Notes. The Erl-King

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The Erl-King by Angela Carter

Notes on Features of the Gothic The Erl-King as Gothic Protagonist He is alluring and has the power of seduction in the way he draws the birds to him, and the narrator, on his magic lasso of inhuman music and his diatonic spool of sound. He is exotic and mysterious as it is never confirmed exactly what he is, though it appears he is based on the green man of European folk legends, the spirit of the wood: the narrator refers to him as the spirit of the place. His connection with the forest and his deep understanding of the animals suggests that he too is not human but bestial and animalistic, a common trait psychologically that is shared with other Gothic protagonists. He is childlike, which makes him seem less of a predator and less like a typical Gothic protagonist. He calls plants by rude names and the narrator describes him as an innocent, also saying I loved him so much, the tone of which suggests an almost motherly affection for him. This supports the later cry of the Erl-Kings violin, Mother, mother, you have murdered me! He too is sometimes seen as motherly, highly unusual for a Gothic protagonist, and has many effeminate qualities. He is described as an excellent housewife who keeps his home spick and span, using the vernacular of old fairy tales. This also adds a certain innocence to his character. He tells the narrator lore like an old housewife, or the grandmother figure of fairy tales. Language, Form and Structure The tense changes, from present to past to future, give the story an otherworldly quality. The events seem to have taken place already, to be happening at this very moment, and it also confirms that they will happen again in the future. It could be seen to indicate the Erl-Kings repeated trappings of women into birds, and show how time is suspended in the forest under his rule. The use of future tense in the final stages of the story, where the narrator plans how she will murder the Erl-King, leave a sense of mystery around the true events. Perhaps it indicates that she, like all others before her, thinks she can escape when in reality she is fooling herself. This also lends itself to an anti-feminist interpretation women think they are empowered when in reality they can never bring themselves to leave the men that oppress them. The point of view also changes. The majority of the time the first-person narration puts the reader in the place of the narrator, making the experience more vivid, but towards the end the narrator separates the reader by addressing the Erl-King as you, thereby switching the reader into the Erl-Kings place. This both demonstrates the narrators confusion and could perhaps be intending to induce guilt in male readers, forcing them to recognise their own similarities with the Erl-King. The final change in the point of view, from first to third person, draws the story to a close in a typical fairy-tale way. It could also indicate that the narrator has been lost after all, as
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she had earlier claimed that she would be dumb, from spite when turned into a bird, and so is unable to finish her own telling of the tale. The description of the forest is incredibly detailed and very painterly, as the reader sees the image come to life before them through the depth of description of the chickweed nutmeg blewits chanterelle. The oxymorons that Carter uses often highlight the narrators conflicting emotions; he is a tender butcher; his touch both consoles and devastates; the fruit has appalling succulence.
Sex and Death Metaphor is used extensively to liken sex to drowning in this story. When they are together, the narrator describes herself as wearing his dress of water that drenches her, and this act itself has a capacity for drowning as the more she loses herself in him physically, the more she feels that she will be unable to save herself from being turned into a bird. The Narrator The narrative grows increasingly hysterical towards the end of the story. The Erl-King tells her many stories of folklore, and she does not take him literally; yet when he tells her the owl was a bakers daughter and smiles at her, her fear escalates. It seems that she in fact takes him too literally and invents a horrible fate for herself that the Erl-King never openly declares. The narrator is incredibly isolated in the story. Even when she is with the Erl-King she imagines that he is going to trap her and so has no-one to turn to; perhaps this loneliness drives her mad, and results in her resolve to kill him before he can do the same to her. If she is right in the belief that he is going to trap her, she is even more frighteningly isolated as, in other Gothic tales, the villains at least know they are doing evil and so the victim is not the only one with this knowledge, but the Erl-King, in his innocence, does not even seem to be aware that what he plans is wrong, which would force the narrator to doubt her own beliefs and morals. Intertextuality Carter pays homage to a variety of other works in The Erl-King. She takes a line directly from Christina Rossettis poem Goblin Market thirsty, cankered, goblinridden to describe the narrators liaisons with the Erl-King, who also lays out a goblin feast of fruit for the narrator. Eat me, drink me also references this poem, but also Lewis Carrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland, another reminder of the otherness of the forest. The narrator plans to strangle the Erl-King with his own hair, and in Robert Brownings poem Porphyrias Lover the narrator does the same thing when he jealously wishes to keep his lover with him forever. This could also be hinting that the narrator of the ErlKing, like that of Porphyrias lover, is not entirely mentally stable. Fairy tales are also referenced; when the narrator comments What big eyes you have, Little Red Riding Hood comes to mind, as it does with the remark, there are some eyes can eat you and the reference to your sharp teeth.

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Alex

The Erl-King by Angela Carter

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