Both A Streetcar Named Desire and The Bloody Chamber portray one or more individuals in a state of oppression. They also share the common theme that the persecuted characters are women: this has been represented as the "female gothic", a term coined by Ellen Mors in Literary Women (1976). Although Carter and Williams used different literary mediums (a collection of short stories and a play, respectively), both fall within the broad genre of the Gothic and illuminate women's power struggle within a patriarchal society. The dominance of men within this social construct is the most obvious way in which women are oppressed. However, Marxist and psychoanalytic readings can offer alternative perspectives on the ways in which women are persecuted. Carter's feminist writing in "The Bloody Chamber" will serve as a contrast to the superiority of patriarchal society. Her presentation of female characters who subvert the victim role encourages readers to examine the constructs of patriarchal society that serve to oppress women. It is the undeniable relationship between Gothic literature and female oppression that makes the exploration of female characters in the genre so valuable. Domination by Men The most common form of female oppression centers on the domination of men. In the collection's titled story, "The Chamber of Blood," the Marquis is a controlling figure who treats the female protagonist like a child, likening giving her a set of keys to "giving a child a large mysterious present." The association of the female figure as the child figure represents the disparity in power of the sexes within a patriarchal society. Carter might comment on the female protagonist's dependence on the male figure… in the center of the card… beautiful without dress” in response to the removal of his “mask” to reveal his “feline… nakedness”. , tawny form”. The sexual equality between the “lamb” and the “tiger” allows the heroine to feel “free for the first time in her life”. Critic Merja Makinen reads her newfound independence as 'the sensual desires that women must acknowledge with themselves... which when embraced give them power, strength and a new awareness of both self and others'. '. The heroine's liberation from the social constructs of her father's civilization is represented by her anthropomorphic transformation into a tiger by "shedding [her] undercoat" to reveal "a nascent sheen of lustrous hair." As Helen Simpson writes in the introduction to the collection, the story's heroine "is struggling against the straitjackets of history, ideology and biological essentialism"..’