Bluebeard

“Another reason for their distaste was the fact that he had already married several wives, and no one knew what had become of them.”

The word “distaste” in this quote is both an example of Perrault’s concision in discussing emotions and a signal that “distaste” is the most intense form of dislike permitted against a wealthy man. Moreover, this line suggests that it is a known fact that Blue Beard’s previous wives have disappeared, but no one has investigated this matter, demonstrating that Patriarchal Control makes a man’s bride essentially his property and responsibility.

“You may open everything, you may go everywhere, but I forbid you to enter this little room.”

The repetition of “you may” only serves to emphasize what the young bride is forbidden from doing and recalls the magical instruction formula in other fairy tales. This speech from Blue Beard also begins to illustrate his character in that it is a direct lie: His wife cannot actually go “everywhere” if there is one place she is not allowed.

“So overcome with curiosity was she that, without reflecting upon the discourtesy of leaving her guests, she ran down a private staircase, so precipitately that twice or thrice she nearly broke her neck, and so reached the door of the little room.”

In addition to being a major moment of foreshadowing, this line is the first to communicate emotional intensity from the young bride—and it is desire for Transgressive Knowledge. Her “discourtesy” in leaving her guests casts her curiosity in a negative light, suggesting it is a female vulnerability, but her determination to get to the room as quickly as possible denotes an instance of Female Agency.

“But the temptation was so great that she could not conquer it.”

Framing inquisitiveness as a “temptation” recalls the biblical Eve story, and firmly implies that the young bride has fallen prey to a perceived feminine urge. The depiction of the female protagonist is weak-willed and easily swayed by insubstantial whims.

“At first she saw nothing, for the windows were closed, but after a few moments she perceived dimly that the floor was entirely covered with clotted blood, and that in this were reflected the dead bodies of several women that hung along the walls.”

The delay in Blue Beard’s wife’s perception of her predecessors enhances the suspense and symbolizes the proverbial darkness that shrouds Transgressive Knowledge. Even in death, these women are decorative, hung on the wall like tapestries, and their number insists that this is cyclical violence. It is through the medium of blood, a primal bodily fluid associated with rage, sexual passion, and childbirth (all mysteries denied to a gently-raised young noblewoman), that the young bride learns what she sought.

“Always the blood remained.”

This is a short sentence appearing abruptly among a series of sentences with two clauses separated by commas, interrupting the flow of language to assert a crucial fact. The immovable quality of the blood on The Key foreshadows Blue Beard’s revelation that his newest wife has also been disobedient, and may also symbolize that once a woman has had sex, she can never be “pure” again.

“Well, madam, enter it you shall—you shall go and take your place among the ladies you have seen there.”

Though this is an announcement that Blue Beard will execute his wife, it is framed in a petty and almost childish way akin to the threat of the more modern “you asked for it.” This line implies that women are all interchangeable in Blue Beard’s eyes if not the narrative’s, using the term “madam” to show Blue Beard’s impersonal and cold attitude toward his young wife.

“She would have softened a rock, in her beauty and distress, but Blue Beard had a heart harder than any stone.”

Reminding readers that the young bride is very beautiful is intended to increase the reader’s concern for her, while also acknowledging the fact that her attractiveness would be enough to save her in other stories. Indeed, the line states that an inanimate stone would have more feelings than the antagonist of the story, illustrating the depth of Blue Beard’s unnaturalness.

“I see nought but dust in the sun and the green grass growing.”

An instance of repetition that delays the satisfaction of the ending, this dialogue from Sister Anne is startling in its reference to the outside world, which seems so far from the bloody rooms of Blue Beard’s house. It shows the young bride’s isolation by demonstrating that the world continues to move forward—the grass continues to grow—despite her situation of mortal danger.

“Blue Beard let forth so mighty a shout that the whole house shook.”

A stark reference to Blue Beard’s physical and mental power, this is the instant where the young bride is forced to come down to meet her fate. She moves of her own volition, compelled merely by the strength of her husband’s voice. This line additionally ties the house directly to its master, an element which can be taken to imply that “Blue Beard” is a psychological metaphor for the secrets people refuse to confront in their own psyches.

“The latter recognized them as the brothers of his wife—one of them a dragoon, and the other a musketeer—and fled instantly in an effort to escape.”

This line characterizes Blue Beard as a coward, willing to dispatch his wife but not clash with trained fighters. The brothers have authority immediately conferred upon them by their masculinity and their professions; solely their presence would have been enough to save their sister.

“The rest formed a dowry for her own marriage with a very worthy man, who banished from her mind all memory of the evil days she had spent with Blue Beard.”

This final line of the prose narrative is a rich one, giving the young bride a great amount of Female Agency in that she is able to dower herself and choose a much better husband, suggesting she not only gained wealth but wisdom from the trial of her first marriage. At the same time, this quote implies that attaining Transgressive Knowledge need not ruin a woman for life, if she can forget it. Perrault also neatly returns here to the fairy tale trope that marriage is the ending or solution to a crisis, deemphasizing the horror aspect to his story and situating it firmly within the same genre as the other tales in his collection.

“For once satisfied, curiosity offers nothing,

And ever does it cost more dearly.”

It is a subject of debate among readers of “Blue Beard” whether or not the morals appended to the end are intended seriously. While the tone of these two last lines in the first moral is authoritative and somber, the preceding tale shows them as incorrect. Blue Beard’s wife gains quite a lot from her curiosity, despite the horrifying path to her happy ending.