Growing outrage over violence against women

Violence is a constant across many of the stories in The Bloody Chamber. Additionally, violence and sexuality are linked in many tales, including The Snow Child, The Bloody Chamber, The Lady of the House of Love and The Company of Wolves. In the titular first story, violence is explicitly linked to the male gaze. The Marquis' grotesque mutilation of his wives' bodies emphasises the objectification of women inherent to patriarchyA system of society where men hold power and women are excluded. , their forced subservience to male desires. And violence is not merely in the act, but in the idea too: the narrator of The Bloody Chamber notes that her own perception of her body and her self are manipulated by her husband's will, stating "I seemed reborn in his unreflective eyes, reborn in unfamiliar shapes", a direct allusion to the male gaze.

Can new laws stop this evil? A British policeman got a life sentence for killing an innocent young woman. The case has shone a light on a worsening global atrocity.

What lies behind our fascination with true crime? It is fear? Swedish police have just called a halt to a long-running murder investigation which drove amateur sleuths to the point of madness.

Is all war a crime? As Putin is accused of outrages in Ukraine, some protest that the term, "war crime" makes no sense. Does it imply that some kinds of killing are justified?

Bodies are another central focus of all of the stories in The Bloody Chamber. Characters' bodies metamorphose, become scarred, become supernatural: nothing and nobody is stable. The body is a site on which decisive action and plot occur, constantly subject to fantastical twists and turns. But taking control of bodies is also the ultimate source of power. The Marquis in The Bloody Chamber kills his wives in gruesome ways for sexual gratification; the Erl-King imprisons girls by transforming them into birds; the vampire in The Lady of the House of Love feeds on young men's bodies to sustain her own life. Critics have also noted Carter's anthropomorphicAnthropomorphism is when humans ascribe human-like traits, for instance personalities and emotions, to non-human things (including animals). descriptions of buildings and settings, alleging that buildings and nature in the stories are also often depicted as "bodies" subject to pain and transformation in the same way as the sentientAble to perceive or feel things. characters.

Should we transplant an entire body? If the science actually makes this possible and you could get a healthy new body, is it morally different from a healthy new heart or liver?

Can we commit real crimes in virtual reality? If so, might this lead to a whole new legal system of meta-police and meta-courts? Or will our existing system be overwhelmed? 

Do we grin too much? Until a combination of French dentistry and Parisian art in the 1780s created the toothy smile, we did not feel the need to go around beaming all the time.

In Gothic fiction, women were traditionally depicted as passive objects whose helpless deaths symbolised a destruction of innocence. Inverting this gendered subject-object paradigm, Carter creates strong, complex female protagonists who often either thwart the male leads of the original stories, or occupy the role of the villain themselves. Stories such as The Bloody Chamber, The Snow Child and The Tiger's Bride also explore the harmful effects of the patriarchal institutions of family and marriage on women's lives.

Can misogyny ever be stopped? TikToker Andrew Tate is back on Twitter, despite online bans for extreme sexist content. Some say his popularity shows there is still a long way to go in the battle for equality.

The unsolved murder that still haunts Sweden

Is there really a third gender? Estrella Vazquez says her appearance in Vogue is a 'huge moment', just weeks after a stunning photo exhibition spotlighted Tahiti's genderless Mahu community.

Today, female characters can be bold, brave and strong - but what about violent? Killing Eve, which dominated the BAFTAs, is a story of complex women who are as bloodthirsty as any man.

Women throughout the tales find nooks and crannies of female power in deeply patriarchal settings. In The Erl-King, the maiden strangles the Erl-King with her hair, a symbol of her femininity. In The Company of Wolves, the grand-daughter seduces the wolf, saving her own life. In Wolf-Alice, the young girl's compassion gives her a power beyond what she could have learned from the nuns. Carter's stories are gritty and unafraid of displaying the realities of patriarchal dominance, but her female characters find power in the existence of their agency, something that Carter has adapted heavily from the source material.

Is Emmanuel Macron now the most powerful leader on Earth? As America and China struggle, he will lead the world's second-richest economy and, some say, its leading superpower.

Is triumph always rooted in adversity? Writer and actress Michaela Coel has overcome enormous obstacles to become one of the most sought-after talents in the television world.

Are these the last rites of British world power? Global leaders descended on London for the Queen's funeral. But some think that the Queen represented an institution and image of Britain that is increasingly outdated.

Oppression is a major theme of The Bloody Chamber, where the patriarchal content of the source fairy tales dictates that women automatically occupy the role of victim. But "victim" is no monolithA single big stone, often standing upright. Also used to describe large political, social or corporate structures that are slow to move or change. in Carter's world, and the women affected by oppression respond to their marginalisation in a range of different ways, alternately thwarting gendered expectations and exploiting them for benefit.

Will evolution destroy patriarchy? Women have endured male rule for more than 12,000 years. But some think the age of men might soon come to a natural conclusion.

Will Ukraine be Putin's downfall? His warmongering has sparked protests across Russia. Joe Biden has warned the increasingly isolated "dictator" he has nowhere to go.

Can painting change the world? Artist Paula Rego has died. "She taught us how to sew, draw, put on eyeliner and tell uncomfortable stories", said her granddaughter.