Bluebeard: The Evolution of Folklore's Most Horrifying Villain

Comments · 967

• VI

  @virvewirllos · 1 year ago (edited)

  Honestly when I read the OG story as a child I thought the moral was "Be wary of people who keep creepy secrets, even if they seem otherwise perfect. If it's too good to be true, it probably is and you should get out before you find out the catch". It never even occured to me that it would be "Actually, it's cool for you to marry a guy who has a locked room reeking of rotting flesh on his castle, just enjoy the castle and don't open the door".

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• SC

  @sconesalot · 1 year ago

  bluebeard always reminds me of a twisted version of psyche, a wife discovering her wonderful husband is a monster as opposed to a wife discovering a monstrous husband to be beautiful.

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• GO

  @gooderambles · 1 year ago

  I quite like the Grimm’s version called Fitcher&apos;s Bird.<br><br>In this rendition,<br>The wife brings the two slain wives (her sisters) back from the dead,<br>Keeps the husband from finding out she was snooping, <br>Tricks him into freeing her sisters/his exes,<br>Escapes the castle by herself,<br>And then sets him up to be slain by an angry mob.<br><br>Even though the Grimms were pretty bad about female representation, they sure made Bluebeard/Fitcher&apos;s wife a badass. <br>And I think it&apos;s a shame that she doesn&apos;t get her flowers.

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• LI

  @lindseyb2777 · 1 year ago

  I would argue that Bluebeard also left his mark on one of the most iconic characters of gothic literature: Dracula. Protagonist Jonathan Harker, while not a bride, is still a naive young person who is whisked off to a remote castle whose fabulously wealthy owner treats him well, but orders him not to go into a certain room. The master of the castle leaves for the day and the curious young person visits the forbidden room and discovers three dead (in this case, undead) women, revealing the older gentleman’s monstrous nature.

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• AI

  @AidanOAArch · 1 year ago

  Can i just say i love the set-dressing here: the half-eaten apple, the keys, the ruby necklace, the lily, the bottles, the blue hair. Such flair! Very well done.

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• SC

  @scrumpyminklemonk · 1 year ago

  Personally my favourite version is Angela Carter&apos;s because she&apos;s rescued by her mother. It kind of feels like an actual feminist retelling of the Demeter and Persephone myth showcasing the power of a mother&apos;s love.

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• IN

  @inga_mojlighet · 1 year ago

  Version I remember ended with “while uncontrolled curiosity can be harmful, it’s not a deadly sin - unlike Bluebeard’s vanity, arrogance and pride.” I think it also made a point about danger of forcing your daughter into arranged marriage without knowing the groom well.

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• SP

  @sporadicallychill · 1 year ago

  Imagine writing a story with a serial killer in it and saying the victim is the problem. Like this guy specifically kills his wives, but if she didn&apos;t find out she&apos;d be ok????? Seriously thought the way a lot of old tales and even some today will victim blame women makes me shudder.

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• MO

  @moonkeele · 1 year ago

  It&apos;s interesting to compare Blue Beard with Beauty and the Beast. In one the man appears good but turns out to the evil, in the other he appears evil but turns out to be good. Also worth remembering the influence both stories had on Jane Eyre and Rebecca.

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• CA

  @casin0circus · 1 year ago (edited)

  The first telling of Bluebeard you discuss and its&apos; morals as laid out is very interesting to me when contrasted with the story of the Melusine, and how a husband violates his supernatural bride&apos;s privacy, and is also punished for it. However, in the story of Melusine, her secret is not one of violence and cruelty towards past lovers, nor is the punishment her husband faces for violating her privacy a grisly death. Rather, she is hiding her mermaid tail(s) she grows when she bathes, and when she discovers his betrayal years later when he takes his feelings out on her and accuses her fairy blood of being the cause of their son&apos;s behavior, she sprouts wings and flies away, leaving him. She doesn&apos;t cause him any bodily harm of any kind in her despair at this revelation. His punishment is losing his wife, his only reminders of her being their now adult children, and the footprint she left burned into the stone where she took off as she flew away. I just think that&apos;s an interesting comparison.

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• F4

  @F4ll0ver · 1 year ago (edited)

  I feel like all reiterations of this story also draw on the complete lack of evidence (or signs) of being with an abuser short of finding the previously abused and killed victims - it&apos;s so insidious, once you know for sure, it&apos;s too late, you&apos;re trapped and next. Everything before is a gut feeling or actions that can be explained away or even twised into expressions of love

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• ME

  @meogatopreto · 1 year ago

  A thing I find funny is that even reading Perrault&apos;s version today, 90% of people will think that the wife was right, because of society context. Perrault seems to think that dangerous husbands are things of the past, but we see woman being killed by their husbands almost every week on the news, or stories that people reveal harmfull actions (the use of drugs or alcohol) to their loved ones only after married. Therefore, she would be killed or harmed sooner or later, and discovering it early saved her.

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