Angela Carter’s Heroes And Villains: A Dystopian Romance

Abstract

The present paper modestly attempts to evaluate Angela Carter's Heroes and Villians as a dystopean romance. The authors has also tried to assess the novel from the following points of view:

• Subversion of Rousseauean Utopia: Dispelling of Romantic Illusions
• Mixing of Romance with Dystopia
• Gothic Elements in Heroes and Villains
• Camp Culture and the Barbarians
• Binarism: the Necessity of the Other
• Use of Carnivalesque in Heroes and Villains

and the study concludes with:

In Heroes and Villains, the element of carnivalesque is introduced in the marriage rituals performed by Donally. In the ancient chapel, Donally was perched on the altar like a grotesque bird, donning the mask of carved wood, painted with blue, green, purple and black blotches, dark red spots and scarlet streaks covering his face. His robe, from head to foot, was woven from the plumage of birds. In the marriage rituals, whatever Donally said made no sense to the congregation. His mumbo-jumbo chanting, from the study of Red-Indian culture or something, and finally his leaping into the air, screaming loudly and flinging himself down among the rushes, was a parody of serious marriage ritual in a church. Carnivalesque, in this novel, is used to subvert ritualistic aspect of the theology of religion.