Once upon a time, a prince rushed in to save the princess from the mean old dragon, fighting him with a quick speed, not even breaking a sweat. Once the prince got the upper hand driving his sword through the dragon’s heart, the princess and him rode off into the sunset living happily ever–or so we thought.

We never truly get to learn whether or not they lived happily ever after. In addition to vague endings that leave much to be desired, these fairy tales and myths lack diversity.

Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” is a retelling of “Bluebeard,” providing it with a modern feminist update with the protagonist choosing to not remarry at the end of the story, but instead to continue living with her mother in her dead husband’s caste.

Within Carter’s other books and stories, there is an emphasis on the “sexually empowered women” trope, according to a New York Times article. An example of the sexually empowered one could be the protagonist’s mother, who doesn’t remarry after the death of her husband and is a fierce woman from her past experiences of being a pirate.

Carter was very intentional with this trope as she experienced an unhappy marriage and constricting childhood under her mother, making her want to explore the complex relationship between a woman and her sexuality.

Growing up, Carter and her mother never spoke about sex, and she faced abuse by her mother, which included keeping her awake until her father came home and forcing her to wash herself with the bathroom door open.

“I was taking … the latent content of those traditional stories and using that; and the latent content is violently sexual,” Carter wrote.

The violent sexual nature of the short story collection has received much criticism and praise. Some praise Carter for writing the everyday horrors into a fairy tale style story that readers can utilize to examine their relationship to femininity. While others question–how much sexual violence is too much?

I’m not exactly sure what being an avid reader of Carter’s says about me; however, these powerful women woke me from my fairy tale haze. 

When I was younger, I remember watching every Disney movie and reading any book with the mention of princesses in it. There’s nothing wrong with princesses because they often teach children to be kind, respectful and to have good morals.

At the same time, these princesses are often very passive in their lives, waiting for a prince to come and save them or expecting a fairy godmother to wish away their problems. The women who are aggressive and not reliant  on men are often the villains–think of the wicked stepmother.

Within Carter’s stories, these women are the focus and demonstrate to the reader that there’s nothing wrong with being a capable woman.

Carter’s “The Magic Toyshop” also touches on the Greek myth of Leda, an Aetolian princess who was raped by Zeus as a swan.

In the number of modern Greek mythology retellings Leda is often left out, most likely because the myth is very straightforward, leaving less room for creative interpretation that retellings sometimes utilize. 

However, the myth topics of rape and how to address rape are not never addressed properly. In Carter’s “The Magic Toyshop,” Melanie, who takes on the de facto role of Leda, consents to any sexual behavior while also having the power to freely object.

By providing readers with the option to see a woman consenting and not giving consent, readers are able to learn what a healthy relationship looks like, and women are given a voice in the narrative.

Claire North, author of “The Songs of Penelope” trilogy, said she did not initially set out to write a retelling of “The Odyssey,” but rather wanted to tell a story where women are left without men and what women’s power looks like in a less misogynistic world.

“Penelope offered a good opportunity to explore with the added bonus of pirates, invaders, daring does, spies and conspiracists, which is what I like, I’m here for stuff happening,” she said.

Although retellings have the potential to reframe well-known stories with diverse representations, like Madeline Miller’s “The Song of Achilles,” not all retellings offer characters nuanced stories, North said.

“There’s a category which tells you the myth as you know it, but this time a woman is there, and you’re like ‘That’s great, but what’s she doing? Is she participating? Is she driving this? Does she have agency,’” she said. “Some of the time the answer is no. Some of the time, it’s not. The men are still doing their thing, but now a woman is watching.”

The last way women are depicted in retellings is that women continue to be oppressed, which North said occurs when authors claim to be loyal to the Greek myths.

“The question I would ask is what are we attempting to achieve there? What is the end goal of showing the oppression of women? What are we reclaiming by showing oppression,” she said.

North noted it is important to discuss oppression; however, there should be a larger focus on moving away from it and questioning the very point of the oppression. To answer this question, the intention of the inclusion of oppression as well as the audience should be kept in mind.

“We are writing for the 21st Century, and we should be asking questions about what this myth means to us now, not as much as what was it doing then,” she said.

With the large selection of fairy tale and Greek myth retellings, us readers do have the opportunity to be conscientious readers and choose to read books challenging the old standards of the past.