We are always amazed when we read Fairy Tales as they were initially recorded by Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and others. In the story of Bluebeard all the wives are given the perfect life though objects in which they ruined it through their curiosity, but why they let curiosity get the better of them? This is one of questions we discussed today. Bluebeard is a serial killer. One day, he has to go on a business journey; his wife is given set of keys and has been told to use those keys to certain chambers except the one room. However, due to curiosity, her wife entered the special chamber, and discovers that all his husband former wives’ dead bodies hanging around the hook from the wall. She is horrified and drops the key in the blood, which has some sort of magic so the blood cannot be removed. When Bluebeard came back home, he realizes that his life betrayed him and he tries to kill her. Because of her smartness, her wife is successfully put off the time and luckily recued by her brother just in time.
Nonetheless, In the Grimm Brothers’ version, three sisters all have been kidnapped by the wizard to his home. Still, because of curiosity, the first two sisters have been killed, fortunately, the third is not only able to discover the truth , she is also somehow put the limbs back onto her two sister, finally, they all survived. Besides, she also tricks the wizard, who died in fire in his home at the end. Through both versions of Bluebeard, we can observe how danger and important curiosity can be. One the one hand, people even can be killed due to their curiosity like the wives died in Perrault’s edition; one the other hand, people’s life can be survived even gaining happiness because of curiosity in both Perrault’s and Grimm’s version.
Therefore, combine both versions of Bluebeard; we can apparently see how the Bluebeard story changed its emphasis when the years go by. In the beginning, the moral of Bluebeard is simply about the danger of curiosity. Nevertheless as it evolves, the moral is more likely tend to be about how a wife should be treated. The Perrault version it ends up like that: “ Bluebeard left no heirs, and so his wife became mistress of all his belongings. … The money … she used to marry herself to a good man, who helped her forget the terrible time she had spent with Bluebeard.”( The Classic Fairy Tales,p147) Furthermore, In Perrault version’s Bluebeard, the writer also affixed a morals to the tale. Thus, we can state that the “fairytales” were not just entertainments; they also meant to teach their audiences the essential and meaningful principles of the life. It just proves that popular saying, “Sometimes fairy stories may say best what’s to be said.”
Nonetheless, In the Grimm Brothers’ version, three sisters all have been kidnapped by the wizard to his home. Still, because of curiosity, the first two sisters have been killed, fortunately, the third is not only able to discover the truth , she is also somehow put the limbs back onto her two sister, finally, they all survived. Besides, she also tricks the wizard, who died in fire in his home at the end. Through both versions of Bluebeard, we can observe how danger and important curiosity can be. One the one hand, people even can be killed due to their curiosity like the wives died in Perrault’s edition; one the other hand, people’s life can be survived even gaining happiness because of curiosity in both Perrault’s and Grimm’s version.
Therefore, combine both versions of Bluebeard; we can apparently see how the Bluebeard story changed its emphasis when the years go by. In the beginning, the moral of Bluebeard is simply about the danger of curiosity. Nevertheless as it evolves, the moral is more likely tend to be about how a wife should be treated. The Perrault version it ends up like that: “ Bluebeard left no heirs, and so his wife became mistress of all his belongings. … The money … she used to marry herself to a good man, who helped her forget the terrible time she had spent with Bluebeard.”( The Classic Fairy Tales,p147) Furthermore, In Perrault version’s Bluebeard, the writer also affixed a morals to the tale. Thus, we can state that the “fairytales” were not just entertainments; they also meant to teach their audiences the essential and meaningful principles of the life. It just proves that popular saying, “Sometimes fairy stories may say best what’s to be said.”
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