The Courtship of Mr Lyon

Links to the Gothic
1. Gothic hero - Mr Lyon, although there is no battle between good and evil, he appears to overcome his battle with the supernatural and become 'normal' once more - turns back into a man: "it was no longer a lion in her arms but a man". He is kind, restores Beauty's father's fortune, and transforms himself for her.
2. Supernatural - "The Beast" is a lion - "the gold fringes of his mane", and Gothic is "the subversion of the natural order of things" (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
3. "Beauty" - the beautiful Gothic heroine who overcomes the 'evil' of Mr Lyon's condition
4. The father figure is less than what he could be. Typically fathers in the Gothic are vicious/nasty to their children, though Beauty's father is simply guilty of not being good enough to support her; "she had asked for so little and he had not been able to give it to her". Also allows her to forget about the Beast and indulge herself; "she smiled at herself a little too often in mirrors these days"
5. Subversion of the natural or normal - man is rescued by a woman, Beauty rescues the Beast from a lifetime of loneliness and being a lion
  1. Link to Carter and feminism - what message is she trying to send to the reader??
Themes
1. Beauty - "skin possesses that same, inner light"
2. Grandeur - "solid gold," "great chandelier," "marvellous glass bed," "towels as thick as fleece and vials of suave unguents," "luxury...gave no pleasure to its possessor"
3. Poverty and humility - "she longed for the shabby home of their poverty," and "with a flood of compassion, understood: all he is doing is kissing my hands"
4. Rescue - "Don't die, Beast!" "the price of her father's good fortune"
5. Purity - "inner light," "white rose," "benign light," "he was irradiated, as if with a kind of halo"
Contextual links
1. C shows how society affects the way women are perceived - 'conditioning' - Beauty only becomes vain etc when exposed to London society; "she smiled at herself in mirrors a little too often these days"
2. Beast a representation of C's wish to show how the classic portrayal or men as strong and overpowering is not necessarily the case in reality - Beast sweet and weak underneath
3. Beauty affects the Beast - he is dying as a result of her leaving - "I am sick and I must die" - shows females are the ones who actually have the power - C a big feminist and keen to show women in a more powerful light
4. Carter keen to show women as being stronger than perceived - Beauty can deal with the poverty etc
Some key quotes
1. "a great roaring, as of a beast of prey"
2. "leonine apparition shook Beauty's father until his teeth rattled and then dropped him sprawling on his knees"
3. "mazy head of hair, on the eyes as green as agate, on the golden hairs of the great paws"
4. "absolute sweetness and absolute gravity, as if her eyes might pierce appearances and see your soul"
5. "her visit to the Beast must be...the price of her father's good fortune"
6. "she could not bring herself to touch him of her own free will, he was so different from herself"
7. "she had asked for so little and he had not been able to give it to her"
8. "his Beauty, his girl-child, his pet"
9. "because he loved his daughter, Beauty's father stole the rose"
10. "It seemed December still possessed his garden...the thin ghost of a light on the verge of extinction"
11. "there was an air of exhaustion, of despair in the house and, worse, a kind of physical disillusion, as if its glamour had been sustained by a cheap conjuring trick"

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The Courtship of Mr Lyon

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	Created by Helena Sewell almost 11 years ago