Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 3. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 29)
Angelika Reichmann: Ledas and Swans in Angela Carter's The Magic Toyshop and Nights at the Circus
42 ANG El J KA REICHMANN different points in the novel, she acts out in a modified form all the possible roles offered by it —and a lot of others. From this respect the case of the painting depicting her "primal scene", the rape of Leda by a painter of the Venetian school, is emblematic. Walser guesses —and thus the text implies —that the reader should bear in mind of the numerous depictions of this scene the one by Titian. However, such a painting does not exist. Nor is Fewers the passive victim in the several episodes similar to the staged scenes of the loss of virginity —or rather rape —in The Magic Toyshop. In fact, the whole first part of the novel, which consists of the stories told alternately by Fewers and Liz about the aerialiste during their "first interview" with Walser, is nothing else but a series of inconclusive attempts at making love to her or raping her. The first two of these stories, Fewers' fall from the mantelpiece in Ma Nelson's drawing-room and her first ascent from the roof of the brothel with Liz' help, are highly symbolic events. While telling these stories Fewers practically also interprets them, clearly referring to a quite unambiguous parallel with sexual intercourse. The two events take place when she is fourteen, that is, at the age of puberty. The first unfortunate ascent, which seems to double the wedding-dress night scene in The Magic Toyshop, takes place in the drawing-room, under the picture of Leda and the Swan. The result of her fall is that she breaks her nose, or more exactly what Liz emphasises is that her nose starts to bleed since she "near busted her nose in half' (NC 30), which may be a reference to the loss of virginity. It is the fear —the fear of dying —she experiences that is emphasised, as well as in the second story which is told by Fewers herself. She uses expressions like "The transparent arms of the wind received the virgin" (NC 34) and "I was in the arms of my invisible lover" (NC 34) in connection with the wind during the description of this first flight. Moreover, the role she acts out voluntarily in this scene is not passive at all, since "the wind did not relish [her] wondering inactivity for long [...] and as if affronted by [her] passivity, started to let [her] slip" (NC 34), by that urging her to start to move rhythmically with her wings. Though this scene can be conceived as well as parallel to the weddingdress night in The Magic Toyshop, there are some basic differences between these two scenes in Nights at the Circus, in the sense that the first one is much closer to the one in The Magic Toyshop: Melanie and Fewers experience fear, loneliness, and fail to carry out their plan (whatever it is),
