Other Versions

The exact influence for the “Bluebeard” tale is unknown, however there are a few opinions as to where the story has originated from (Heiner 2002). It is often thought that the story has derived from the legend of Gilles de Rais, a fifteenth century Marshal of France, who was found to have killed hundreds of young boys. Other thoughts are that it has derived from tales such as “Cupid and Psyche” and therefore is why curiosity features as a main part to the stories. However, no matter where the stories originated from, there are many different versions still in cycle today. 

Along with the traditional ones all ready looked at, the “Bluebeard” story is present, both directly and indirectly, in many more tales. Modern adult stories such as “Bluebeard’s Egg” by Margaret Atwood and Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” all posses aspects and characteristic which relate them to Perrault’s “Bluebeard” story. These modern stories do not present the information in the same format and do not contain the all the same features of the original stories, however it is possible to link the themes that are covered with the themes from the original tales.

Rarely are “Bluebeard” stories seen in fairytale books for children in such gruesome ways as they once were in the past. It would be very rare to see the original “Bluebeard” story in a modern children’s collection today (Heiner 2002) and this brings in the argument of what is right for children to read. Is it ok for them to read about violence such as is seen in these “Bluebeard” tales (Winters & Schmidt 2001: 274-6). It is also interesting to see that unlike so many of the other folk and fairy tales of its time the story of “Bluebeard” has never been disneyfied (Brode 2004: x-xi).   

The Perrault tale can be attributed as the inspiration for many films through out the twentieth century and can still be found in films today. Many of the classic features of horror movies can be attributed from coming from the “Bluebeard” story, especially gothic horror movies (Williams 1995). Features such as a killer, victims of serial murders, a terrible place and a final girl who saves herself or who arranges her own rescue, are all features of many movies (Tatar 1999: 140). Movies such as Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” (1940) and Fritz Lang’s “Secret beyond the Door” (1948) reinvent the tale of “Bluebeard” without obvious reference to the tale as it original source (Haslem 2001: 2). This makes it seem to the viewers that they are watching something new, rather than a reworking of a classic story.