Episode Intro:

Have you ever heard of the term being “Bluebearded”? Probably not! Today’s episode is titled, “Bluebeard,” about a mysteriously wealthy widower—with a blue beard and an even more checkered past. Rumors abound—what ever happened to all of his former wives? 

 

Let’s get cracklin’, shall we?

 

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This is not the story of Blackbeard, or Edward Teach, the fierce pirate captain of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. That is a great story for another day, however! 

 

I first heard this tale of Bluebeard around a Girl Scout campfire. I later rediscovered it many, many years later when it was featured in the novel, Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Este. In her novel she relates a verbal Hungarian version of the tale, but notes many different global versions of the story. The earliest printed publication found is a French folktale published in 1697 as “Bluebeard” by Charles Perrault in his collection of fairy tales. 

 

This story resonated with me for many years, encouraging the message that things aren’t always what they seem, and to trust your gut instincts. 

 

At Girl Scout camp this tale was told with a little more modern “girl power” than the 1697 original. Today I will share an even more modern “girl power” telling of the story, followed by the original from 1697 for us to compare and discuss. 

 

Warning: Although this is a clean podcast, the tale refers to mild violence that may not be suitable for young listeners.

 

Sources for today’s story are: my recollection of Girl Scout Camp in the ‘90s, Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Este, and The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault

 

The One Takeaway I hope you get from this story is: Find the skeletons in the closet, before you become one!

 

I hope you enjoy today story,  Bluebeard 

 

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My grandmother traveled a long, long time ago to a castle, which housed among its many treasures a certain curiosity—a lock of navy blue hair. 

 

No one for sure could say what the origin was of the odd bit of hair, or perhaps they had the foresight to forget. The question remained—why did they insist on keeping it? 

 

The local village whispered strange rumors about the hair—that it was the only item remaining of the body of Bluebeard, an abominable magician.

 

This is not his story, but of those who overcame him. 

 

Once upon a time, in a small village a long, long time ago, lived three sisters: Jeanne, Mary, and Anne. Their small village (and especially their parents) were all in an uproar over the latest news: a wealthy (unmarried) nobleman had just moved into the largest nearby manor.

 

Upon his arrival, the townspeople could not be more shocked: he was a tall, dark, and handsome man; however, the color of his beard was a very unfashionable dark indigo blue.

 

It was not long before the rumors and whispers began to spread about the unfortunately bluebearded nobleman. “He’s a magician,” they said; only Lucifer could have such a beard—devil blue.

 

What was known as fact was that he was a widower who had mysteriously outlived three young, healthy wives. No one knew for certain what had happened to his previous wives. 

 

Predictably, the nobleman, or “Bluebeard,” as he had begun to be called, had heard about the beauty of the three sisters and invited their family for an outing with him. He charmed the sisters and family and regaled them with fascinating stories. At the end of the day he asked the three sisters to blindfold themselves and hold out their hands for a gift to take home. They complied and held out their hands. “Quack! Quack-quack-quack!” they heard. 

 

“A duckling! A duck!” they all exclaimed.

 

“No,” Bluebeard corrected them with a bit of a sneer, “these are only the finest Muscovy drakes.”

 

The youngest—Anne—swooned when the family arrived back at home. “Wasn’t today just marvelous? And the Muscovy drakes—what a special gift!

 

“Ducks! He gave us ducks,” Jeanne admonished.

 

“Drakes!” Anne countered.

 

“Ahhhh…” Jeanne exhaled. “Anne, you are young and naive. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it’s a DUCK! No matter the fancy name or expense attached to it. Especially coming from a man with a blue beard…”

 

“Maybe his beard isn’t so blue,” Anne admonished. 

 

“Anne!” Jeanne’s voice increased sharply and then softened. “Remember, blue is blue and a duck is always a duck, no matter what someone else may want you to believe.” 

 

It was not long after that Anne, the youngest sister, began a courtship with Bluebeard.

