Bluebeard
This is a story by Charles Perrault and is one of the most darkest fairy tale stories made for children. To be brutally honest, there is nothing magical about Bluebeard as a narrative. It's a grim tale that exposes the horrific depths of humanity. I would call this a horror story.
Bluebeard is a rich nobleman with a fabulous beard in the colour blue. So he's called Bluebeard. He's previously been married to a number of women but his wives disappeared. He visits a neighbour, according to many traditional versions of this story retold in books. The neighbour has daughters that Bluebeard is interested in marrying one of them. In other versions the neighbour has just the one daughter and two sons. All of the young women are scared of him but one day they have a feast and Bluebeard woos the neighbours' daughter. Overwhelmed by his gifts and promises of luxury, she accepts his hand in marriage.
When they've married, Bluebeard gives his new bride a set of keys to explore the huge castle. He warns her to avoid going inside one door, which is on top of a tower. She likes to enter different rooms and open doors, finding strange new places and corridors, stairs and rooms. Who wouldn't want to explore a castle and it's maze of rooms? Then she has nowhere else to look. She wants to go up to the tower and enter the forbidden door that he told her not to enter. Tempted now, she opens the door and finds that its a chamber of dead women. Those are all of Bluebeards' former wives. In some versions, the one I read as a child, the illustration had the dead brides looking like statues. Other book versions are less subtle. There are some books showing blood, and bare feet dangling from the ceiling and a row of doll heads.
When Bluebeard discovered that his new wife opened the forbidden chamber, he became so angry that he chased her around the castle with a sword. She was soon rescued by her brothers, who killed the angry Bluebeard. This is a story that is realistic because it's about a serial killer who hides his dead victims within his house.
There will be more villains of fairy tales coming soon...
By
She Wolf Night team
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