Bluebeard

Bluebeard is a famous French folktale.

The most well-known version was written by Charles Perrault. He first published it in Paris in 1697. The story describes a wealthy nobleman with a dark secret. He has a habit of murdering his wives. The plot follows a new wife as she tries to avoid the fate of her predecessors. This tale is so notorious that the name "Bluebeard" is used as a noun. It describes a man who marries and kills one wife after another. The verb "bluebearding" even describes the crime of killing a series of women.

The mechanism of the story relies on a set of palace keys. In one version, Bluebeard is a powerful nobleman. He has been married six times to beautiful women. All of these women have mysteriously vanished. A young woman decides to marry him. She moves to his luxurious palace in the countryside. Bluebeard announces he must leave for a time. He gives his wife a set of keys to the palace. These keys can open every room in the building. However, he strictly forbids her from entering one underground chamber. The wife eventually feels overcome by curiosity. She sneaks into the secret room during a party. She finds the room flooded with blood and the corpses of the six previous wives.

When the wife finds the room, she drops the key into the blood. She tries to wipe the stain off the key. However, the key is magic. The bloodstain cannot be removed from the metal. Bluebeard returns unexpectedly and finds the bloody key. He enters a blind rage. He threatens to kill his wife on the spot. She asks for one last prayer with her sister, Anne. Just as Bluebeard is about to deliver a fatal blow, Anne and her brothers arrive. They kill Bluebeard to save her. The wife then inherits his entire fortune and his castle. She lays the six dead wives to rest. She uses the money to help her siblings marry. Finally, she remarries and moves on from the horror.

Researchers have looked for the historical origins of this tale. One theory links it to Gilles de Rais. He was a 15th-century nobleman and a Marshal of France. He fought alongside Joan of Arc. He was eventually hanged and burned for multiple murders and heresy. However, he did not kill his wives. His crimes involved the murder of children. There is no evidence that Perrault knew about de Rais. Another possible source is the Breton king Conomor the Accursed. A biography of St. Gildas describes his life. Conomor reportedly murdered his wives when they became pregnant. In that legend, St. Gildas miraculously restores his wife, Tryphine, to life. When the saint brings her to the king, the castle walls collapse and kill Conomor.

Scholars have many different interpretations of the story. Some see it as a warning about the effects of female curiosity. This connects the story to myths like Pandora and Psyche. Others see the key as a sign of disobedience. Folklorist Maria Tatar suggests the tale might encourage women to question patriarchal rules. She notes that breaking a man's rules is a metaphor for breaking societal rules. Some see the story as the opposite of "Beauty and the Beast." While that tale aims to placate fears of marriage, Bluebeard aggravates fears about sex.

Psychologists also offer unique perspectives on the characters. Clarissa Pinkola Estés calls the key the "key of knowing." She believes the key gives the wife consciousness and truth. Bruno Bettelheim argues the story is only a fairy tale because of the magic. Without the magical bleeding key, he calls it a horror story. He views the blood on the key as a symbol of the wife's indiscretion. Scholar Philip Lewis suggests the key represents Bluebeard's superiority. He believes the blood shows the wife has gained knowledge. This knowledge erases the power difference between the husband and wife.

Bluebeard is classified as type 312 in the Aarne-Thompson system. This system is used to categorize folktale plots. It is closely related to type 311. In those tales, the heroine rescues herself and her sisters. Examples include "Fitcher's Bird" and "The Old Dame and Her Hen." In the Bluebeard version, the heroine is rescued by her brother. This is actually less common in oral traditions than the heroine saving herself. The story has inspired many artists and creators.

It has been turned into operas by composers like Jacques Offenbach and Béla Bartók. It even appears in modern films like "Ex Machina." The legend continues to influence how we think about secrets and truth.