In what ways is this a gothic tale? The Snow Child

In what ways is this a gothic tale? – The Snow Child

-Creation of fear as a narrative priority

In the snow child, fear is created through conventional gothic techniques, the unknown perhaps being the most important. Upon reading the story, at no point is the reader able to predict, in my opinion, that the Count would climb off his horse and rape the girl of his ‘desires’ who is in fact his own daughter. The darkness and uncertainty of the situation creates a feeling of vulnerability within the reader.  The typical fairytale beginning –‘I wish I had…’ repeated several times sees familiarity being placed upon the reader, almost putting them into a false sense of security as it follows that ‘the Count got off his horse and thrust his virile member into the dead girl’.

-A blurring of reality and fantasy

It is clear in the beginning that the Count has a ‘fantasy’ and desire for a girl who holds specific characteristics such as ‘… a girl as red as blood’ and ‘…as white as snow’. Slowly as the story progresses the reader becomes aware that the girl the Count has desired is his own daughter. This is a blurring of reality and fantasy as his ‘fantasy’ for a specific ‘girl’ turns out to be the product of his imagination, and his reproduction is his own daughter.

-Fondness for symbols of darkness and light

The incestuous, defiled nature of this story ultimately fits to the theme of a fondness for darkness metaphorically. Carter has portrayed the terror that women face at the hands of a male-dominated culture in the fiction of the snow child as the incestuous nature of the Count is exposed. The Countess is helpless in the dark situation of rape, although this can suggest that woman have to compete and endure the fickle attention of men.  In regards to light, the colours used within the opening lines can be related to the Count’s dark desires. He wishes for a girl ‘as white as snow’ with the colour white being linked to purity,  it can be seen as demonstrative of the Count’s wish for ‘pure’ girl.

-Significant use of setting

The setting can be described as typically gothic. The ‘midwinter’ opening sets a bleak tone to the story as it establishes a negative connotation connected with the gothic cold and chilling midwinter.  The continuous references to nature can be seen as demonstrative of the force of nature through pathetic fallacy. Despite the typical gothic setting of bleakness, the 'midwinter' 'immaculate' picture that is created can be drawn parallel to a fairytale as all seems 'superficially' pleasant.