 

Her sisters tried to dissuade her, imploring that the town was still unsure about the history of his past wives and—of course—the strange blue beard. Anne insisted that he was just misunderstood and was naturally the subject of gossip as a newcomer to a small, boring village. 

 

“Appearances aren’t everything,” Anne counseled her sisters. In this statement, she was  absolutely correct. 

 

It wasn’t long before Anne announced her engagement to Bluebeard. Her beloved sisters were afraid for her. “Did you ask him about his wives? What did he say?” they asked. 

 

“He said it was very painful for him and he would rather not discuss it,” Anne replied. 

 

“If he’s going to be your husband, you should know the history of his past wives, don’t you think? Do you really know him well enough to marry him?” they warned. 

 

Anne finally became enraged with her sisters. “His pain is none of your business. You two are jealous old spinsters and do not want me to be happy!” 

 

“That was not our intention, Anne. We do love you and want you to be happy. We are just protective of you.” But the sisters did not say anything else negative of Bluebeard around Anne after that.

 

Anne and Bluebeard were married and threw great parties, balls, and feasts. The entire town rejoiced.

 

One day soon after the lavish nuptials, Bluebeard was forced to travel away from his new wife. “Here are the keys to the manor and everything in it.  What is mine is now yours. But this tiny key here—it’s to something that I lost a long time ago. Don’t even try to go looking for it. Promise me,” Bluebeard implored. 

 

“Yes, my love,” Anne agreed.

 

Her sisters came to visit  Anne while Bluebeard was away, and of course, Jeanne, Mary, and Anne made a great game of finding which door the “forbidden” key fit within the sprawling manor. Finally, the sisters entered what they thought to be a blank corridor, only to find an unmarked door. They carefully slipped the key into the lock. “It fits! It fits!” they exclaimed excitedly, and then blindly entered the very dark room. 

 

As they got closer…closer…and lit their lanterns…….AHHHHHH!!!

 

There were four large paintings on the walls featuring Bluebeard with each of his wives. In front of the three paintings stood three female skeletons, each posed upright in their finest clothes and jewels. The fourth and final space held Anne’s most beautiful dress and an assortment of jewels draped over a chair.

 

The sisters screamed, “Bluebeard is planning to murder you, Anne! We must leave right now!”

 

From outside, they heard the screeching sound of the front gate swinging open.

 

“That’s him! He’s back early!” they gasped.

 

They rushed out of the closet, but could not lock it back with the mysterious key. Adding to their fright, the key had begun to weep blood from its core. No matter what they did, they couldn’t clean the blood from the key or stop it from bleeding.

 

As they tried desperately to clean the key and lock the door, Bluebeard entered the hallway, catching sight of the three sisters outside of the forbidden room.

 

“Ah! So you did exactly what I told you not to do! Well, this just moves my plans up a bit for you, Anne! Jeanne, you will shortly be my next wife! Mary…you will be my prisoner!” Bluebeard declared as he brandished a long, curved dagger.

 

There was nowhere to run past Bluebeard, so they jumped back into the ghoulish chamber…

 

Bluebeard found Anne in the dim chamber and placed his hands around her neck, suffocating her. In his rage, he was not aware of Mary, who fell into the upright skeletons of the dead wives.  The bodies tumbled like dominos into Bluebeard, knocking him down and pinning him, all while freeing Anne. He definitely didn’t notice Jeanne, who had picked up his dagger and promptly slashed at his indigo-colored beard.

 

“Ahhhhhh!!!! He yelled in pain as his body disintegrated within the deathly chamber. The only thing left behind of him was his blue beard. 

 

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The moral of the story? Always find the “skeletons” in the closet—before you become one!

 

I hope you enjoyed my modern girl power rendition. Now let’s move on to compare it to the original.

 

Charles Perrault 1697 Version

 

There once was a very wealthy man who had the disadvantage of displaying a very blue beard. No matter what he tried, no woman could bring herself to marry a man with such a blue beard as that. 

 

There were two beautiful sisters he desired, but neither would marry him because of his blue beard. He also had a rumored past—he had been previously married to several wives, but no one could ever discover what had happened to any of them.

