “pet” may have ambivalent meanings.
It may be positive in order to show the father’s affection toward the daughter. On
the other hand, the word pet may represent the power relations of father and
daughter in the story. It underscores the dominant-passive relationship of father
and daughter.
Both settings of places present a symmetry story line that reveals the linear
familial structure of the characters. Beast and father represent the male powerful
patriarchal figures in the story. They are more dominant than other characters.
Beast’s authority is metaphorically embedded in “the great paws [that] lying on
the arm of his chair” (Carter, 1993, p.55). Paws indicate the symbols of male
power showing his capacity of gripping the subordinate. The figure of father
exercises his power through Beauty, as his only familial relationship. The father
exchanges Beauty for the white rose which he stole from Beast. On the other
hand, Beauty and the spaniel signify subordinate position in the story. They
become the consoler of the house. They are loyal, submissive and obedient to their
masters. Beauty has admitted that she is bounded by “the sense of obligation to an
unusual degree” (ibid). She is an object either for her father and the beast as she
confesses herself to be “Miss Lamb, spotless, sacrificial” (ibid). The spaniel is in
line with Beauty in terms of their position as the caretaker of the house. He is the
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equilibrium of Beast. His existence in the house is to prevent Beast from “his
otherness” (Carter, 1993, p.54).
Dahlia has similar destiny to Beauty. As the youngest and the dearest
daughter of her Papa, her siblings to some extent agree that Dahlia has to stay and
bear the duty of nurturing the Papa, the head of the family. She is prepared to be
her Papa’s nurse, to be the substitute of mother in the family. Her siblings seem to
shut all possible doors that may lead to Dahlia’s self-development such as career
or making a relationship with man. In fact, Papa is keener to Dahlia than to other
children. He does not choose Adit or Rama, the male children. He fails to
correlate himself with the other three children, Adit, Rama and Sarita. Dahlia
seems to be the most submissive child in the family. She appears to be dutiful and
loyal. Although Dahlia is not as bright as her siblings, she has fulfilled her Papa’s
expectation. Her papa said:
“But you, my little daughter, you are the best. Even when you are a
baby, you seldom cry, very obedient,” he touches Dahlia’s eyes as if he
strokes a rabbit. (Paramaditha, 2003, p.54).
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Going through the red door and experiencing the world in it represents Dahlia’s
escape from the real world, from the Papa’s territory.
Within the interaction of daughter father in the stories, exchange takes
significant stance. Exchange in this case means the negotiation that bears
consequences particularly to the protagonists. In “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon”,
Beauty is exchanged to the white rose stolen by her father. In “Red Door”, Dahlia
is exchanged as the nurse of her father. The exchange entails multiple meanings.
In the case of Beauty, exchange transforms her from a home, innocent girl into an
experienced one. Moving from her father’s house to the Beast’s Palladian house
leads her to the initial interaction with other male person other than her father.
Beauty learns man-woman relationship. However, her intensive attachment with
her father soon ends as he leaves her alone in Beast’s house.
Next morning, her father kissed her and drove away with a renewed
hope about him that made her glad, but, all the same, she longed for the
shabby home of their poverty (Carter, 1993, p.55).
Beauty seems to be fragile as she finds out that she has to stay in the house
with Beast. As her attachment with her father cut down, Beauty feels anxious.
Daughter, in the case of the absent father, feels insecure and uneasy when they
have to face men (Chodorow, 1979, p.138). Beauty feels anxious as her father
leaves her with Beast. In the case of Dahlia, the exchange carries restriction. It
closes chances of developing herself. Nonetheless, the exchange tests both
femininity aspects of female characters. Beauty has to learn to accept the fact that
she is exchanged “on some magically reciprocal scale, [for] the price of her
father’s good fortune” (Carter, 1993, p.55). She is obedient and passive toward
her father and the Beast. She learns to be the caretakers of the male characters. In
this case, although mother is the daughter’s role model, the source from which she
learns values and roles of being a female, father exposes her to a reality of being a
female. The exchange itself is a symbolic marriage between Beast and Beauty. It
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Beauty seems to evaluate and admire herself. Her act of looking at her-self
in front of the mirror reflects her slight of being narcissistic. Dahlia’s process of
realizing herself occurs as she looks at the image of a woman in the well. Dahlia
calls it “my mirror” (Paramaditha, 2005, p.52). Dahlia is presented a reverse
image as she gazes herself on the water. She sees the shadow of a woman there.
Beauty and Dahlia go through the process of identifying herself. This process may
also exerts their escape from realities.
CONCLUSION
This paper discusses the close relationship of father daughter in gothic
fictions. It also sees the important roles of father in constructing daughter’s self-
development within the absence of the figure of mother in the stories. Based on
the perspectives of psychoanalysis feminism, the figure of father is somehow
important in ‘feminizing’ the daughters and assisting them into the negotiation of
heterosexuality. The absence of literal mother in the stories is basically a
metaphor. It implies the daughter’s movement from mother’s attachment to father.
Beauty and Dahlia, the two female characters in stories are in the end of their
adolescence. Their relationship with the figures of father and papa take them to
the realization of self-development and identification.
However, father daughter relationship carries the notion of patriarchal
authority. Father is not only seen as the second or the separate person in the early
development of children but also the figure of symbolic law. Father represents the
natural law in the family. Daughters, as the opposite of sons in the family, are to
be compliant to the fathers’ law. Father and Papa may act as the representation of
fatherhood in substitute of the absent mother. Father and Papa are depicted
dualistically. They are simultaneously demanding and dependent to their
daughters. However, the reciprocal love can be clearly seen in the relationship of
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Father and Beauty than Papa and Dahlia. Father is mostly depicted as a caring
father to Beauty. On the other hand, Papa establishes a more authoritative
relationship with Dahlia. Beauty and Dahlia are at the same time depicted as
dutiful, submissive, passive and un-initiative females yet at some points they are
tactical. Daughters in fact have determining positions in father daughter
relationship. Their duties as the caretakers of the fathers and the substitute of
mother place them in a bargaining site.
REFERENCES
Angela, Carter. 1993. The Bloody Chamber. New York: Penguin Books, USA.
Chodorow, Nancy. 1978. The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the
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California Press.
Coppelia, Kahn. 1986. ”The Absent Mother in King Lear”. Rewriting the
Renaissance: The Discourses of Sexual Difference in Early Modern Europe.
Eds. Margaret F. Ferguson, Maureen Quilligan, and Nancy J. Vickers.
Chicago: The University of Chicago.
Hagle, Jerrold E. Ed. 2002. The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Handojo, P.F., DjunDjung, J.M. Communicating with Feminine Bodies in Mom
Lit. Kata 18.1 (2016). pp.25-32.
Hogle, Jerrold. 2002. Introduction: the Gothic Fiction in Western Culture. The
Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. pp. 1-20.
Kurnianto, Ery Agus. Resistensi Perempuan terhadap Wacana Ratu Rumah
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101.
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