Choose one setting Carter uses and discuss how it is significant in the telling of the story.

One setting which Carter uses in the story "The Bloody Chamber" is the Castle, which is the main setting throughout the whole story, this is significant in the telling of story because it is often used to represent the home of the rich and powerful, most commonly owned by a male who has numerous servants. In Carter's story the castle also is a symbol to imprisonment. Imprisonment because it is a place where women can be held captive and unable to escape. It is a significant setting in the tale of The Bloody Chamber because it represents the secrets of the story; the secret chambers, towers, tunnels, corpses etc. These are sexual metaphors, which is suggesting the relevance to the male and female sexual organs- this was done on purpose by Carter and purposely not hidden to enhance the atmosphere she is going for in her stories.

It is also significant because it is the place where justice is given to the Heroine and where she begins her life, and her life of shame, properly. She finds her true love (The Piano Tuner) at the castle and this love which is shared between these two characters is purely there for the reader to recognize the dramatic difference between this love and the Marquis' love for the Heroine.

The castle is an extremely important setting in the story because it shows women in a superior light as the Heroine's mother rescues her daughter from the Marquis. She travels to the castle in aid of her daughter, and with the intention to free her from the possession of her husband.