by Jessica Shannon

Created on: June 29, 2008   Last Updated: July 01, 2008

In "The Tiger's Bride,"Angela Carter uses the theme of the objectification of women to transform the heroine from mere possession into a strong and powerful narrator. With dialogue the reader is aware that the heroine is compared to an item. Once the heroine notices the symbolism around her, she realizes that she is an object. The heroine must embrace her animalistic qualities to rid herself of objectification.

With the opening scene of "The Tiger's Bride," the reader is aware that the heroine is seen as an object that can be bought and sold for her owner's pleasure and advantage. The key example of the theme of objectification is the heroine's father losing her to the Beast during a card game as though she were a mere possession. Carter uses the words "pearl" and "treasure" to demonstrate that the heroine is an object (157) . These words are considered compliments, but Carter reveals their objectifying overtones by having both the heroine's father and The Beast use them in the context of her sale.

The theme of objectification continues throughout the story with the resemblance of the heroine to the soubrette. Not only is the soubrette like a doll, but the heroine powders her cheeks so that she looks like one. This symbolism is aware to the heroine, who speculates, "That clockwork girl who powdered my cheeks for me; had I not been allotted only the same kind of imitative life amongst men that the doll-maker had given her?" (165) Carter uses the soubrette as a symbol of society's ideal creation of femininity. The soubrette embodies the vanity and shallowness that characterize society's idea of a woman. The soubrette needs someone to wind her up so that she can perform her maid's tasks. This demonstrates that women are thought unable to think and act for themselves. Once the heroine begins to claim her own desires, she says that she no longer resembles the soubrette. Since she can no longer submit to society's female stereotypes and she plans to send the soubrette home in her place. She declares, "I will dress her in my own clothes, wind her up, send her back to perform the part of my father's daughter" (167) . Through the symbol of the soubrette, Carter shows the reader that this view of women weakens their character and prevents them from fulfilling their potential.

The heroine in "The Tiger's Bride" realizes that men treat her like the soubrette and that no matter how hard she tries to equal them, they will always see her as a poor imitation of a person. Suddenly,

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