Sexuality In Angela Carter's Company Of Wolf

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The danger and power of womens sexuality is a theme heavily revisted within womens literature. Angela Carters narrative "Company of Wolves"; a fictional reinvention of the mythical tale of Red Riding Hood; explores female sexuality and transformation. The story differentiates from it's original version when the handsome "wolf-man" she encounters in the forest introduces her to seduction. With both her chaste and innocence at stake, the woman discovers her power and fearlessly relies on it to survive. "She stands and moves within the invisible pentacle of her own virginity. She is an unbroken egg; she is a sealed vessel; she has inside her a magic space the entrance to which is shut tight with a plug of membrane; she is a closed system; she…show more content…
The primary focus of the poem is placed on three paramedics who encountered Monroe following shortly after her death; and the ways in which her death changed their lives. Marilyn Monroe was a celebrity and sex icon of the era in which those men lived; which justifies the reason why her death caused distress to even the most common of people. "One found himself standing at night in the doorway to a room of sleep, listening to a woman breathing, just and ordinary woman breathing." This quote from the conclusion of the poem captures the true extent of which an extraordinary woman's death was powerful enough to change an ordinary mans perspective on ordinary women. As a result of Marilyn Monroe's death, the paramedic gained a whole new appreciation in reguards the "ordinary woman"; down to the simplicity of her breathing. The capacity in which her death effected everyday people indicated the power of her sexuality as a woman. Historically recalling the time period in which Marilyn Monroe lived-the mid nineteen hundreds- one must consider the fact that she was far from fitting the discription of the ordinary woman of that time period. As a public figure, Marilyn Monroe redefined the traditional views of womens sexuality in society. She was the epitome of a beautiful and set the standard of beauty for that time period.…show more content…
"During the night she had imagined that she seduced him. She imagined that the two of them walked on the place until they came to the storage barn beyond the two back fields and there, she imagined, that things came to such a pass that she very easily seduced him and then that, of course, she had to reckon with his remorse. True genius can get an an idea across even to an inferior mind. She imagined that she took his remorse in hand and changed it into a deeper understanding of life. She took all his shame away and turned it into something useful." (p.902) This part of the text highlighs the womans desire for sexual empowerment. She fantasizes she assumes sexual dominance over him. The woman; who hubristically percieves herself to be an intillect; considers the man inferior. The man; a self-proclaimed Christain, turns out to be a con artist. He schemes and plots on her weakness; her intillectual pride. The man decieves her takes advantage of her naitivity. "When all of him has passed but his head, he turned and reguarded her with a look that no longer had any admiration in it. "iv'e gotten a lot of interesting things", he said. 'One time I got a woman's glass eye this way. And you needn't to think you'll catch me because Pointer aint my real name. I use a different anme at every house I call at and sont stay nowhere long. And I'll tell you
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