Significant features of 'The Tiger's Bride'

1. Women as viewed by men: In 'The Tiger's Bride' the girl is handed over from the father to The Beast because "My father lost me to The Beast at cards". The only remorse from the Father is that he has lost "my pearl beyond price" with no mention of the daughter's fate in the hands of a foreign lord. The Beast appears to want to 'corrupt' the daughter through his male gaze, although this results in "one single tear swelled, glittering, at the corner of the masked shame". Consequently, there may be conflict between The Beast's mask of masculinity in viewing women as sexual objects and his true 'wild' self which has no such constraints in gender roles. There is also the mechanical maid, which the valet describes as finding it "no less convenient than do most gentlemen", suggesting that women in traditional gender roles do not need emotion. The feminist interpretation of this is that in the eyes of men, women can perform their conventional duties as clockwork and without emotion as they are always seen as possessions of men.

2. The Beast: Although described as a 'beast', is not necessarily a negative male character. His is visibly ashamed of his request to see the girl naked and allows her to see him naked. It is as though The Beast regards nakedness not as something sexual but rather a case of natural equality.
The Beast is a wealthy individual, although he has "bought solitude, not luxury, with his money". Wealth is yet another reminder of humanity, so he surrounds himself with nature- the horses given use of the dining room, the valet being a monkey- and even has pictures "propped with their faces to the walls". Perhaps The Beast is ashamed of his link with humanity, with its cruelty and inequalities, and solitude is his only form of escape.

3. The Girl: Like most of Carter's women, she is young, innocent and virginal. This is what makes her desired- The Beast wants to see "'The sight of a young lady's skin that no man has seen before'" and therefore her only real item of value. Her reply to The Beast's request is that she will pull her skirt up to her waist but that "there must be a sheet over my face"- indicating perhaps that she wants to shame The Beast, as he will be looking at her for purely sexual pleasure, nothing else. When she decides to stay with The Beast, his "thick, rich, wild scent" transforms into a "reek of fur and piss", suggesting that though the world of beasts is not as aesthetic it is at least 'true' in that there is no mask of humanity to create any illusions of wealth or morals.