“Blue Beard.” Histories orTales of Past Times Written for Children Told By Mother Goose with Morals, Charles Perrault, edited by J. Saxon Childers,London: The Nonesuch Press., 1925, pp. 30-40.
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Tale Summary
There was once a rich man who unfortunately had a blue beard, which made him so ugly that women hated him (it did not help, also, that he had several wives before, and no one knew what had become of them). He had a neighbor with two beautiful daughters, neither of which wanted his hand in marriage, so he arranged a whole week in the country with them and other young people, where they had so much fun that the youngest daughter agreed to be his bride. After about a month, Blue Beard told his wife he must leave for six weeks, and gave her the keys to everything within his estate, but warned her not to unlock a certain closet under threat of a great deal of anger and resentment. After he leaves, his wife invites her neighbors and good friends, who are excited to see her house, and they all run through the rooms, which all had much to admire. The wife is so curious about the closet, however, that she leaves the company to unlock it. Inside, she finds that the floor is covered in blood, and there are several bodies of dead women against the walls. She is frightened and leaves, but not before dropping the keys in blood. She is unable to clean the keys because they are a fairy, and when Blue Beard returns, he spies the blood and knows what has happened. He tells her that she must die, and ignores her pitiful pleas for mercy, but agrees to give her half a quarter of an hour to pray. When she is alone, she calls out to her sister to go to the top of the tower to see if her brothers are in view, for they promised they would come, and to signal them to make haste. For some time her sister looks, seeing nothing, as Blue Beard yells for his wife to come down until the two horsemen come into view. At this point, the distressed wife had to go to her husband. Before he is able to strike, her brothers enter and kill him. The wife becomes the mistress of the estate, marries her sister to a young gentleman, buys Captains Commissions for her brothers, and marries herself to a worthy gentleman.
Fairy Tale Title
Blue Beard
Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)
Charles Perrault, J. Saxon Childers
Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)
None listed
Common Tale Type
Maiden-killer
Tale Classification
ATU 312
Page Range of Tale
pp. 30-40
Full Citation of Tale
“Blue Beard.” Histories orTales of Past Times Written for Children Told By Mother Goose with Morals, Charles Perrault, edited by J. Saxon Childers,London: The Nonesuch Press., 1925, pp. 30-40.
Original Source of the Tale
Charles Perrault
Tale Notes
This tale is given two morals:
“O Curiosity, thou mortal Bane!
Spite of thy Charms, thou causest often Pain
And spre Regret, of which we daily find
A thousand Instances attend Mankind:
For thou, O may it not displease the Fair,
A fleeting Pleasure art, but lasting Care;
And always costs, alas! too deat the Prize,
Which, in the Moment of Possession, dies.”
“A very little Share of common Sense,
And Knowledge of the World, will soon evince,
That this a story is of Time long past.
No Husbands now such panic Terrors cast;
Nor weakly, with a vain depotic Hand,
Imperious, what’s impossible command:
And be they discontented, or the Fire
Of wicked Jealousy their Hearts inspire,
They softly sing, and of whatever Hue
Their Beards may chance to be, or black, or blue,
Grizzled, or russet, it is hard to say,
Which of the two, the Man or Wife, bears Sway.”
Research and Curation
Kaeli Waggener, 2022
Book Title
Histories or Tales of Past Times Written for Children Told By Mother Goose with Morals
Book Author/Editor(s)
Charles Perrault, J. Saxon Childers
Illustrator(s)
None listed
Publisher
The Nonesuch Press
Date Published
1925
Decade Published
1920-1929
Publisher City
London
Publisher Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Rights
Public Domain
Digital Copy
Book Notes
This book includes morals at the end of each tale.