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Secrets beyond the Door: The Story of Bluebeard and His Wives
The tale of Bluebeard's Wife--the story of a young woman who discovers that her mysterious blue-bearded husband has murdered his former spouses--no longer squares with what most parents consider good bedtime reading for their children. But the story has remained alive for adults, allowing it to lead a rich subterranean existence in novels ranging from Jane Eyre to Lolita and in films as diverse as Hitchcock's Notorious and Jane Campion's The Piano .
In this fascinating work, Maria Tatar analyzes the many forms the tale of Bluebeard's Wife has taken over time, particularly in Anglo-European popular culture. It documents the fortunes of Bluebeard, his wife, and their marriage in folklore, fiction, film, and opera, showing how others took the Bluebeard theme and revived it with their own signature twists.
In some tales the wife is a deceiver; in others she is a clever investigator. Earlier ages denounced Bluebeard's wife for her "reckless curiosity" and for her "uncontrolled appetite"; our own times have turned her into something of a heroine, a woman who rescues herself--and often her marriage--through her detective work and psychological finesse. And as for Bluebeard? Once considered a one-dimensional brute, he has found renewed cultural energy both as a master criminal who kills in order to create a higher moral order and as an artist figure who must shield himself against intimacy to foster his creative powers. A brilliant account of how one classic fairy tale has been continually reincarnated, Secrets beyond the Door will appeal to both literary scholars and general readers.
In this fascinating work, Maria Tatar analyzes the many forms the tale of Bluebeard's Wife has taken over time, particularly in Anglo-European popular culture. It documents the fortunes of Bluebeard, his wife, and their marriage in folklore, fiction, film, and opera, showing how others took the Bluebeard theme and revived it with their own signature twists.
In some tales the wife is a deceiver; in others she is a clever investigator. Earlier ages denounced Bluebeard's wife for her "reckless curiosity" and for her "uncontrolled appetite"; our own times have turned her into something of a heroine, a woman who rescues herself--and often her marriage--through her detective work and psychological finesse. And as for Bluebeard? Once considered a one-dimensional brute, he has found renewed cultural energy both as a master criminal who kills in order to create a higher moral order and as an artist figure who must shield himself against intimacy to foster his creative powers. A brilliant account of how one classic fairy tale has been continually reincarnated, Secrets beyond the Door will appeal to both literary scholars and general readers.
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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540 people want to read
About the author
Maria Tatar
55 books321 followersMaria Tatar is the John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures. She chairs the Program in Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University. She is the author of Enchanted Hunters: The Power of Stories in Childhood, Off with Their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood and many other books on folklore and fairy stories. She is also the editor and translator of The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, The Annotated Peter Pan, The Classic Fairy Tales: A Norton Critical Edition and The Grimm Reader. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 6, 2024
Maria Tatar's analysis of the different literary and cinematic iterations of the Bluebeard tale is fascinating and masterful. I've read it twice, and it was revelatory both times. The Bluebeard tale in its many incarnations has been profoundly important to me as a way of processing male power and violence in life and in culture, and I believe Tatar's analysis is the best out there.
The section on cinema was the most interesting for me because of the way it analyzed the classic women's pictures that were the initial inspiration for my Bluebeard screenplay and later my novel. And I love the way she describes modern Bluebeards as not even having to resort to violence to kill; for instance, she claims that Humbert Humbert killed poor Charlotte with his pen by writing the vicious diary that spooked her so much that she ran out in front of a car.
This next thought isn't about Tatar's book per se, but about the way Bluebeard continues to haunt culture. To be female is to push away the possibility of male violence towards yourself and to laugh at women who are too weak to escape Bluebeard. Increasingly, to be female is to be "not like the other girls," because a girl is what gets chewed up and spit out and despised and murdered. It's to live with the fetishization of your own death everywhere, every day, in all forms of media, even before you hit puberty. Thus the emotions towards Bluebeard still run very hot; he is nowhere near a settled issue, even after all of these centuries.
Everyone should read this book. It's much more than an analysis of a maddeningly persistent fairy tale. It's an analysis of patriarchal power, and a dissection of the narrative strategies modern writers and filmmakers have used to tell the story of a still-current and very frightening power imbalance.
