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The
Bluebeard story is one of the most enigmatic of those looked at in the
class. Of all the tales in Folk and Fairy Tales it seems the one
least amenable to a child readership, and most directly aimed at an adult
readership, in spite of the many versions that have appeared in children's
folk and fairy tale anthologies.
It is, though, a story that has continued to fascinate and resonate, and
both its serial-murderer theme and the questions it raises about the role
and place of women have found a response in (adult) versions and discussion
in the modern age (see below for some modern versions).
One of the reasons it seems more suited to an adult audience is that the
rite-of-passage in the story is an adult, not a child, one: the marriage of
the woman to Bluebeard. In most fairy/folk tales any marriage rounds of the
story and appears at the end. This is because the rite-of-passage in such
stories is usually that of growing up, of puberty, of moving from childhood
to earliest adulthood. The marriage comes at the end because it is a symbol
of that journey being achieved, and any story around that marriage itself
belongs, so to speak, to another book, another stage of life.
In the Bluebeard story, though, the marriage occurs at the beginning - the
rite-of-passage of puberty has taken place before this story.
Behind the whole story one can perhaps perceive, deeply submerged in the
symbolism, an expression of the perfectly natural fear: that of the woman
(who in most periods would have been expected to be a virgin on her
marriage, and whose marriage may have been arranged) of first leaving the
security of one's family for a strange household and second going to bed
with her husband for the first time. The overlay of the story is, after all,
a kind of symbolic expression of the worst-case scenario of such fears. The
rescue by the brothers is a theme that occurs in many different myth and
tale contexts (not to mention true historical ones); the situation of a
woman being abused by a husband, especially one in an arranged marriage, was
not only one of the safety of the woman, but also of the honour of the
family.
That being said, the Bluebeard story remains enigmatic, for it seems to tap
into deep undercurrents of sex and violence that have, for example, found a
modern equivalent in many horror movies, but which in this story are
difficult to analyse - which is why some of the best modern commentaries on
the story have been artistic re-workings of the story rather than academic
discussions, artistic re-workings that themselves often have their own
enigmatic layers.Partly because of
its enigmatic nature, the Bluebeard story is open to many very different but
equally valid approaches, often valuable for the ideas and discussion that
go beyond the tale. It also engenders strong reactions, and it is worth
being open to other types of interpretation beyond one particular view, as
the interactions are often illuminating. |
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The
symbolism of the beard is a fairly obvious one - a sign of mature manhood,
though it also carries connotations of a certain earthy wildness.
Blue is an interesting colour - it indicates unworldliness or weirdness
(think of the Roman's reaction to the blue-painted Druid warriors, or
blue-coloured aliens in sci-fi films), as well as coldness (the colour of
ice), but is also often associated with the intellect. It is perhaps worth
remembering that it was also an expensive colour (in terms of dye) in
medieval times.
However, I think the main point is the unnaturalness of the colour. There
are examples of similar characters, perhaps the most familiar of which is
the Green Knight in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He is similarly
bearded, green at the beginning and the end, but in his guise as the keeper
of the castle he is red-bearded. Bluebeard would seem belong to the same
genre.
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One
French tradition is that the story of Bluebeard evolved from a true story:
that of the French Marshall of France, Gilles de Rais, born around 1401, and
put to death in 1440. Friend and companion of Joan of Arc, he was an
important figure and military leader in the French history of the period,
but he also had a dark side to his activities. He practised the 'black arts'
and alchemy (he was certainly not alone in this), but he also lured boys to
his castle in Brittany, where he sexually abused and murdered them. When the
French authorities finally took action, they found the bodies of 50 boys,
though there were undoubtedly many more murdered. He was hanged and his body
burnt.
There is a detailed web site on his life at:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial10/derais/index.htm
The Bluebeard folk tale is certainly older
than Perrault's version, but (given the differences in the the basic premise
of the story, and the relatively short time between these historical events
and Perrault's 1697 version), I think it far more likely that a resemblance
was seen between the Gilles de Rais story and the already-existing Bluebeard
story, and so the two became associated in French tradition. |
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Aarne-Thompson type 312 and 312A (women who are rescued from their husbands
or abductors by brothers) |
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For
five different versions of the folk tale, click
here
(opens in new window)
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For
a full-length treatment of the Bluebeard story, try:
 | Maria Tatar, Secrets beyond the Door,
Princeton University Press, 2004 (click
here for NEOS reference) |
For an excellent couple of chapters on
Bluebeard, try:
| Marina Warner, From the Beast to the
Blonde, Vintage, 1995 (click
here for NEOS reference) |
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Comprehensive
Bluebeard site, part of the SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages |
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Holycross.edu |
Susan Elizabeth Sweeney Bluebeard's Home - useful for some images of
19th-century illustrations of the tale |
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Perhaps the most successful of all modern retellings of the story are to be
found in opera. The genre has a natural affinity with symbolism, and the
non-verbal language of music allows layers of depth and ambivalence that
entirely suit the story.
