Fairy Tales and the Existential Predicament

How might Bettelheim's ideas help us to understand the purposes of fairy tales?
Fairy tales help teach moral lessons because if evil is not presented, the child represses evil thoughts and this causes harm to the child because in his own eyes he becomes a monster, this is because he does not recognise that evil is inherent in all humans, not just himself. Characters in fairy tales allow the child to see good and evil in a way that is tangible and relatable to the person. The polarisations that are within the tales allow the child to build a stable personality, as they can identify the differences between people and then is able to make the decision on the person who he wants to be. As all fairy tales have similar stories and similar characters, it allows the child to then make their own problems simplistic and deal with them in a way that does not bring them harm.

How do Bettelheim's ideas help us to understand the purposes of the Gothic?
The good and evil that is presented in every Gothic novel, whether it is different characters representing this duality, or within a character's personality, allows the Gothic to explore moral problems in a way that is a lot more effective than other stories. In 'The Bloody Chamber', evil is seen as something that is attractive and desirable, therefore showing how when the unconscious mind is suppressed, the conscious mind seeks what is lost.

Why do you think Angela Carter mixes the fairy tale and Gothic genres in 'The Bloody Chamber'?
Angela Carter mixes these two genres because the message that they are both trying to portray are linked. They both expose good and evil in a way that is accessible to the reader, fairy tales have developed and reinvented ideas about good and evil and has made way for the Gothic genre. Carter is also exposing the 'latent content' of fairy tales, which many would say is disturbing in its very nature.