Ok, here is an essay I did for A-level. The "Wolf Trilogy" is the name given to the last three stories in "The Bloody Chamber", an inspired collection of re-written fairy tales.

Discuss the role of identity in the wolf trilogy within The Bloody Chamber

In the wolf trilogy Carter uses various forms of identity and identity change to create a feminist rewriting for modern adults of a traditional children's fairytale: Red Riding Hood. To achieve this she makes use of the previous identities of Red Riding Hood, which has evolved from Perrault's original via the Brothers Grimm version to become Carter's wolf trilogy. She uses and adapts the identity of the fairytale, its language, structural devices and themes. Within the stories themselves she explores gender identity and the changing identities of her characters. Through all these forms of identity she makes both the structure and content of her tales radically different to the originals, whilst still echoing them, as is necessary to achieve her aims.
All three of the stories in the wolf trilogy have links to the story of Red Riding Hood, most directly those of Perrault and Grimm. The most obvious borrowings are the red shawl:

"the grandmother who had knitted her the red shawl" (pg113 The Company of
Wolves)

and the journey through the woods to take food to a sick grandmother. This takes place in both The Werewolf and The Company of Wolves. Carter maintains these direct narrative links in order to subvert the traditional message of the originals by her adaptations.
The manner in which the three authors deal with the wolf (in all three versions a metaphor for a man) is one of the most revealing differences. In Perrault's version the girl who allows herself to be seduced is "gobbled up". In Carter's The Company of Wolves the girl who is seduced (and seduces) is empowered, she "knew she was nobody's meat" (pg118). This changes seduction from a terrible and shameful thing which girls must fear into a triumph. Perrault is warning girls to fear the wolf, Carter is encouraging them to embrace and conquer him, an attitude which is both very modern and feminist, and would doubtless have shocked Perrault and his contemporary French audience.
The Grimm's attitude to the wolf is largely similar to Perrault's, except for one crucial difference. In the Grimm version Red Riding Hood is rescued by a passing huntsman, who also kills the wolf. This has the double effect of allowing Red Riding Hood to learn from her mistake and punishing the wolf. This changes the focus of the moral message, from Perrault's clear warning to girls to a broader message to all society that wrongdoing will be punished. Carter echoes this in The Werewolf, where the villagers kill the werewolf:

"pelted her with stones until she fell down dead" (pg110).

However, this may be more because Carter needs to dispose of grandmother than for any moral reason, as in both The Company of Wolves and Wolf-Alice evil is not punished. The need to kill off grandmother is discussed in more detail below.
A key point in the Grimm version is Red Riding Hood's mother's instruction to "not run off the path". This has the dual effect of continuing to expand the social message and preserving Perrault's warning to girls not to indulge themselves.
The fact that being eaten is the result of giving in to the urge to dally along the way, collect flowers and generally ignore the mother's orders reinforces lessons about obedience to elders. Carter breaks with this completely in both The Werewolf and The Company of Wolves. In The Werewolf it is grandmother who has to die for the girl to prosper, and in The Company of Wolves grandmother is killed off so that the girl and the werewolf can seduce each other. Carter shows that her Red Riding Hood figures can ignore their elders and benefit by doing so when she describes how:

"The old bones under the bed set up a terrible clattering but she did not
pay them any heed." (pg118).

The "old bones" are grandmother's and their clattering can be seen as a complaint at the girl's behaviour, but she only survives her encounter with the wolf by ignoring them. The message of both tales is clear: girls become more secure by disobeying their elders, by moving away from their way of doing things, not less.
The second effect of the warning to "not run off the path", that of maintaining Perrault's original message to girls, is discussed by Bruno Bettleheim in his book The Uses of Enchantment. He maintains that the Grimms show Red Riding hood as a pubertal girl who, however, is not yet mature enough to resist the temptation presented by the "pretty flowers" and "sunbeams dancing through the trees". Thus she returns "to proceeding according to the pleasure principle" (pg 170). In following the urges of her "pleasure-seeking id" (pg 171) instead of her mother's teachings the Grimm's Red Riding Hood is behaving exactly as Perrault's in allowing herself to be seduced, and in both cases this leads to a terrible fate. Carter again challenges this. Instead of punishing the girl who "wanted to dawdle on her way" (pg115 The Company of Wolves), she gives her a lover.
Wolf-Alice does not maintain the direct links to Perrault and Grimm which can be seen in the first two tales. However, by placing it at the end of the trilogy Carter ensures that the reader is already familiar with the idea that her stories about wolves have links to Red Riding Hood, removing the need for reminders and enabling Wolf-Alice to build on the foundations laid by the previous tales.
Bettleheim claims that:

