The Magic Toyshop (1967) Angela Carter “Melanie tried but could not imagine her parent’s nakedness. When she thought of her mother and father, their clothes seemed part of their bodies, like hair or toenails” (10) “She was horribly conscious of her own exposed nakedness. She felt a new and final kind of nakedness, as if she has taken even her own skin off and now stood clothed in nothing, nude in the ultimate nudity of the skeleton. She was almost surprised to see the flesh of her fingers; her very hands might have been discarded like gloves, leaving only the bone” (21) “She met herself in the mirror, white face, black hair. The girl who killed her mother. She picked up the hairbrush and flung it at her reflected face. The mirror shattered. Behind the mirror was nothing but the bare wood of the wardrobe. She was disappointed; she wanted to see her mirror, still, and the room reflected in the mirror, still, but herself gone, smashed” (24-­‐5) “‘Not a word can she speak,’ said Finn. ‘Ah, they should have told you. It is a terrible affliction; it came to her on her wedding day, like a curse. Her silence’” (37) “In the corner was a large gilt cage containing a number of stuffed birds with glassy black plumage, yellow beaks and sharp little eyes; they were disconcertingly lifelike and for a moment Melanie thought they were real” (41) “Then she kissed Melanie goodnight on the cheek, taking her in a stiff, Dutch-­‐doll embrace; her arms were two hinged sticks her mouth cool, dry and paper, her kiss inhibited, tight-­‐lipped but somehow desperate, making an anguished plea for affection” (48-­‐9) “‘But no one knows about the puppets. They’re not for sale. They are his hobby’” (64) “And also with partially assembled puppets in all sizes, some almost as tall as Melanie herself; blind-­‐eyed puppets, some armless, some legless, some naked, some clothed, all with a strange liveliness as they dangled unfinished from their hooks” (67) “[A]nd look at her face in the mirror she had not broken. She had not seen her own refection since. She was seized with panic, remembering that she had not seen her own face for so long” (103) “Finn inserted his tongue between her lops, searching tentatively for her own tongue inside her mouth. The moment consumed her. She choked and struggled, beating her fists against him, convulsed with horror at this sensual and intimate connection, this rude encroachment on her physical privacy, this humiliation” (106) “‘Everything is all right,’ said Finn. ‘The play is over’” (167) “‘You overacted,’ he said to Melanie and cuffed her with the back of his hand. ‘You were melodramatic. Puppets don’t overact. You spoiled the poetry’” (167)
Plot Summary and Notes: The Magic Toyshop begins with Melanie on the brink of becoming a young woman. At fifteen, she is discovering her ripening sexuality – the early scene, in which Melanie sneaks into her parents’ room, unlocks the trunk in which her mother’s wedding dress is kept, dons it and ventures outside for a night-­‐time stroll, is quite provocative in this respect. Upon her parents’ death, Melanie and her two younger siblings (Jonathon and Victoria) are sent to live in South London with their Uncle Philip (toy maker), his silent wife Margaret and her two younger brothers, Finn and Francie. The novel reaches its climax at Melanie’s (failed) performance of Leda, from Yeat’s poem Leda and the Swan. From this point, the cracks in Uncle Philip’s control over the household begin to grow. The novel is structured much like a fairytale: the (orphaned) heroine goes out into the world, meeting obstacles and learning to navigate previously unexplored situations. There are also multiple allusions to fairytales and other literary works: Bluebeard, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Leda and the Swan. The fairytale qualities surrounding Uncle Philip and his surreal puppets and Margaret’s lack of voice are also worth noting. Discussion: 1. From your reading, identify 3 key issues (themes or topics – e.g. growing up) with which the text is concerned and find examples (quotes) to support.