BLUEBEARD’S HAUNTING ORIGINS AND LITERARY LEGACY

Charles Perrault is credited as the first to write the story down and publish it in his 1697 collection of fairytales, Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé (Stories or Tales from Past Times, with Morals) or Contes de ma mere L’Oye, also known in English as Tales of Mother Goose. Other fairytales included in Perrault’s original collection are Cendrillon, Le Chat Botte, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, and La belle au bois dormant, or, as they’re more commonly referred to as, Cinderella, Puss in Boots, Little Red Riding Hood, and Sleeping Beauty.

Perrault’s version of La Barbe bleue likely originated in the historic province of France, Brittany, and has some infamous muses. Historians gather that Bluebeard as a character was likely inspired by two controversial figures in French history – the 15th century French marshal, Gille de Rais, and 6th century Breton ruler, Conomor the Cursed. Both men had a sordid past, which contributed to the mythologizing of their lives.

Not much is known about Conomor, a medieval king of

Brittany, and much of his life is veiled in legend. One such legend is about his fourth wife, Trephine. Trephine, after agreeing to marry Conomor to prevent him from invading her family’s land, discovers a secret room in Conomor’s home. Inside, Trephine discovers the remains of Conomor’s previous wives, and after a prayer, the wives present themselves as ghosts to Trephine and warn her that if she gets pregnant, Conomor will kill her and her child. Trephine does get pregnant and runs away and is able to give birth away from Conomor. Unfortunately, Conomor finds where she’s hidden and, upon the discovery, beheads Trephine. A saint revives Trephine, and she survives until she later dies of natural causes. After Trephine’s second death, Conomor finds their son and murders him to escape a prophecy predicting that Conomor is to die at the hand of his own son.

Bluebeard’s other source of inspiration, Gille de Rais, was known for his military success. Rais even fought alongside Joan of Arc as part of her guard. Despite being a landowner who married rich, Rais led a lavish life and spent most of his wealth on home décor and paying for his large amounts of servants, heralds, and priests. In 1435, to protect what wealth they had left, Rais’s extended family urged the king to issue a decree to prevent Rais from selling and mortgaging his land. Rais, in search of a new path towards money and power, became deeply interested in alchemy and Satanism. He was later accused of abducting, torturing, and murdering 140 children.

Since its inception, Bluebeard has been adapted and alluded to several times in literature and other media. Notable authors who pull inspiration from the story include Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Beatrix Potter, Kurt Vonnegut, Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike, and Helen Oyeyemi. In Jane Eyre, for example, Charlotte Brontë references Bluebeard through the character, Edward Rochester. Rochester, like Bluebeard, keeps a dark secret from his past locked in a room in his home.

Discuss:

What are other fairytales adaptations you know of?

How do those adaptations differ from the original?