In the following excerpt, Lewallen offers her interpretation of Carter's "The Bloody Chamber," particularly in regard to the themes of gender roles and sexuality. Lewallen also examines Carter's use of symbolism and irony.

The Bloody Chamber is mostly a collection of fairy tales rewritten to incorporate props of the Gothic and elements of a style designated 'magic realism', in which a realistic consciousness operates within a surrealistic context. The characters are at once both abstractions and 'real'. The heroine in 'The Tiger's Bride', for example, bemused by surreal events, comments, 'what democracy of magic held this palace and fir forest in common? Or, should I be prepared to accept it as proof of the axiom my father had drummed into me: that, if you have enough money, anything is possible?' Symbolism is prevalent: white roses for sexual purity; lilies for sex and death; lions, tigers and...