A Quick Introduction
Most people like to say “Curiosity killed the cat,” because, of course, one should mind their own business and not meddle in others’ affairs. Though, a lesser known end to the proverb is “But satisfaction brought it back.” There is a joyous feeling once someone finds out something he or she wanted, almost needed, to know and this would do well to explain the Bluebeard-Robber Bridegroom (BRB) tales. A beautiful girl is married, or going to be married, to a rich man and has a burning curiosity to see his house, or a room she has been given access to but was told she is not allowed to go in. As anyone would want to, she courageously goes to the house where she finds the room, or finds the room within the house. She may …show more content…
This story is a perfect example of why his stories are sexist, arrogant, and poor versions of what the tale could be. Perrault’s version of the BRB tales starts by talking about Bluebeard and his unfortunate looks, unlike the other tales that start with woman. After asking his neighbor for one of her two daughters’ hands in marriage, the younger finally accepts his offer after seeing all his wealth, even with the knowledge “...that he had already had several wives, and nobody knew what had become of them.” (Perrault 732). Perrault is portraying this woman as not only materialistic, but without good sense. After that, Bluebeard goes on a supposedly very long trip and he gives his wife the keys to every room in the house. One of these keys is “...for the little room at the end of the long corridor on the ground floor,” which she is forbidden from entering with the warning of extreme anger on his part. Having told her exactly where the place is that she is not allowed to go, giving her a key to the off-limits place, and planting the idea in her mind, when he easily could have avoided speaking of it altogether, he leaves on his journey. Now overcome by curiosity, she goes to the room, and, after hesitating for a moment, opens the door. In most of the other BRB tales she does not hesitate to think about her own “disobedience”, as …show more content…
The woman portrayed in Bluebeard was dramatic, extremely emotional, to the point where she could not control it, and oblivious to the things around her. She was only saved due to a bit of stalling and a lot of circumstance. Stripped of cleverness, will power, and even a name, she has little to no personality and any traits she does have reflect poorly on her. In addition to the changes he made to the story, one could note his arrogance in adding not one, but two morals at the end, since people could not take his meaning from reading it on their own. Though translated differently in different books, still has the same base of meaning. The first talks about how curiosity was the problem that almost caused her demise, in lines like “Curiosity, in spite of its appeal,/ May often cost a horrendous ordeal.” The second told of how husbands are no longer murders and that women may have more control now, with the line “It’s difficult to know who the master may be.” Perrault blames the wife for giving into her curiosity when the husband was literally a murderer. He then generalizes that men would never kill their wives during the time when he wrote the story. Bacchilega talks about Perrault’s morals, saying “...both morals nostalgically look back to a time of innocence and absolute male power and both blame women for the change” (Bacchilega 105). The wife in this tale is no more
Most people like to say “Curiosity killed the cat,” because, of course, one should mind their own business and not meddle in others’ affairs. Though, a lesser known end to the proverb is “But satisfaction brought it back.” There is a joyous feeling once someone finds out something he or she wanted, almost needed, to know and this would do well to explain the Bluebeard-Robber Bridegroom (BRB) tales. A beautiful girl is married, or going to be married, to a rich man and has a burning curiosity to see his house, or a room she has been given access to but was told she is not allowed to go in. As anyone would want to, she courageously goes to the house where she finds the room, or finds the room within the house. She may …show more content…
This story is a perfect example of why his stories are sexist, arrogant, and poor versions of what the tale could be. Perrault’s version of the BRB tales starts by talking about Bluebeard and his unfortunate looks, unlike the other tales that start with woman. After asking his neighbor for one of her two daughters’ hands in marriage, the younger finally accepts his offer after seeing all his wealth, even with the knowledge “...that he had already had several wives, and nobody knew what had become of them.” (Perrault 732). Perrault is portraying this woman as not only materialistic, but without good sense. After that, Bluebeard goes on a supposedly very long trip and he gives his wife the keys to every room in the house. One of these keys is “...for the little room at the end of the long corridor on the ground floor,” which she is forbidden from entering with the warning of extreme anger on his part. Having told her exactly where the place is that she is not allowed to go, giving her a key to the off-limits place, and planting the idea in her mind, when he easily could have avoided speaking of it altogether, he leaves on his journey. Now overcome by curiosity, she goes to the room, and, after hesitating for a moment, opens the door. In most of the other BRB tales she does not hesitate to think about her own “disobedience”, as …show more content…
The woman portrayed in Bluebeard was dramatic, extremely emotional, to the point where she could not control it, and oblivious to the things around her. She was only saved due to a bit of stalling and a lot of circumstance. Stripped of cleverness, will power, and even a name, she has little to no personality and any traits she does have reflect poorly on her. In addition to the changes he made to the story, one could note his arrogance in adding not one, but two morals at the end, since people could not take his meaning from reading it on their own. Though translated differently in different books, still has the same base of meaning. The first talks about how curiosity was the problem that almost caused her demise, in lines like “Curiosity, in spite of its appeal,/ May often cost a horrendous ordeal.” The second told of how husbands are no longer murders and that women may have more control now, with the line “It’s difficult to know who the master may be.” Perrault blames the wife for giving into her curiosity when the husband was literally a murderer. He then generalizes that men would never kill their wives during the time when he wrote the story. Bacchilega talks about Perrault’s morals, saying “...both morals nostalgically look back to a time of innocence and absolute male power and both blame women for the change” (Bacchilega 105). The wife in this tale is no more