The Erl-King Questions

How is the Erl-King presented?

The Erl King is presented, by Angela Carter, through contradictory gender roles. He is portrayed as the 'perfect man' as he conflicts the binary opposites of stereotypical gender roles by being good to a woman. The Erl King is described as "an excellent housewife" which implies that he is a  passive character. In his innocence he also has great power over the female protagonist suggesting his active role in the relationship as "he winds me into the circle of his eye on a reel of bird song" portraying his dominance as a man over her. Here, he abides by the binary opposites of stereotypical gender roles as he is seen as strong and active as it is him controlling her through the power of his gaze. Carter presents the Erl King as an emotional character due to the innocence he shows as "his touch both consoles and devastates me". This suggests both the male and female express emotion here as he consoles her in his touch yet she feels devastated by it. She fits the binary opposites of stereotypical gender roles however he shows a dichotomy towards them at times due to him expressing his emotional and passive side in their relationship.      

How is the narrator presented?

The female protagonist narrator is firstly presented as naive, private, irrational and weak- the more stereotypical female traits of gender binaries. The narrator finds it 'easy to lose yourself in the woods' showing her irrationality and naivety as she is easily influenced and lost in other things. Further on, the narrator is shown to be perhaps more thoughtful than emotional and she recognizes that 'The Erl-King would do me grievous harm'. She is showing that she is more wise than the Erl-King thinks, and crosses over the gender binaries of thought and emotion as well as rational and irrational. This again is presented when she realises that 'the birds don't sing, they only cry because they can't find their way out of the wood' giving the female protagonist a heads up and the chance to make her choice of either going along with The Erl-King's wishes or taking her own revenge. Towards the end of the story, the female protagonist makes her decision which had her 'take two handfuls of his rustling hair(...) and (...) I shall strangle him'. This completely obliterates gender binary opposites as the woman is taking control and killing off the man - showing her passing over from weak to strong and active to passive. At the very end of the story the female protagonist states that 'she will string the old fiddle with five single strings of ash-brown hair', using the Erl-King as an object rather than her being used as his singing bird.

What are do the symbols suggest in the novel?

Carter uses symbols in the narrative. The Erl King's eyes are described as "quite green" which symbolizes jealousy as it can be associated with the 'green eyed man'. However his eyes can remove the innocence from him and display the evil in him and the fear he emits as "some eyes can eat you". This suggests that he consumes her, sexually and emotionally. The birds can symbolize women as a whole. They are trapped as they are passive and kept private by the Erl King as he sees them as his possession which fits the binary opposites of stereotypical gender roles. The cages symbolize the oppressiveness and control men have over women. The birds symbolize women and the cages symbolize the lifestyle they are trapped in as men remove their freedom by resulting them to passivity and privacy.

How does Carter use allusion to tell the story?

Carter uses elements of fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood (a naive little girl going into the woods), Alice In Wonderland ('Eat me, Drink me'), Light sufficient to itself (Emily Dickinson's line used) as well as intertextuality with the motif of 'The Green Eyed man' and Othello (The Green Eyed monster).

How is The Erl-King the most innovative and experimental of the stories?

‘The Erl-King’ can be seen as the most innovative and experimental of the narratives as it plays around with the voice of the narrator and tenses of the the text. "The woods enclose and then enclose again" is in third person, present tense yet "It is easy to lose yourself in these woods." reverts to second person. This suggests that the Erl King is the most experimental as none of the other texts do this. 

How does The Erl-King fit with other TBC narratives?

The Erl-King is the middle story of the collection and therefore isn't completely transcending of the binary opposites and isn't completely supporting of them either. It involves similarities with the fact that the setting is isolated and there is a female narrator (the same with all the stories minus Puss In Boots). The protagonist kills the male figure (the same with The Bloody Chamber, and company of wolves).