The section on cinema was the most interesting for me because of the way it analyzed the classic women's pictures that were the initial inspiration for my Bluebeard screenplay and later my novel. And I love the way she describes modern Bluebeards as not even having to resort to violence to kill; for instance, she claims that Humbert Humbert killed poor Charlotte with his pen by writing the vicious diary that spooked her so much that she ran out in front of a car.
This next thought isn't about Tatar's book per se, but about the way Bluebeard continues to haunt culture. To be female is to push away the possibility of male violence towards yourself and to laugh at women who are too weak to escape Bluebeard. Increasingly, to be female is to be "not like the other girls," because a girl is what gets chewed up and spit out and despised and murdered. It's to live with the fetishization of your own death everywhere, every day, in all forms of media, even before you hit puberty. Thus the emotions towards Bluebeard still run very hot; he is nowhere near a settled issue, even after all of these centuries.
Everyone should read this book. It's much more than an analysis of a maddeningly persistent fairy tale. It's an analysis of patriarchal power, and a dissection of the narrative strategies modern writers and filmmakers have used to tell the story of a still-current and very frightening power imbalance.
June 1, 2007
Bluebeard is one of my favorite faerytales. I often wonder why that is. I also find the Fitcher's Bride (a similar story) interesting as well. Still, I like it for whatever reasons and was really happy to find Tatar's book on the story.
She does spend a good deal of time dealing with modern takes of the story, of plays and film adaptations, but I can't say that it bothered me overly much. One needs to remember that it was about before Perrault and might have been based on Gilles de Rais's crimes. But it's just as possible that it was about before de Rais and he simply became attached to it considering his claim. The story is, of itself, fascinating. For a long while it wasn't included in collections because it's gory. After all, girls are dismembered for being too curious after all.
I would like to know who Sister Anne is and where she came from. Why is she there in the first place? It's never clear to me and I always wonder if she's a nod to Saint Anne in some fashion.
There are retellings of Bluebeard. One of my favorites is Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber which certainly puts the idea of female curiosity leading to doom on its ear.
It's certainly not a book for everyone as it's very specialized and if one isn't interested in faerytales in general or Bluebeard in particular it might not be enjoyed. But then, perhaps one might be curious and take the chance.
She does spend a good deal of time dealing with modern takes of the story, of plays and film adaptations, but I can't say that it bothered me overly much. One needs to remember that it was about before Perrault and might have been based on Gilles de Rais's crimes. But it's just as possible that it was about before de Rais and he simply became attached to it considering his claim. The story is, of itself, fascinating. For a long while it wasn't included in collections because it's gory. After all, girls are dismembered for being too curious after all.
I would like to know who Sister Anne is and where she came from. Why is she there in the first place? It's never clear to me and I always wonder if she's a nod to Saint Anne in some fashion.
There are retellings of Bluebeard. One of my favorites is Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber which certainly puts the idea of female curiosity leading to doom on its ear.
It's certainly not a book for everyone as it's very specialized and if one isn't interested in faerytales in general or Bluebeard in particular it might not be enjoyed. But then, perhaps one might be curious and take the chance.
June 16, 2023
Thank you, Anna Biller, for talking about this fantastic book on your blog!
Reading Tatar's research on the Bluebeard tale was truly enlightening, as she mentions several works of literature and film that either allude or blatantly spin a new version of the legendary story. Having just finished Gwendolyn Kiste's Reluctant Immortals (which imagines Lucy Westenra of Dracula and Bertha Mason of Jane Eyre as undead women taking on Dracula and Mr. Rochester, respectively, in the backdrop of 1960's California counterculture), I was intrigued by the parallells of the Bluebeard influences in both Jane Eyre and Rebecca, especially how pivotal the female protagonists' responses are upon revelation of Mr. Rochester and Max de Winter's secrets.
The book also contains variation of the Bluebeard tale, including a few in the Grimm tradition and the English versions, "Lady Mary" and "Mr. Fox".
Reading Tatar's research on the Bluebeard tale was truly enlightening, as she mentions several works of literature and film that either allude or blatantly spin a new version of the legendary story. Having just finished Gwendolyn Kiste's Reluctant Immortals (which imagines Lucy Westenra of Dracula and Bertha Mason of Jane Eyre as undead women taking on Dracula and Mr. Rochester, respectively, in the backdrop of 1960's California counterculture), I was intrigued by the parallells of the Bluebeard influences in both Jane Eyre and Rebecca, especially how pivotal the female protagonists' responses are upon revelation of Mr. Rochester and Max de Winter's secrets.
