In my opinion the most horrific aspect of any of the Bluebeard stories was the first moral at the end of Perrault's version. Somehow this moral manages to turn a fairy tale about a male serial killer into a tool to place social constraints upon women. The Perrault and Grimm versions teach that a women should always obey her husband or else she will receive severe punishment. These stories offer the ultimate form of Victim Blaming. Because the wife disobeyed her husband and entered the forbidden room, she risks her life. The husband's crazed and murderous tendencies is excused while the wife's curiosity is chastised. The inhuman nature of the Bluebeard character is also shocking. The Grimms' versions and then Jacobs version actually goes so far as to describe the brutal murders of women.
Perhaps the best message that a woman could take from these stories is that she should marry for love. All of these stories involved women marring the Blulebeard character due to an arranged marriage; despite a feeling of hesitation. If you take time to get to know your future husband, you probably stand a better chance of avoiding a brutal death at his hands later on.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment