Once upon a time, in lands far and
near, fairy tales were used as a method of transmitting cultural values from
one generation to the next. The
conventional wisdom of fairy tales reassured children that there was power in
purity and virtue, power that could be used to triumph over evil and,
regardless, good and evil always earned a transformation (whether as a reward
or as a punishment always depended on the choices made). Protestant ethics were the dominant cultural
mores in Charlotte Bronte’s time, so she ‘knew’ that one must work hard, avoid
temptation and do the right thing under all circumstances in order to receive
rewards in the end. Angela Carter
studied Sadeian philosophy, which informed that those who resist temptation
have not tried it, everyone is corruptible, and ‘do as ye will shall be the
whole of the law’. Drawing on the
Protestant work ethic (the Freudian superego), Bronte reinforces the
conventional wisdom of fairy tales, while Carter uses Sadeian philosophy (the
Freudian id) to call the conventional wisdom into question.
There is power in purity; like any
power, purity can be corrupted. The
Protestant ethic (superego) defines purity in terms of spirit (i.e., seeking
God). Helen Burns, Jane Eyre’s friend
from Lowood, had that form of purity.
Bronte shows a break with convention by showing that all children are
not pure: “Eliza and Georgiana, evidently acting according to orders, spoke to
me as little as possible; John thrust his tongue in his cheek whenever he saw
me, and once attempted chastisement; but as I instantly turned against him,
roused by the same sentiment of deep ire and desperate revolt which had stirred
my corruption before (30).” In Sadeian
philosophy (id), purity resides in sexual virginity; the emphasis is on the
untapped potential. In the title story
of her collection, The Bloody Chamber,
Carter writes: “I saw how much that cruel necklace became me. And, for the first time in my innocent and
confined life, I sensed in myself a potentiality for corruption that took my
breath away (11).” In a later story,
Carter describes the other side of the coin: “He has that special quality of
virginity, most and least ambiguous of states: ignorance, yet at the same time,
power in potential, and furthermore, unknowingness, which is not the same as
ignorance (97).”
Unlike purity (which is innate),
virtue (from the Latin virtus ‘valor, merit, moral perfection’ – OED) is a
quality that can be earned or lost.
Protestant ethics dictate that virtue is purchased through
suffering. Jane Eyre turns a corner and
gains the strength of virtue only after: “-it came: in full heavy swing the
torrent poured over me. The whole consciousness
of my life lorn, my love lost, my hope quenched, my faith death-struck, swayed
full and mighty above me in one sullen mass.
That bitter hour cannot be described (418).” Carter, advocating for the id, which
identifies with the pleasure principle, implies that virtue is lost through
pain: “In the course of that one-sided struggle, I had seen his deathly
composure shatter like a porcelain vase flung against the wall; I had heard him
shriek and blaspheme at the orgasm; I had bled.
And perhaps I had seen his face without its mask; and perhaps I had
not. Yet I had been infinitely
disheveled by the loss of my virginity (18).”
Fairy tales do not try to claim that virtue is its own reward.
Fairy tale endings inevitably
feature transformation earned through choice.
Protestant ethics (superego) dictate that if one does the right thing,
one will earn blessings. Jane’s
sacrifice and Rochester’s
redemptive penance lead to their eventual happiness. “My Edward and I, then, are happy: and the
more so, because those we love most are happy likewise (642).” Carter embraces the superego in her title
story, for it is only when the female protagonist gives up her desires for
worldly things that she is rescued and rewarded with the happy comfortable
household she really wanted. “We lead a
quiet life, the three of us. I
inherited, of course, enormous wealth but we have given most of it away to
various charities (40).” So, Jane is
wealth, accepted and loved by the husband she chose. Rochester
earns partial sight and marital bliss through hard work and sacrifice. The female protagonist of The Bloody Chamber has earned the
husband who truly loves her, her mother’s protection, and some peace. And the fictional characters lived happily
ever after (because they did the right thing).
Works
Cited
Bronte, Charlotte.
Jane Eyre. Puffin
Classics, Penguin Books, London,
1994.
Carter, Angela. The Bloody Chamber. Penguin Books, London, 1979.