The book also contains variation of the Bluebeard tale, including a few in the Grimm tradition and the English versions, "Lady Mary" and "Mr. Fox".
January 4, 2023
Tatar's "Secrets Beyond the Door" was one of the primary materials in an undergrad course I took on fairy tales. One of the best and most enjoyable courses I took. That course and this book introduced me to the cluster of stories - fairy tales, gothic thrillers, and blood-chilling horror stories - that is collectively known as the "Bluebeard Tales". Before the aforementioned course, I had never heard of Bluebeard or the Robber Bridegroom or any other of his monikers. I came to love them and it set me on a path of academic research that was one of the defining aspects of my time in higher education. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in fairy tales in general, or to those fascinated by the strange world of fairy tale literary criticism and retellings as I am.
August 4, 2021
Disclaimer: I skipped one chapter that wasn't relevant to my project, which is to develop a one semester curriculum built around the Bluebeard story. Tatar's book was incredibly helpful for this purpose, especially in its analytical depth, and in its references to movies to the 1940s, like Gaslight. I'm looking forward to diving into these materials with my students this fall.
June 7, 2017
I will mention that when a author, professor, critic (too many of these people) or a blogger writes on literature and film, got or has attracted my interests that run the gamut from this or that subject or topic: there I go with it? Nothing said nothing gained, but Tatar has touched on the ace of theme - fairy tales or folk tales males and females are yet imperfect. Grasp the bluebeard brigand animal or human, spirit of the dead rise in the hidden cave and movies paint the scene, that which the director producer script writer, original author select to develop the painting or filming. Does the innocent snoopy young woman have any sense of dread??/ Enchantment, yuck for some, Nosferatu, German film Christopher Gans mit the French ooze creepy characters, beasts and the king of the beast monster he is, forlorn forgotten is the love element...which irritates me? The monster has descended into the forest, the trap a god of the forest or hades awaits the creature until he is so perceived animal and human combined. The dance of human, beast, wind, rush of forest creatures, feasts the eye and causes wonder. Why are readers, some movie goers (DVD), odd ball like myself all looking at the past through the eyes of the intelligentsia when imagination might excite the moment and creativity begins??? Very few individuals like to be outside of the group, societal behaviors create closed environments. Communication is lost...? The insight of Maria Tatar is that stories are written or repeated over and over, the lives amuse, frightful manias and sour old doles perhaps a mythic god or goddess, witch or alchemy, wise, stupidity, frank to the point of excusing oneself from more waste.
May 5, 2023
Ok, judge me (whoever you are) all you want for spending way too much money on this glorified Wikipedia page, but I'm a sucker for fairy tale analysis, particularly when you bring retellings through pop culture into it (anything to expand my TBW list). I loved that this connected the text of Bluebeard with films or books that might only give the OG fairy tale a passing glance (i.e. Stephen King's The Shinning or Gaston Leroux's POTO). Bonus: there were entire passages dedicated to: Bluebeard vs. BATB... and L.M. Montgomery's The Blue Castle.... guys, I just finished/reviewed that today! All this and an academic take on tapered lights, AKA penis candles (oh, I'm sorry, let me dust off my BA. *ahem* "Phallic imagery")? Yeah, this book was worth the high price.
May 3, 2018
Tatar is one of my favorite folklorists, and I was excited to find a book dedicated solely to Bluebeard. This is academic writing, so it's a little dry, but accessible enough for the average reader who is interested in the Bluebeard tale. There is a lot of page space given to movie retellings of Bluebeard (an entire chapter actually), and I was expecting more focus on the different written variations.
September 11, 2023
Maria Tatar that's my bestie.
But genuinely a lot of really interesting interpretations in here, especially in consideration of some of the less obvious Bluebeard narratives, such as Lolita and various Hollywood films.
But genuinely a lot of really interesting interpretations in here, especially in consideration of some of the less obvious Bluebeard narratives, such as Lolita and various Hollywood films.
October 5, 2022
banger! heartily enjoyed this. kind of dragged but hey it's an academic text you can hardly ask for much more
May 2, 2024
I enjoyed reading the different versions of the story of Bluebeard. My favorite was the one where Bluebeard was the devil and the sisters defeated him in the end.
May 15, 2013
One of my favorite faerytales ..
