'The Bloody Chamber' is a collection of short stories with the Gothic and Fairy Tale genre. All of these stories which Angela Carter has wrote challenges patriarchy, because the woman is of higher superiority in the stories than the men. As well as being both Fairy Tale and Gothic genres, the stories are all extremely sexually explicit and have numerous sexually disturbing scenes. The Erl-King is the most innovative due to Angela Carter's use of the unusual technique of using first, second and third person within the whole of the narrative.
Firstly, the story begins with "The woods" and automatically this includes both Fairy Tale and Gothic genres within it as this is a very Gothic yet supernatural setting. Although this setting is not innovative, the first sentence then develops and reads "like a system of Chinese boxes opening on into another" to describe the forest- this is innovative as this is an usual use of description for a forest. Angela Carter uses this description because the character actually Isn't moving anywhere, she is walking herself into nothing and her trap "the imaginary traveller". The narrator says "walking towards an invented distance that perpetually receded before me", meaning that the further into the forest she goes the less she understands it; which represents the story as a whole because the further into the story the reader gets the less they understand as well, this element also makes the narrative the most experimental and innovative as in all of the stories, the more you read the more you understand
Another reason the Erl-King is the most innovative and experimental of the narratives is because of the narrative skills which Angela Carter presents within this story. She uses first, second and third person in order to tell this story to the reader, "perpetually receded before me" (first person), "It is easy to lose yourself in these woods" (second person) and "changed endlessly around the interloper" (third person). This is unusual because it is always the same narrator, Carter uses this technique to show the reader that the narrator is looking within and without herself in the narrative. The narrator is looking back upon herself and her actions, then looking upon her looking at her actions all at the same time, which shows the character's development in the story. This is an highly unusual narrative technique to use within the story which therefore makes the Erl-King the most innovative and extremely experimental out of the narratives.
The Erl-King is presented in a contrast of ways, he is presented as evil however innocent all at the same time. The narrator describes him as being "an excellent housewife" however describes him as having "white, pointed teeth with the spittle gleaming on them" too, describing his teeth in such a way is showing his physically similar traits to a wolf which is then contradicted by the description of him being an "excellent housewife" which makes the character seem innocent and harmless as well. The narrator also comments "in his innocence, he never knew he might be the death of me", this is a different message to the other narratives which Carter wrote as she is presenting the Erl-King in a different light, although he is clearly symbolising men being cruel and evil Carter is also suggesting that sometimes men are innocent in what they are doing as they do not know that it is wrong. This also makes the Erl-King the most innovative because Carter is sending out a different message compared to the other stories.
Additionally, the narrator is also presented in a variety of different ways. Although she is seen as vulnerable and gentle, she is also a violent and brave character "My hands shake. I shall take two handfuls of his rustling hair as he lies half dreaming, half waking, and wind the into ropes, very softly, so he will not wake up, and, softly, with hands as gentle as rain, I shall strange him with them." This makes the narrator's character's appearance so contrastingly different as she is overpoweringly womanly and powerful all at once. She describes herself as "gently" and "softly" murdering the Erl-King, this shows the character's power yet gentle side in the same context which is why this text is so innovative as the woman is both of these contrasting traits in one moment and is shown as giving the Erl-King such an impossible painless death.
Lastly, Angela Carter is aiming at the reader to see themselves differently. Instead of the reader reading The Erl-King and thinking differently upon women or men Carter is attempting to get the reader to view themselves in many different ways- similar to the way the narrator has done within the narrative. Using first, second and third person shows this because she is seeing and talking about herself and her actions in so many ways it shows her looking within and without herself and truly understanding. Carter has changed her purpose in this story, instead of the message being "women are superior/equal to men and men are evil" like all of the other short stories in 'The Bloody Chamber', the purpose is to get the reader, personally, to really look at themselves and develop thoroughly just like the narrator looking back on herself in many different perspectives of what she is and what she isn't- which is why The Erl-King is the most innovative of all of the stories.
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