Fairy tales and folklores are nothing but the reflections of the society. Authors and artists depict the world through their lens to highlight social elements. The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter is a fairy tale built on the theme of the Little Red Riding Hood. In a very subtle way it depicts the patriarchal structure of the society and what it means to be a liberated woman. In an interesting way she has shown what a feminist means, as it brings harmony and order into an otherwise sexist and chaotic society.
Carter’s Company of Wolves might not reflect today’s society of a developed country however, history as well as less developed countries in the world still have harbor those notions. The sexist attitude towards women, as if they are the possession of men is highly reflective in the story. For clarity, the story can be divided into two parts; one where the submissive woman plays into the hands of the patriarchal structure and second, where a liberated of feminist girl takes charge of the situation and sets things right.
Exaggerated medieval notions of manliness manifest themselves in the form of wolves. The story is woven around these menacing cold hearted creatures but this is not an attack on the male gender. The analogy has been drawn to humiliate the ideology where women are considered helpless and men (in the story) eventually overpower them.
Crater paints the scenario of a difficult time when food is rare for the wolves. It’s cold and the wolves hunt anything they can find. Also, these wolves are not natural animals. These creatures came into being with the spell of an evil sorceress. She transformed people into wolves to punish them.
The form and context of this penance is interesting. Men are generally perceived as promiscuous, they get distracted by a younger and more attractive woman. The witch punishes the attendees of a wedding as the groom sets his eyes on another woman (Carter 213). In other words, he betrays his bride. The witch only takes away the appearance and brings forth the true nature of the man with no self-control, which gives into his primal impulses of lust and hunger.
It is not that the beast of the wolf represented in the story is unaware of this ‘condition’. This animal grieves his behavior and would love to change. Perhaps this is a hint at the nature of men at being dominant and having their way in the society that has been the norm of life for centuries leading to a patriarchal lifestyle. There is an underlying system shaping thoughts and practices (Hooks 19). The way people have come to behave is a result of a system.
The role of women in Carter’s village is passive, limited to a few things such as taking care of the household, feeding the children and make their husbands happy. Their characters are judged based on these attributes. How well they perform their duties make them a pious women or outcasts. The renegades range from evil witches to sluts and whores. If they live up to certain standards of men then they are acceptable as good, but if they deviate from this rigid path then they are corrupt or immoral.
The short story mentions an account in the village where a couple gets married and on the night of the wedding the groom vanishes. The bride submissively lays there for the groom to take her on her wedding night but out of nowhere the groom insists on going out to relieve himself. But he does not return. He has primal instincts that he follows, and does not care about his marriage. He is a wolf and he needs to go hunting to get his wild side satisfied. He chooses his indulgence over his faithful bride.
The bride’s brothers go out searching for her husband but he is nowhere to be found. She keeps waiting for him to return but years pass by and there is no sign of him. People get convinced that he was eaten by a wolf. So much time passes that the bride dries his tears, finds another man, gets married and has children.
One night as she prepares the soup for her family, her old husband shows up at the door. Without any explanation demands her to fix him some supper. At the same time her new husband, the father of her children returns home after chopping wood. The old husband sees that she had slept with another man and worse, bore him children, he is outraged. He calls her a “whore” (Carter 214) and attacks one of the child but the new husband kills him with his hatchet. She feel sorry for his old husband as he lays there bleeding to death. Her new husband beats her for showing pity for another man.
Carter depicts in very small words what it means to be a woman. They have to take up the blame for things they did not even do. Her husband ran away on her wedding night. There was nothing she could have done. She played the part of a pious woman, did whatever was expected of her, but still she gets called a whore. And for showing mercy for a bleeding man, her new husband beats her for whatever nonsense reason.
Carter also describes a very painful phenomenon in a satirical way. If a man is a wolf, which means that he is of character and cannot control his primal lust and cravings, it is probably because of his mother. She describes two reasons for a man’s wolf like behavior. Either the devil gave an ointment and upon rubbing it on the skin they turn into the wolves or they had wolves as fathers. Which also means that their mothers slept with bad people to give birth to another one. Hence, a wolf cannot be a wolf on his own, there has to be a cause going back to his mother.