اللحية الزرقاء (بالفرنسية: Barbe Bleue) هي حكاية خرافية للكاتب الفرنسي شارل بيرو، نشرت لأول مرة عام 1697 هو قاتل متسلسل كان قد قتل زوجاته واخفى جثثهن في غرفة مغلقة، ومجمل الروية يقول ان اللحية الزرقاء منع زوجته من أن تفتح بابا معينا في غيابه لكنها لم تنفذ اوامره وفتحت الباب لتجد جثث الزوجات السابقات وتحاول الهروب من موت محقق.
http://ar.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/اللحية...
تروي هذه القصة حكاية رجل واسع الغناء، عنده قصر كبير مليئ بالتحف والقطع النادرة، دمس المعشر، قوي البنية، لا يعيبه شيء سوى أن له لحيته زرقاء.
أعجب بابنة جيرانه التي قبلت بالزواج به رغم لحيته الزرقاء التي كانت تثير اشمئزازها طمعاً بالمال والقصور التي يملكها.
في يوم من الأيام قرر الرجل ذو اللحية الزرقاء أن يذهب في رحلة لوحده فأعطى زوجته مفاتيح كل غرف القصر لكنه أشار إلى غرفة في اخر القصر مانعاً إياها الدخول إلى تلك الغرفة.
لم تتمكن الزوجة من كبح جماح فضولها طويلاً لتعرف ما يوجد بداخل تلك الغرفة. وفي مساء أحد الأيام توجهت إلى الغرفة وفتحتها وهناك الصدمة… وجددت داخل الغرفة جثث لنساء معلقة، إنها جثث سابقاتها من نساء الرجل ذو اللحية الزرقاء..
بعد أن استفاقت من صدمتها خرجت مسرعة من الغرفة مقفلة الباب خلفها. لكنها لاحظت أن مفتاح الغرفة الذي بيدها بدأ ينزف دماً وكلما مسحت الدم عاد المفتاح لينزف م�� جديد.. وهنا أدركت حجم ورطتها فأسرعت في الارسال لاخوتها لطلب النجدة.
قبل وصول إخوتها وصل ذو اللحية الزرقاء من رحلته وعرف بالأمر فهمّ بأن يقتلها ولحسن حظها وصل اخوتها في تلك اللحظة وقتلوا ذو اللحية الزرقاء …
من الواضح أن هذه الرواية مليئة بالرموز التي سأتوقف عند بعضها:
اللحية الزرقاء: هي عيب أو نقص في الشخص، فبطل القصة رغم ماله ومعشره الحسن ينقصه أو بالأحرى يعيبه شيء واضح للعيان قد يكون خصلة سيئة أو عادة كريهة.
الغرفة السرية: رمز للخصوصية التي يحتفظ بها كل إنسان لنفسه والتي رغم ارتباطه أو زواجه تبقى حيزه الخاص.
الزوجات المقتولات: رمز لكثرة المرات التي يتعرض فيها الشخص للخيانة فالزوجات قتلن لأنهن فتحن الغرفة بمعنى اخر لأنحن لم يحافظن على الأمانة.
المفتاح الذي ينزف دماً: رمز واضح للجرح الذي لا يشفى، للكسر الذي لا يجبر، وهو رمز انثوي بحت مستمد من العذرية التي إذا فقدت لا تسترد أبداً.
بمحاولة تحليل كل تلك الرموز يمكننا أن نستخلص مجموعة من العبر أرادت الرواية أن تقولها:
مهما كثرت محاسن الشخص من مال أو جمال فلا يمكن التغاضي عن لحيته الزرقاء. إن الذي يتغاضى عن إحدى الشذوذات الواضحة في شريكه مقنعاً نفسه أن هذا لن يؤثر مادام يملك المال أو الجمال فإنها يعرض سعادته للدمار. لا يكفي أن ننظر إلى سطحية الأشخاص الذين نريد الارتباط بهم بل علينا أن نبحث في أعماقهم فنعرف داخل نفوسهم لنفهم طباعهم التي تظهر للعيان على شكل لحية زرقاء.
الفضول والحشرية هي أحد الأسباب الأهم في تدمير حيات الناس. في هذه الرواية نجد محاكاة لقصة ادم وحواء في العهد القديم (الشجرة الممنوعة والغرفة الممنوعة) وفي كلتا الروايتين فإن فضول حواء وفضول الزوجة هو سبب هدم الجنة التي تعيش فيها.