Apart from Offenbach's comic version (Barbe-Bleu, 1866), there are
two opera masterpieces on the subject. In both cases, the librettos are well
worth reading in their own right as written variants. |
Bela Bartok
Bluebeard's Castle |
This
powerful one-act opera to a libretto by Béla Balász (1884-1949), based on
Hungarian folk tradition, simply has two characters (Bluebeard and his wife,
named Judith). |
Paul Dukas
Ariane et Barbe-bleu |
This
much less well-known (but just as powerful) opera by the composer of The
Sorcerer's Apprentice was based on Maurice Maeterlinck's 1901 play (see
below), and is interesting as the heroine, here named Ariane, takes matters
into her own hands, rather than relying on others to get her out of her
predicament. |
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There are well over 20 movies on the Bluebeard theme, ranging from horror to
humour. For a list at the Internet Movie Database, click
here (opens in new window).
The three listed below are perhaps the best known. |
 Bluebeard
(1944) |
(Description from
Video Universe)
Edgar G. Ulmer directed this stylish portrayal of the infamous Parisian
lady-killer. Starring John Carradine. B&W. 1944.
In 19th century Paris, someone is murdering young women and dumping their
bodies into the Seine. That someone is Gaston (John Carradine), a handsome,
brooding painter and puppeteer who strangles his models with a black tie.
Jean Parker plays Lucille, a dressmaker who finds herself drawn to Gaston's
tortured soul after she attends his puppet opera of FAUST. Gaston's shady
art dealer (Ludwig Stossel) knows he kills women, but conceals evidence
because his paintings sell. When Gaston's latest victim is recognized in one
of his works at an exhibit, inspector LeFevre (George Pembroke) takes steps
to trap the mysterious painter. This is an amazing, low-budget work by
acclaimed cult director Edgar G. Ulmer. Filled with repertoire costumes and
painted backgrounds, the stagey feel nonetheless adds to the claustrophobic
air of melancholy that hangs over the film, as if the cast were all puppets
themselves in some cheap production. It's not a particularly scary film, but
it offers plenty of excitement and has moments of beauty, and Carradine is
effective as the quietly tortured, magnetic artist.
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Bluebeard (1963) |
Bluebeard (1963) directed by Claude Chabrol.
(notes from the
SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages by Heidi Anne Heiner
A French film which has been dubbed into English, this film is actually a
biography of Henri-Desire Landru who seduced and murdered eleven women. He
was later beheaded for his crimes. The film stars Charles Denner in the
title role (Scanlon 1996).
|
 Bluebeard
(1972) |
(Description from
Video Universe)
The fairytale of the wife-murdering
Bluebeard
is given a decadent pop-art gleen for hip 1970s viewers with this
international production. Richard Burton stars as Baron von Sepper,
a Nazi-esque aristocrat who keeps his castle stocked with animal
trophies, weird photographs, and a freezer full of murdered
ex-wives. His current wife, a sassy American (Joey Heatherton)
stumbles onto his secret. She delays her own murder by encouraging
the baron to talk about his past wives, who are all played by
international starlets: Racquel Welch, Karin Schubert, Marilu Tolo,
Agostina Belli, Nathalie Delon and Virna Lisi.
Edward Dmytryk (THE YOUNG LIONS) directed in a fragmented,
hallucinatory style replete with touches of gothic horror, nudity,
and humour for adult audiences. Ennio Morricone provides the slinky,
sinister score. Sibyl Danning appears as a prostitute who teaches
one of the wives (Delon) some lessons in love. Burton oscillates
between having fun with his role and falling asleep in it, but it's
interesting to watch his brooding performance clash with the brusque
Americanisms of camp icon Heatherton.
BLUEBEARD
is the updated story of aristocratic Austrian psychopath who falls
in love with an American dancer. His new wife soon realizes that
something is amiss when she discovers the bodies of seven women in
her husband's refrigerated vault.
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French castles - blue hair
- key - beard - multiple wives - confinement - brothers - deception -
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