I read this book when I was about 15, and now, at 27, I'm rereading it (and watching this series as I go). When I first read the Erl-King, I found it quite boring. But last night I was completely drawn into the feeric atmosphere of the forest, and charmed by the earthly nature of the Erl-King. And you have to compliment Carter on her writing, I thought this was the most beautifully written text of the whole book (so far).
I think that her vivid descriptions of the forest that intertwine with feelings and sensations gave a dream-like feel to the story, and it transports you, in my view, to that dream-like state we find ourselves in when so head over heels in an all-consuming passion, when everything else seems hung in the air. Very often you know, from your own gut or from friends' advice (or from the bird in the forest) that this passion will cause you great harm, but you just can't help it.
It was also very refreshing to read the story from a female point of view - in these kinds of stories, when the protagonist falls in love with a mermaid-like being, the genders are usually switched. And I found her account of this passion very intimate, very sensual, very far from cliché.
Carter also describes an almost childlike innocence to the Erl-King, but that is also a very dangerous innocence. It appears sometimes as the innocence of a wild animal that hunts to kill completely deprived of any moral feelings, good or bad, and at times, it seems like the deceptive entranced state that vampires put their victims into. A good friend of mine once told me something that I found very cynical at the time, but now I see a lot of wisdom behind her joke: she said that she would rather be hurt by a woman than by a man, because when a woman wants to screw you over, she goes ahead and screws you over. But a man screws you over unintentionally. He didn't mean to hurt you, he hurts you without even noticing you were there in the first place. I remembered this pearl of wisdom when reading the Erl-King. Something about the care with which he treated his captive birds, and the weaving of the cage for his new bird in the collection.
I think the Erl-King have these many faces - an unscrupulous vampire, a wild animal, a charming young man with good intentions but who fails to see women as more than playthings. But he is sensual, he is bewitching, his company is intimate and magic, still we know he'll do us harm, we know he keeps birds in cages, that his magical world can be alienating and that what we once took for beautiful singing was actually our soul wailing. I think everybody has met a man like this at some point in their lives.
A resposta fofa da Miss Hannah:
This is such a deep and phenomenal interpretation. Really value you sharing it. Also, I love how much it resonates with the dream-like haunting that is both nightmarish and all consuming! Love your analysis!
Link do vídeo dela: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX9-nxmf_wM&ab_channel=MissHannaLovesGrammar