The rape culture has also been portrayed in the short story. The wolves normally attack helpless women. The instruction mentioned in the story suggest that if one sees a naked man among the pines this only means that he is a wolf and about to attack. There is no way to defend but to run. Fighting the wolf will not do any good for the wolf is powerful and the forest (society) belongs to him.
Towards the end of the short story Carter tells the tale of a “strong-minded child” (Carter 215). This is the opposite of the victim mindset that the patriarchal society imposes on women in general. She knows the danger of crossing the forest alone but is adamant in taking the gifts to her recluse grandmother. She has a carving knife for protection in her basket. This is Carter’s ideal woman, an independent girl that wants to take on a challenge.
The girl is not submissive and is ready to embrace her power and sexuality. Carter describes the human nature of man and woman. The man has the urge to overpower and be possessive of things and women. The young girl wants this wolf; the difference is that the girl chooses and plays her role in this game of seduction.
The society in which women have to exist is depicted by the forest. As she goes in “the forest closed upon her like a pair of jaws” (Carter 215). She knows what she is getting herself into, the desire to choose is strong in her. She is thrilled at the idea of the unknown. Carter has not shown this girl to be the know-all person. She learns on her way to the forest how to deal with adversity and fear.
Carter has shown that one does not need to be angry and feisty, which is the normal perception about feminists. The young girl is innocent and very young. She does not even know how to shiver. She knows her father will not allow her to pass through the forest but she does not stand up to his father in confrontation. However, she still manages to find a way to satiate her curiosity without bringing more chaos. She is innocent and curious but not fierce and angry. She is the perfect embodiment of a confident independent girl.
The more striking aspect of this part of the story is the mark of virginity. It is a prize for men. The little fragile girl is barely a young women. She has not even fully developed her breasts and has the air of piousness about her. Her ‘membrane’ seals shut all the magic space inside her. She is unware of the sexual pleasure and that makes it more desirable for the wolf. But instead of waiting for her father to choose a suitable husband for her, this girl wants to take charge of her own sexuality.
The wolf-man offers to play a game that if he reaches her grandmother’s house before her, she will kiss him. Despite knowing the dangers, the girl agrees to play. Also, she secretly wishes for the gentleman to win so she could kiss him. The man is very clever in his seduction. The girl had been warned by the wolf or the naked man as a sign of danger and threat. But when she sees the handsome man for the first time, he is fully clothed. Not all wolves wear their true nature on their sleeves.
He first makes her feel comfortable. They talk and laugh as if they were old friends. This makes the girl drop her guard. He reaches the grandmother’s house before the young girl, eats her, hides her bones under her bed and waits for the girl to show up. When the girl finally arrives in the house, the man closes the door and traps her. She is trapped in the truest sense as she hears the howls of a pack of wolves outside the house. She cannot even run into the forest (society).
The girl is supposed to obey, take her clothes off and throw it in the fire; be naked for the ‘wolf’. The wolf will eat her right there and then if she does not obey. The girl laughs out loud as she knows better. She is no one’s meat and plays the part of an equal instead of the expected slave.
The young girl even takes part in the action and helps the wolf take his clothes off and burns it in the fire, condemning him to his wolfish nature for the rest of his life. Instead of trying to put clothes on the naked man as her grandmother did in wane, she does the opposite. Throwing the apron on the naked man or using the bible for protection won’t help. She needs more than that. She becomes an equal in this game and not the wolf’s prize.
The feministic theme is evident throughout the story. Carter’s use of words and depiction of society through the forest is nothing short of brilliant. She has painted a picture of the society where there is chaos, even the wolves are hungry. This is due to the sexist patriarchal culture that has grown on to men and women. The victims are sundry. Even if the women play their expected role to perfection still they will be judged and punished. But what is needed is dissent, defiance, strong mindedness, just like that young girl that burned the clothes of the naked man in the fire. Instead of bloodshed, she brought harmony to the forest.
Work Cited
Carter, Angela. Burning Your Boats: Collected Short Stories. Random House, 1996.
Hooks, Bell. Feminism is For Everybody: Passionate Politics. South End Press. 2000.
