We all know the fairytales of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding Hood – but how many of us are familiar with the darker tale of Bluebeard, the notorious wife-killer?
First published in Charles Perrault’s Stories or Tales of Past Times (1697), Bluebeard has been retold and reinvented for centuries, leaving a lasting mark on literature and culture. In this talk, you’ll discover why this unsettling story has endured, and how it shaped some of the greatest works of Gothic fiction. From novels like Jane Eyre to Rebecca to the works of Angela Carter, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Natalia Theodoridou, we’ll explore how Bluebeard continues to inspire stories that reflect anxieties about women’s lives, power, and freedom. Join us on a journey into the darker side of fairytales, and discover why Bluebeard remains one of its most unsettling and unforgettable tales.
Dr Sarah Gamble is Associate Professor in English Literature at Swansea University. She’s a specialist in contemporary Gothic fiction and women’s writing, and has a particular expertise in the life and work of Angela Carter, on whom she’s written two monographs: Angela Carter: Writing from the Front Line (Edinburgh University Press,1997), and Angela Carter: A Literary Life (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Most recently, she has co-edited (with Anna Watz of Uppsala University, Sweden) a two-volume collection of academic essays on Carter – Angela Carter’s Pasts: Allegories and Intertextualities, and Angela Carter’s Futures: Representations, Adaptations and Legacies (Bloomsbury, 2025). Her current research involves dark academia and vampires.
Doors: 6:30pm | Last entry: 7pm
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