"It destroys the meaning of a fairytale for the child if someone details
its meaning for him." (pg 169)

This can be equally true for adults. Bettleheim maintains that discovering hidden meanings helps the story to "attain full significance" for the reader:

"This discovery changes a story from something [the reader] is being given
into something he partially creates for himself." (pg 169)

However, if a writer is not going to be explicit about their message they have to find other ways to ensure that the reader understands them. One way of doing this is to write in a particular style or mould which will inform the reader of how to view the text. Carter's use of the identity of the fairytale is both complex and important in conveying her message.
Carter uses a broad range of language, borrowing from fairytales, manipulating their language and moving beyond it into a more literary form.
The most direct borrowing takes place in The Company of Wolves where she quotes Perrault and Grimm directly

"What big eyes you have.
All the better to see you with." (pg117)

There are also clear references in The Werewolf:

"Go and visit grandmother, who has been sick." (pg109)

These clear links to a traditional fairytale have the effect of conjuring up memories, possibly fond emotional ones, of reading (or being read) a traditional version. This allows a sharp contrast to be created, thus increasing the impact of the changes made by Carter.
Carter's manipulation of fairytale language is visible in her descriptions of violent, disgusting or macabre occurrences. In The Werewolf the "bloody stump where her right hand should have been, festering already" (pg109) is simple enough language for a children's story, but perhaps too gruesome and gothic. The descriptions of violence in The Company of Wolves are even more clearly inappropriate for a child's fairytale:

"Ogres that grill babies upon gridirons, witches that fatten their captives
in cages for cannibal tables" (pg111)

Fairytales might mention monsters, but would be unlikely to go into such graphic detail about their actions.
The language of the fairytale is most dramatically manipulated in Wolf- Alice, with descriptions moving far beyond usual fairytale content, though still at points retaining its simplicity:

"half a juicy torso slung across his back" (pg 121)

Carter manipulates language in this way for two purposes. She is aware of the need for fairytales to shock in order to imprint their message on the mind of the reader. The idea of being eaten is sufficient to scare a child, but more detailed and repulsive images are needed when writing for adults. Her second aim is to show that her stories are for adults. She continues and reinforces this idea in her frequent departures from any language remotely related to children's stories.
In the phrase from The Werewolf:

"those bleak and touching townships of the dead where the graves are marked
with portraits of the deceased in the naïf style" (pg108)

Carter uses vocabulary which is far too advanced for children: "naïf". In The Company of Wolves her description of the wolves' howl, which:

"has, for all its fearful resonance, some inherent sadness in it . . .
there is a vast melancholy in the canticles of wolves" (pg112)

is rich, vivid language, aimed at those who love reading, who have an appreciation of an exquisitely written text. With the combination of advanced vocabulary and highly literary language Carter does not just make her fairytale "adult", but writes with a specific (and fairly advanced) readership in mind, and one that will also recognise and appreciate gothic elements in the text.
Carter rarely uses coarse language (and it is all the more powerful for this) but her use of the word "cunt" in Wolf-Alice and the sentence "His genitals, huge. Ah! Huge." (pg 116) in The Company of Wolves are perhaps the most immediately obvious signs of all that her stories are not for children. Her use of a rich adult mixture of coarse and literary language adds variety to the experience for the reader.
If Carter's occasional use of coarse language is the most obvious signal that she is moving away from the children's fairytale, her use of explicit language and sensuality is a close second. The warning that:

"If you spy a naked man among the pines, you must run as if the Devil were
after you" (pg 113 The Company of Wolves)

may be implied by Grimm, and even more strongly by Perrault, but only Carter makes explicit mention of it, because only she can, as only she is writing for adults. Similarly, while Grimm and Perrault suggest that Red Riding Hood flirts with the wolf, only Carter can describe it:

