This essay will discuss the adaptation of the three stories from Angela Carter's book „The Bloody Chamber“: The Werewolf, The Company of the Wolves and Wolf-Alice to the Neil Jordan's film The Company of the Wolves. The differences between the three stories and the film will be analyzed, and how their meaning changes in the context of the film.
To begin, it must be noted that the stories mentinoned above are written in a form resembling a Greek satyr, and told in a way that reminds us of the fairy tale. However, neither of these stories are fairytales, but stories about crossing the treshold of adulthood and of becoming mature. These stories, although short, carry a message, and a lesson, although they deal with mythical and darkness.
In these stories, Angela Carter provides a new interpretation of famous fairytales, such as Red Riding Hood, and recurrent motifs from this particular story such as grandmother, a girl who walks through the wood carring cookies in her basket, and the wolf who comes to the granny first.
The Company of the Wolves by Angela Carter is a story that envokes powerful and mysterious aspects of the female nature. The girl is described as a person with incredible power to yield darkness and to conquer it, somebody who is never afraid, and faces the most horrible with a smile, which means that she is quite monstrous in nature as well. Mythical interpretation consists of the fact that she is represemted as a virgin goddess, who conquers beasts and darkness.[1]