Bluebeard

Bluebeard is a character in a tale by Charles Perrault (1628 — 1703). It is from that character, a man who kills his wives is called a Bluebeard. In the tale, he was a wealthy seigneur, the owner of a castle who marries a beautiful woman, and leaves her in charge of the keys of the apartments in his absence, with injunctions not to unlock any of the doors, an injunction which she fails to respect, and finds to her horror the remains of his former wives locked up in one of them. Her disobedience is discovered, and she is to prepare for death, but is rescued, as she lies with her head on the block, by the timely arrival of her brothers, who at once despatch the husband to his merited doom. A local tradition in Brittany identifies him with Gilles de Rais (c. 1400 — 40), though he had only one wife who left him.

Nearby pages
Bluebell, Blueberry, Bluebill, Bluebird, Bluebonnet, Bluebottle, Bluecurls