Setting in 'The Bloody Chamber'

Setting in a gothic text is one of the most significant part of the narrative. The setting in 'The Bloody Chamber' reaffirms the images of rebirth and sexuality that continues throughout the text. The sea is described as smelling of 'amniotic salinity', this is a reference to birth. The ocean also surrounds the castle so Carter could be making a comment on how women are tapped by motherhood. The sky is described as being 'pink as roses' and 'orange as tiger-lilies', the flowers are symbolising the flowering of the young woman as she is becoming a woman. She arrives in November, and this juxtaposition between the colour of the new day and the harsh landscape of winter could possibly show the difference between the two characters. The narrator is a girl, blossoming into a young woman, but the Marquis is a man associated with death. This analogy links into the gothic fascination with the motifs of darkness and light.

The castle is a typical gothic setting, occurring in many gothic texts. It is described as being in 'faery solitude', and this is a classic gothic theme of blurring the boundaries between reality and fantasy. This description also links into the genre of fairy tale, relating back to the original text 'Bluebeard'. Carter comments how she wanted to rework old stories. By doing this, Carter is able to expose the much more frightening reality of fairy tales. The narrator also says 'That lovely, sad, sea-siren of a place', this foreshadows the death that surrounds the place. A sea-siren lures sailors to small islands and this eventually kills them. A sea-siren is typically a femme fatale, and Carter may be subverting the trope by making the siren the Marquis lure women to their deaths.

Within the Castle, the bridal chamber is used to foreshadow the Marquis' obsession with decapitation and martyrdom. There is a picture of Saint Cecilia in the room, and Cecilia told her husband that if he consummated the marriage an angel would punish him, she was later beheaded but survived for three days. This painting symbolises of the story, the narrator gives her virginity to her husband, and then she is punished by being killed. The picture can also be another example of the typical gothic theme: an obsession with the past. In the bridal chamber, there are a 'dozen mirrors and this could be interpreted as a reference to the twelve apostles, and how the Marquis is captivated by this idea of martyrdom, again foreshadowing her death. In the bedroom, there are 'undertakers’ lilies’; this funereal description represents the death of the narrator's innocence and autonomy. The symbols of death in the bedroom connect to the narrators views about the consummation as she says that the Marquis 'impales' her.

In the Marquis' library, there are books that demonstrate the Marquis' murderous ways. The narrator finds the engraving by Rops "Reproof of Curiosity”. The engraving depicts a man becoming aroused by whipping a naked girl. This shows how the Marquis is a man who loves the power that is given to him by the patriarchal structures. Carter is making a point about how within art the abuse of women is romanticised and fetishized. By artists, without seeing how dangerous the reality is. The quote 'there was a pungent intensification of the smell of leather' demonstrates the Marquis' power over every aspect. It seems that after the woman discovers the extent of her husband's obsession with pornography the smell suddenly becomes more intense. This adds to the gothic element of creating fear and tension, as it shows how the Marquis is there even though he isn't. The narrator finds 'The Pandora's Box’ and this is significant because it foreshadows the discovery of the chamber. Both women within these stories damn themselves but the narrators discovery of the bloody chamber saves her. Pandora and the narrator are worried about the consequences of their actions, but they are told by men that curiosity was expected of them. This highlights how men stereotype women and how women always want to have something they are denied. This could be a phallic symbol or how women are denied the same opportunities as men.