On The Carnivalization In The Magic Toyshop

Angela Carter is one of Britain’s innovative contemporary writers. Because of her unique writing style, she does not receive much critical attention until her death which brings students and critics to reassess her works. As Carter regards herself as a feminist writer, researches on The Magic Toyshop (1967) mainly focus on the feminist thought by analyzing women’s identity, women’s voice, women’s sexual awareness. Also, some critics see it as a rework of classical fairy tales or a bildungsroman. Few scholars explore the carnivalesque features in the novel. This thesis is to explore the camivalesque elements in The Magic Toyshop.According to Bakhtin’s carnivalization theory, The Magic Toyshop is a prime example of carnivalized novels. Finn’s laughter is dualistic and ambivalent; the image of fire implies the death of the old world and the birth of a new world; the transformed body and the puppetry are grotesque figures; Melanie’s trying on her mother’s wedding dress is a parody of the wedding ceremony; on the final festive holiday they create a second world different from the official one. All these images, figures and scenes are carnivalesque. People in these events transgress the social norms, free themselves from social constraints, and revolt against oppressions. By employing carnivalization as a strategy of subversion, Carter expresses her discontent with the official life, criticizes patriarchy, imperialism and class antagonism, and expects a utopian world with freedom and equality.