Description
Book SynopsisAnalyzes the forms the tale of Bluebeard's Wife has taken over time, particularly in Anglo-European popular culture. This book documents the fortunes of Bluebeard, his wife, and their marriage in folklore, fiction, film, and opera. It is intended for both literary scholars and general readers.
Trade Review"In this fine book, which both scholars and ordinary readers enjoy, as I did, [Tatar] casts her net wide. She reprints several versions of 'Bluebeard,' and discusses not only these tales and their many variants, but also the reappearance of the story in fiction, film, opera, and poetry."--Alison Lurie, The American Scholar "A respected critic of fairy tales, Tatar takes on Bluebeard and the result is a deeply resonant, fascinating study of intertextuality... [S]he persuasively demonstrates how the Bluebeard tale shifts its shape century by century, revealing the secret anxieties of the age regarding sexuality, coming of age, romance, marriage, and marital discord."--Choice "Secrets beyond the Door is full of transmutations and sublimations. Harvard professor Maria Tatar ... returns with a scintillating account of what generations of high and low culture have done to the Bluebeard folktale."--John Leonard, Harper's "A book that unlocks the reasons of transgression in the chambers of the mind."--Alex Moore, Foreword Magazine
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations xi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: The Attractions of "Bluebeard": The Origins and Fortunes of a Folktale 11 CHAPTER 2: "Have You ever really been afraid? ... of a man?... of a house?... of yourself?": Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and Modern Gothics 67 CHAPTER 3: Investigative Pleasures: Bluebeard's Wife in Hollywood 89 CHAPTER 4: Rewriting "Bluebeard": Resisting the Cult of Death 108 CHAPTER 5: Monstrous Wives: Bluebeard as Criminal and Cultural Hero 132 CHAPTER 6: The Art of Murder: Bluebeard as Artist and Aesthete 152 EPILOGUE 169 APPENDIX Cultural Variants of "Bluebeard" 175 Charles Perrault,"Bluebeard" 175 Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm,"The Robber Bridegroom" 179 Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm,"Fitcher's Bird" 182 Joseph Jacobs,"Mr. Fox" 185 Thomas Frederick Crane,"How the Devil Married Three Sisters" 187 Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe, "The Hen Is Tripping in the Mountain" 190 Gaston Maugard,"The White Dove" 194 Richard Chase,"Mr.Fox" 198 Guy Wetmore Carryl, "How the Helpmate of Blue-Beard Made Free with a Door" 202 Rose Terry Cooke,"Blue-Beard's Closet," 1861 205 Edna St. Vincent Millay, Untitled Bluebeard Sonnet 207 Notes 209 Bibliography 225 Primary Literature 225 Secondary Literature 229 Films 239 Index 241