"What would you like? she asked disingenuously.
A kiss.
Commonplaces of a rustic seduction" (pg 115 The Company of Wolves)

The fact that Carter can be explicit where Grimm and Perrault had to hint allows her to reserve her use of metaphor and symbolism for the more complex ideas necessary to make the changes she desires. The simple phrase which concludes The Werewolf:

"Now the girl lived in her grandmother's house; she prospered." (pg110)

communicates not just a happy ending but also the idea of the new order replacing the old, the young woman gaining freedom by throwing away the old.
One of the common structural devices of the traditional fairytale which Carter uses is the happy ending. This is most obvious in The Werewolf, where Carter concludes with the words "she prospered" (pg110). In The Company of Wolves the girl ends the story sleeping "safe and sound . . . between the paws of the tender wolf." (pg118). In both these stories the girl survives and profits from her encounter with the wolf, though not by learning her lesson and becoming more cautious, but by gaining independence and power. In Wolf-Alice the happy ending happens to the Duke, who appears to be regaining his soul thanks to Wolf-Alice:

"little by little there appeared within it [the mirror] . . . as if brought
into being by her soft, moist, gentle tongue, finally, the face of the
Duke." (pg 126).

In this case the girl's empowerment takes the form not of the ability to deal with a werewolf or conquer a seducer, but of a gift she can give to others. As has been mentioned previously Wolf-Alice can be seen to be building on or advancing beyond the first two tales, so it is significant that it is this message of healing, with a notable absence of power struggles or gender issues, that Carter chooses to end on.
None of these are endings intended by Perrault in his cautionary tale for young girls (which is unusual in not having a happy ending) nor by the Grimms in their morality tale, yet they echo the happy ending motif with which readers are familiar. This, like the use of fairytale language, has the effect of throwing the changes into sharper contrast.
Carter takes advantage of the fairytale origins of her stories by using some of their common themes, particularly that of supernaturalism.
This is visible in both The Werewolf and The Company of Wolves, with humans turning into wolves (and vice-versa):

"And then no wolf at all lay in front of the hunter but the bloody trunk of
a man" (pg 111)

and descriptions of the Devil who "holds picnics in the graveyards and invites the witches" (pg 105) on Walpurgisnacht. However, the most bizarre creature of all is the Duke in Wolf-Alice, part werewolf, part vampire, scurrying about the graveyard "intent on performing his cannibal rituals" (pg 125). This eclectic use of creatures drawn from myth and superstition ensures that the stories are firmly imprinted in the reader's mind, and lends Carter's tales some of their atmosphere, making them far more mystical, richer and deeper. Readers can accept the presence of these bizarre creatures because they are informed by her use of language and structure that what they are reading is in part fairytale and will therefore contain things which are unreal or superficially irrational.
As Carter is attempting to create feminist fairytale gender identity is a major theme in the stories.
The role of the female is dramatically altered from any previous tales-a reflection of the times and society that the new and old versions wee written for.
In The Werewolf the girl takes on the mantle of her father:

"take your father's hunting knife, you know how to use it" (pg 109)

and, by dealing with the wolf herself:

"She made a great swipe at it with her father's knife and slashed off its
right forepaw" (pg109)

she also takes on the role played by the huntsman in the Grimm version.
The girl in The Werewolf takes over both the positive male character of father and the ambiguous one of the huntsman (who despite being a hero is still a predator). However, Carter goes even further than this in giving grandmother the role of the predatory wolf. This not only has the effect of completely changing the social message of the story with regards to obedience (as discussed previously) but also makes men completely redundant.
In The Company of Wolves power focused for most of the story on the handsome predatory werewolf:

"When he offered to carry her basket, she gave it to him although her knife
was in it" (pg 114).

Here the girl is surrendering power, just as Red Riding Hood gives power to the wolf in Perrault's version by pointing the way to her grandmother's house. However, this power is dramatically reduced in Carter's tale when the girl rescues herself by seducing her seducer:

"She ripped off his shirt for him and flung it into the fire, in the fiery
wake of her own discarded clothing." (pg 118).

The girl regains control and conquers the predator:

"She will lay his fearful head in her lap" (pg118).

This victory is essential to maintaining the feminist message of the tales.
In Wolf-Alice the girl has power, but instead of the power to fight and conquer it is the power to heal. Wolf-Alice herself, by being "as authentic as any language of nature" (pg121) is able to give the Duke his soul. She is without artifice, she does not at first understand mirrors and fine dresses:

"First, she tried to nuzzle her reflection . . . she bruised her hose on the cold glass and broke her claws trying to tussle with this stranger" (pg
123).

Through this naturality she has a power very different to but perhaps more important than that of the girls in The Werewolf and The Company of Wolves.
A typical feminist theme is dealt with by Carter in her treatment of menstruation as a gateway to womanhood, and from that to empowerment. In The Company of Wolves the young woman is unafraid, she "has her knife and is afraid of nothing" (pg 114), and she has this courage because she "has just started her woman's bleeding" (pg 113), and so is no longer a child and subject to childish fears, but being young and inexperienced she "does not know how to shiver" (pg113). It is this courage which enables her to blossom into a complete adult through her encounter with the wolf, her encounter with and conquest of adult terrors.
Carter uses the story of Wolf-Alice to convey the idea that puberty is natural, not a loss of innocence but a healthy strengthening process. By describing the physical effects in detail:

"She found a little diadem of fresh hairs tufting between her thighs"
(pg124)

she demystifies them to a certain extent, and by having them happen to a creature who is entirely natural and pure she ensures that they cannot be seen as anything other than positive. There is a risk in Wolf-Alice of the reader perceiving the changes as neutral, in part due to the matter of fact way in which they are described. The language is far less poetical than in the equivalent passage in The Company of Wolves. Wolf-Alice simply "examined her new breasts with curiosity" (pg 124) whereas the girl "has inside her a magic space" (pg114). However, as has already been discussed, the ordering of the trilogy is crucial to an understanding of Wolf-Alice. We have already been shown that puberty is a powerful and empowering experience, and in the light of this we can see Wolf-Alice's ability to heal as following from her physical maturing (as it does immediately in chronological terms), thus making these changes powerfully positive.
The physical changes experienced by the male characters are in stark contrast to the positive female changes. Where men change physically it is not due to puberty, but rather to some supernatural evil that causes them to metamorphose from man into either wolf, as in The Company of Wolves:

"They say there's an ointment the Devil gives you that turns you into a
wolf the minute you rub it on" (pg113)

or into a mixture of wolf, vampire and man as in Wolf-Alice. This use of the wolf as metaphor for man is necessary to maintain the links to Red Riding Hood, and the exclusive use of negative male characters (in The Werewolf and The Company of Wolves the girls' fathers are hinted at as positive role models, but neither are allowed to be part of the stories) is necessary to show women in the most positive light possible.
However, Carter does suggest the possibility of partnership, of reconciliation between girl and wolf. In The Company of Wolves both the girl and the werewolf end the story satisfied and safe, because both have made sacrifices; the girl has given up her virginity and learnt to deal with adult fears (as discussed previously), the wolf has allowed himself to be tamed, the "carnivore incarnate" (pg118) has met and acknowledged his equal, they are bound as partners in their "savage marriage ceremony" (pg118).
In Wolf-Alice the ending is one of complete peace and acceptance:

"She leapt upon his bed to lick, without hesitation, without disgust, with a quick, tender gravity, the blood and dirt from his cheeks and forehead"
(pg126).

This can be seen as a message to society to accept female empowerment, not fear it. Wolf-Alice is the pinnacle of natural female power-a power far greater than any male predator-and a benign power to be respected, not feared by society. That Carter chooses to end her most developed story, the whole trilogy, and indeed the book, on this note of reconciliation suggests that this is the final and most important message which she wants her readers to remember.
Carter has taken the tale of Red Riding Hood and adapted it to carry her message to her readers. To do this she has used, manipulated and moved beyond traditional fairytale identity, as well as changing the roles played by her characters and making use of their identity shifts to suit her feminist message. The result is a trilogy which contains both a recognisable traditional fairytale and a modern feminist message for an adult readership.

Bibliography

Carter, A. The Bloody Chamber, London, Vintage (1995) Bettleheim, B. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairytales, London, Vintage, (1979)