Bluebeard

Bluebeard is a fairy tale about a wealthy husband, a forbidden room and a key that reveals whether its holder has crossed the prohibited threshold. The account below follows Charles Perrault's story in the linked English edition.

Story Summary

• A wealthy man with a blue beard marries a young woman. His earlier wives have disappeared, and their fate is unknown.
• Before leaving on a journey, he gives his wife keys to his property. He permits her to explore everything except one small room.
• While guests admire the house, she opens the forbidden room and discovers the bodies of his previous wives.
• She drops the key, which becomes stained with blood. Because it is enchanted, she cannot clean it completely.
• Bluebeard returns earlier than expected. When he examines the key, he knows she has entered the room and threatens to kill her.
• She asks for time to pray. Her sister Anne watches from the tower for their brothers, who are expected to visit.
• As Bluebeard prepares to kill his wife, the brothers arrive, pursue him and kill him.
• His widow inherits his property. She helps her sister and brothers and later marries again.

Perrault: The Story of Blue Beard

Background to the Story

Perrault's La Barbe bleue appeared in the 1697 collection Histoires, ou Contes du temps passé. The Bibliothèque nationale de France's record lists it among the collection's eight prose tales. BnF: 1697 edition

In the English edition used here, the wife is unnamed. Anne is her sister, who keeps watch while the wife tries to gain time. Keeping these roles distinct helps avoid confusion between the woman in danger and the person observing the approaching help.

The forbidden room contains evidence of violence that has already occurred. Opening it changes what the wife knows about the marriage and her surroundings. The threat comes from the husband whose actions she has discovered.

Images and Movement in the Story

• Possession and permission: The wife possesses a working key but is forbidden to use it for one door.
• The hidden room: A small excluded space changes the meaning of the larger, impressive house.
• An enduring trace: The key carries evidence of entering the room back into the rest of the house.
• Height and distance: Anne's position in the tower gives her a view of approaching travellers while help is still far away.
• Delay and arrival: The wife's repeated requests for time allow the brothers' movement towards the house to become decisive.

These observations describe narrative features that can be compared with other stories about boundaries, concealment and access.

Related Pages

Doors, Gates and Thresholds, Locks and Keys, Containers, Elevation, Mirrors and Reflections.