Language in 'The Erl-King'

Throughout the Erl-King the narrative point of view changes throughout the story. It changes from second person ('You step between the first trees'), to first ('I walked through the wood'), then finally to third person ('She will carve off his great mane'). The change into third person narrative reminds us that Carter is writing a fairytale. The third person narration allows us to detach ourselves from the characters, so we do not emphasise with the Erl-King, merely the reader is a bystander, witnessing the events. This detachment allows us to look at the characters subjectively. The variation in the narrative point of view is subverting the idea of identity. Carter is encouraging readers to ask questions about identity, and how one person can have multiple identities. This subversion of identity removes the power that gender roles have on both women and men because if identity is ambiguous it cannot be used to oppress. These ideas that are presented then allow the text to fit into the Gothic genre because it blurs boundaries of societal norms.

The theme of ambiguity is shown in the text with the description of the Erl-King. The narrator says that his touch 'both consoles and devastates me'. This juxtaposition is significant because it associates itself with the Gothic idea of duality. Within the story, it seems as though the woman is in danger as she says 'The Erl-King will do you grievous harm', but in the end the narrator kills him. The Erl-King could also be described as one who is not harming the narrator on purpose but unknowingly hurts her. This is an example of another Gothic convention, the Byronic hero. Even though he is destructive, both the reader and the woman romanticise him. Carter may be showing how women are not weak and can fight back against their supposed oppressors but this in itself is problematic. If killing a person is the only way out of patriarchal structures, is that really freedom? Many would argue that by killing someone you are not liberating yourself but in fact saving yourself and self preservation is distinct from freedom. A criticism of the way Carter uses language is that it may advocate a reading that is too simple. Even though the narrator rescues herself, she had to be a victim in the first place. By placing a woman in a situation where she is victimised, Carter is perpetuating a stereotype herself, therefore limiting the potential impact it could have as a feminist text.

Another aspect of language that is in 'The Erl-King' is the descriptive language that is bordering on poetry and this shows that the text is Gothic as the description could fit into the idea of the sublime. At the beginning of the story, you can clearly see how the text is supposed to be a part of the fairy tale genre. The elder trees are described as 'anorexic' and the beams of light that hit the trees are 'nicotine-stained fingers', these words are associated with death and therefore the description may be foreshadowing the eventual death of the Erl-King. The language sets the story in a place that is almost ethereal, which follows the generic conventions of both the Gothic and the fairy tale; the obsession with the supernatural in the Gothic and the prominence of magic in fairy tales. At the end of the paragraph however, the description turns more sinister. The quote 'there is a haunting sense of the imminent cessation of being' explores the macabre reality of nature. This highlights how humanity lives in a dream world, when in fact reality is a lot more ominous. Carter may be commenting on how fairy tales are intrinsically damaging. By teaching children that they can trust that someone will save them, that the adult will fail to save themselves  It also follows the Gothic custom of the sense of mystery, making the reader wonder why the description has suddenly change in its tone. The description of the year 'turning in on itself' may foreshadow how in the end the Erl-King destroys himself.