The Snow Child

1 - In what way does the tale allude to (link to) others stories or fairy tales? Name them.

The Snow Child is similar to Carter's other stories because it features the usual features of a traditional fairy tale, such as:
- The Damsel in distress (the young child)
- The monstrous character (the count and the countess)
However there is not a happy ending, which is what usually happens in the traditional fairy tale.
2 - How does this story link to the other stories in The Bloody Chamber Collection?
The Snow Child is set in an isolated area, like the other stories, but instead of it being an isolated house/castle, it is in the isolated countryside whilst the Count and the Countess are riding their horses.
Also the male protagonist is presented as a beastly character, for example the Snow Child comes after The Courtship of Mr Lyon and The Tiger's Bride, and you can see the slight differences in the antagonist. This can be seen by the Count being obviously selfish because all he thinks about is his own needs e.g. 'I wish I had a girl as white as snow'. This differs to Mr Lyon because, although he still thinks about himself, he also takes into consideration Beauty's feelings.


3 -  The girl melts at the end.  Why do you think this is the case?  What do you think Carter could be trying to communicate?
The young girl is sexually assaulted and melts away because her virginity has been taken away from her and because she lacks control compared to the male protagonist. During a patriarchal society, women were desirable if they were pure (virgins) which made them wife worthy, however this young girl had now lost her virginity therefore losing her worth to men. The child has fulfilled her purpose which was to be there for the Count's sexually desires. Thus representing how women were presented in the past.
4 - What do you think it means when Carter says "it bites!" at the end? What is "it"?
'It' is the rose that the Countess tries to hold but pricks her in the process. This could represent several things; first I thought Carter must be showing that the Countess does not agree with the Count's actions. However she does not voice this to the Count as she wants to impress her husband so she focuses her distress from the situation on the thorn of the rose.
Secondly, the rose is a symbol of purity, something which the Countess is not. The rose pricks her because it rejects her (as the men in the society that she lives in would). She is not wanted in a patriarchal society because she has already been used by the Count so everyone else would reject her.