 

Bluebeard hosted the two sisters and a group of young ladies at his manor for an entire week of dancing, hunting, parties, and fun. It worked so well that the youngest daughter thought, “You know, his beard isn’t that blue,” and agreed to marry him.

 

Soon after the fabulous nuptials, Bluebeard had to leave his new bride. “Here are all the keys to everything in my home and all of my riches. You are welcome to peruse and go wherever you will, except this small closet, which I absolutely forbid you to open. If you do open it, I shall be very angry.”

 

“Of course,” she agreed, “I will do as you wish.”

 

Many neighbors and ladies flocked to the castle to visit with the new bride, as they weren’t so afraid now that Bluebeard was away.

 

They perused the closets and riches and furniture and all of the wealth the household had to offer. Each room they opened with each different key was more ornate and splendid than the last.

 

But the new bride could not stop thinking about the one little closet where she had been forbidden to go.

 

She tentatively opened the little closet and peered in.

 

She could not see at first, but then her eyes began to focus…

 

And all she could see was blood.

 

Blood covered the floor so thickly that she could see the reflection of bodies of many dead women hung along the walls…these must be Bluebeard’s wives!

 

She hurriedly fled the chamber in fear.

 

She went upstairs and noticed with fright that the key to the chamber was also covered in blood. No matter how much she tried to clean it, the blood could not be removed.

 

Bluebeard returned that evening and asked his wife for the house keys. She trembled as she gave him the keys, minus the one bloodied key that had opened the bloody chamber.

 

“Bring me all of the keys!” he firmly insisted.

 

She reluctantly gave him the key. “Why is there blood on this key?” he questioned.

 

“I do not know,” his wife stammered.

 

“You went into the closet!” Bluebeard thundered. “Well, you shall join them in there! You must die!”

 

The wife begged, “Please give me time for my prayers!” to which Bluebeard agreed.

 

She removed herself to her room, where she called for her sister, Anne. “Anne, go to the top of the tower to see if my brothers are coming; they promised me they would come today. If you see them, warn them to make haste!”

 

Her sister Anne saw nothing from the top of the tower. “I only see the grass, the sun, and the dust.”

 

“Get down here!” Bluebeard yelled to his wife.

 

Once again, Anne saw nothing from her tower watch.

 

“Get down here quickly!” Bluebeard screamed.

 

“I see dust!” Anne exclaimed, “But it is from sheep, not our brothers!”

 

“Come down!” Bluebeard thundered.

 

“I see two men on a horse, but they are far away!” Anne finally yelled hopefully. 

 

Bluebeard raged so loudly, the entire house shook. So much so that his wife was afraid, and came down and threw herself at him. “No, no, no…” she cried. 

 

“You must die!” Bluebeard raved, as he lifted her up by the hair and prepared to cut off her head.

 

At that very moment, the two brothers came upon Bluebeard and their sister. They saw the terrible state both were in and attacked Bluebeard. Working together to fight him, they were able to greatly injure the would-be murderer and land a killing blow. 

 

And so, Bluebeard was defeated, and his widow inherited the entirety of his riches. Her sister Anne was able to marry well, while her brothers were able to purchase positions as captains with the new funds. The widow later married her true love, and was so happy in her new marriage that she was eventually able to forget the woe Bluebeard had caused her.

 

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Big difference between the two stories, huh?

 

Perrault actually wrote two morals at the end of his version of the story.  

 

The first was quite simply, “Don’t be too curious.” The wife was too curious and defied her husband by doing exactly what he told her not to do. He told her not to do it, and that there would be “boundless consequences to his rage” if she did. She agreed and promised to obey him in Perrault’s version of the story. One could say she was sufficiently warned, and actually broke Bluebeard’s trust, and therefore broke the trust that is needed between husband and wife. 

