MOM 2006 journal for pdf.pmd - University of Michigan-Flint

adjourned to the boozer” (9). Dora does not even sound like a woman talking; she speaks of drinking,
bodily functions, women’s private parts, and is quite open about sex, “Old Charlie Hung like a horse”
(26) and “I always preferred foreplay, too. Well, not always” (54). If one were to listen to her speak,
they would think she was a man with an identity crisis, “But we were all a tremble, all anxiety; what
the f*** was going on?” (10) and “It was pissing down with rain” (34). She is extremely bold and
funny all in one mix, “Not many people can boast a photo of their grandmother posing for kiddiporn”
(13) and “Tony, Tony, macaroni, show us all your big baloney. Pardon me, vicar” (117). Even as she
speaks of her own creation, she holds no boundaries in her speech, “…although whoever it was who
contributed the actual jism, no child need ever have been ashamed of either contender” (21) and “I did
piss myself when I saw him, in fact, but only a little bit, hardly enough to stain the sofa” (72).
Although Dora is a woman, it is almost as if she puts on a front of a man; kind of like the
“carnivalesque” concept in the novel. She masks her identity and true feelings with her vulgar
language, quick wit, and sexual innuendos, “If I don’t get drunk tonight, I’ll kill myself” (153) and
“One little sperm out of a million, swims up the cervix…whose emissions sparked off our being”
(174). Dora’s speech is extremely bold and not lady-like, “A hand on my breast, even if I cannot recall
precisely whose hand” (195), as are her actions throughout the novel.
Dora’s actions throughout the novel depict her as not-the-typical-woman. She is bold, sexual, and
does not care what others think of her. As Nora told her about her quick fling with a soldier, Dora
replies, “I was only doing my bit for the war effort” (3). Dora is very sexual and care-free in her
choices; she acts like a man who does not have any feelings, just the need to have sex. She has no
emotional attachment with any of the men, “He gave me the confidence to use a word like
“philanthropic.” In return, I broke his heart. Fair exchange is no robbery” (13). Dora uses Nora’s man,
because she wants him, that’s all, “If it was only the once and if I keep my mouth shut…he is as
innocent as asparagus, his heart as pure as Epps’ cocoa, poor lamb. Why should he guess? Nora, I
want him so” (83). Dora, again, takes up with a boy that thought she was Nora, “We hid behind the
feathers we kissed, and kissed, and kissed until by unspoken mutual consent we ducked under the
tablecloth…I only had to speak, to say, ‘Not Nora, but Dora’” (99-100). She also has her way with an
older man, Irish, whom she uses just for pleasure, “’God you’re lovely,’ he said, when he turned to
look. I knew he’d say that. Id known in advance, I wouldn’t be able to return the compliment…My
first old man…He was a burned-out old case. I knew I must be very gentle” (119).
Dora does not even take the concept of marriage seriously, she allows Mrs. Khan to marry Genghis
and act like her, “I offed that diamond bruiser as if it were a burning coal…’Here, shove it on. You go
marry him’” (156). Lastly, Dora sleeps with Perry, her uncle, “…because not since the change had
your truly felt such a sudden rush of blood in that department, down there,” (208). She and Perry had
sex in the upstairs at Perry and Melchoir’s birthday party, “Even in old age it was easy to see why
Peregrine had always had such success with women” (219). Even while she was having sex with
Perry, she was visualizing her other lovers throughout her life, “…but Peregrine wasn’t the only one
dear man, tonight, but a kaleidoscope of faces, gestures, caresses…the curtain call of my career as
lover” (221).
Thus, Carter made Dora the epitome of a man, according to the feminist period; she used men for
pleasure and fun. It was as if Carter used Dora to throw men’s actions back into their faces; as a type
of “ha-ha, we can do it too,” kind of tone of her character. Women do not have to be perfect, because
they are not perfect. According to Carter, they burp, swear, and act goofy too; women are human, and
Meeting of Minds 2006 52