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Blue Beard

by Charles Perrault

Read the Book online: Blue Beard

Listen to the Book: Blue Beard

This week in the Tales from the Library Book Club we will be reading the short story 'Blue Beard' by Charles Perrault. Blue Beard is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697

The tale tells the story of a wealthy man in the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of one wife to avoid the fate of her predecessors.

Although best known as a folktale, the character of Bluebeard appears to derive from legends related to historical individuals in Brittany. One source is believed to have been the 15th-century convicted Breton serial killer Gilles de Rais, a nobleman who fought alongside Joan of Arc and became both Marshal of France and her official protector, then was hanged and burned as a murderous witch.

The fatal effects of female curiosity have long been the subject of story and legend.  Pandora and Psyche are examples of women in mythic stories whose curiosity is punished by dire consequences. In giving his wife the keys to his castle, Bluebeard is acting the part of the serpent, and therefore of the devil, and his wife the part of the victim held by the serpent's gaze.

About the Author

Charles Perrault born on the 12th of January 1628  and died on the 16th of May 1703. He was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales.

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