 

But…

 

In modern times, most relationship experts advise strongly against snooping on one’s partner or significant other. “Have those conversations first. Talk, talk, talk, talk to your partner. If you can’t trust your partner to talk openly about these items, seek therapy first before resorting to snooping,” is what they usually advise. 

 

However, the flip side suggests that you ultimately trust your gut. If something seems off or wrong…snoop! We’ve all heard stories about people who snooped and found themselves all the wiser for discovering a real sociopath on their hands. 

 

Which is where we come back to Bluebeard.

 

The moral of being too curious made no sense to me in the context of this tale, given that Bluebeard was a murderer—actually, a serial killer. One cannot argue that she would have avoided death had she just obeyed him. If we assume that each of the wives became too curious and found the previous skeletons (or skeleton, in the case of the second wife), then what could have happened to the first wife? In any case, how do defiance and curiosity justify death (in this instance, multiple deaths)?

 

The wife was right to be curious. Bluebeard told her, “Here’s a key to a closet you’re forbidden to open. Now I’m leaving, but I’ll be very angry if you open the closet…”

 

This is the modern-day equivalent of, “I’m headed to the gym; here’s my phone and the password, but I will be very, very angry if you snoop.”

 

I mean, who does that? That is suspicious…

 

Does this person expect one NOT to snoop after making such a statement?

 

In the tale, the key began bleeding after the wife discovered Bluebeard’s secret. This indicates that she could never unsee or “unlearn” what she had discovered of her husband’s past. One could argue that she was forced to make an immediate decision; she had to either find a way to leave before Bluebeard returned and discovered her trespass, or stay and face his consequences. If she had left, could she have convinced her family of Bluebeard’s murders? What if they were convinced, but upon their return to investigate, he had moved the bodies? 

 

What if the key had not bled? Would she have stayed there with this ghoulish predicament? Would she have been able to get out a message for help?

 

Quite the predicament. 

 

The wife was right to snoop. No one knew anything of what had happened to the previous wives. Where the wife in this tale went wrong was not properly planning ahead of time for the consequences of her snooping…

 

Which moves into Perrault’s second moral, which states, “Don’t be too naïve.” 

 

This is one that I do agree with, and is still very applicable to our modern times, where we can easily run background and social media checks. I think we all have had interactions with a friend or loved one, where they just don’t see the same warning signs that we do in others. They will explain gross behaviors and actions away, such as, “No, he said that because he was just tired and you provoked him,” or, “She acts that way because she had a difficult childhood,” etc. 

 

In this tale, the wife said, “Maybe his beard isn’t that blue.” She was ignoring an obvious fact, which made her naive. She also agreed to marry him (and the family approved of this marriage) without knowing the full history of the previous wives. She agreed to his strange request not to snoop. All of these naive oversights nearly got her killed.

 

Another item in the tale is that the blue beard and appearance distracted from Bluebeard being a serial killer.  The sisters fight over something subjective like the blue beard and appearance, and it distracted from the very real problem that no one knew what had happened to his previous wives. And that Bluebeard did not want to talk about the issue with his current wife-to-be either. The sisters didn’t want to fight anymore over the appearnace, and so give up on this real concern in the interest of keeping the peace. 

 

I think this is applicable today too where we focus on and fight over subjective things, and then that distracts us from a real issue. Our instincts and our fear are a gift. If we feel fearful, and then stop to think about why we’re feeling uneasy or fearful, we can easily talk ourselves out of a very real concern. I’m an engineer, so I usually whip out an excel spreadsheet and plug in a weighted decision matrix to quantify feelings (if I have time). However, if I don’t have time and I have to make a quick “flight or fight” decision, I always trust my gut and err on the side of my personal safety. 

 

I love this fairy tale and still think its message is applicable as a warning and guidance for us today. 

 

And in addition to learning important lessons from the tale, you now know what is meant by the term “bluebearding!” It’s been expanded a bit these days to include someone who has either killed a series of women or has seduced and then abandoned one woman after another. Either way, you don’t want it to happen to you!

 

What are your thoughts? Do you like the tale of Bluebeard and its warning to trust your instincts?