عندما نقرر الارتباط علينا أن نضع كل ماضينا في غرفة ونغلق عليها جيداً بالمفتاح ويفضل أن نضيع المفتاح.. لا أقصد أبداً أن لا نخبر شريكنا بوجود غرفة سرية وإنما إبقاء هذه الغرفة في الماضي الذي لا يمكن الرجوع إليه.
بعد أن نرتبط بشخص علينا أن لا نبحث في ماضيه فهذا يهدد علاقتنا بالموت. علينا أن نقبل بأن لكل منا حيز خاص به وكما أشرت سابقاً في الماضي الذي لا يمكن الرجوع إاليه.
وأهم من كل ذلك الحفاظ على الأمانة والثقة في العلاقة لأن أي جرح فيها ينزف إلى الأبد.
قد يبدو كل ما سبق مجموعة أفكار متناثرة غير مترابطة.. نعم.. فالرواية تحمل العديد من المعاني والرموز التي يختلف صداها من شخص لاخر والتي يمكن فهمها كما هي أو حتى بقلب الأدوار، ولكن كل ما أريد أن أقوله أن الارتباط والعلاقات الحقيقية بين الأشخاص من الأشياء المرهفة والسريعة العطب فعلا كلا الطرفين أن يبذلا كل جهدهما في الحفاظ عليها.
لا يغركم في الاخر ماله ولا شكله ولا كل ما يعجب الناس، اذهبوا أبعد من ذلك لتعرفوا خبايا نفسه.
احرصوا على أن لا تنبت لحيتكم الزرقاء، لا تفسدوا كل محاسنكم بعيوب قد تبدو صغيرة لكنها تبقى كنقطة سوداء في رداء أبيض.
وأخيراً أختم وأقول أن حياتنا نعيشها مرة واحدة، وشركاء حياتنا نختارهم لمرة واحدة وأخطائنا بقررات كهذه لا تصحح إلا بالموت.. فلنحسن القرار..
http://bassamjabaian.wordpress.com/20...
اللحية الزرقاء (بالفرنسية: Barbe Bleue) هي حكاية خرافية للكاتب الفرنسي شارل بيرو، نشرت لأول مرة عام 1697 هو قاتل متسلسل كان قد قتل زوجاته واخفى جثثهن في غرفة مغلقة، ومجمل الروية يقول ان اللحية الزرقاء منع زوجته من أن تفتح بابا معينا في غيابه لكنها لم تنفذ اوامره وفتحت الباب لتجد جثث الزوجات السابقات وتحاول الهروب من موت محقق.
http://ar.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/اللحية...
تروي هذه القصة حكاية رجل واسع الغناء، عنده قصر كبير مليئ بالتحف والقطع النادرة، دمس المعشر، قوي البنية، لا يعيبه شيء سوى أن له لحيته زرقاء.
أعجب بابنة جيرانه التي قبلت بالزواج به رغم لحيته الزرقاء التي كانت تثير اشمئزازها طمعاً بالمال والقصور التي يملكها.
في يوم من الأيام قرر الرجل ذو اللحية الزرقاء أن يذهب في رحلة لوحده فأعطى زوجته مفاتيح كل غرف القصر لكنه أشار إلى غرفة في اخر القصر مانعاً إياها الدخول إلى تلك الغرفة.
لم تتمكن الزوجة من كبح جماح فضولها طويلاً لتعرف ما يوجد بداخل تلك الغرفة. وفي مساء أحد الأيام توجهت إلى الغرفة وفتحتها وهناك الصدمة… وجددت داخل الغرفة جثث لنساء معلقة، إنها جثث سابقاتها من نساء الرجل ذو اللحية الزرقاء..
بعد أن استفاقت من صدمتها خرجت مسرعة من الغرفة مقفلة الباب خلفها. لكنها لاحظت أن مفتاح الغرفة الذي بيدها بدأ ينزف دماً وكلما مسحت الدم عاد المفتاح لينزف م�� جديد.. وهنا أدركت حجم ورطتها فأسرعت في الارسال لاخوتها لطلب النجدة.
قبل وصول إخوتها وصل ذو اللحية الزرقاء من رحلته وعرف بالأمر فهمّ بأن يقتلها ولحسن حظها وصل اخوتها في تلك اللحظة وقتلوا ذو اللحية الزرقاء …
من الواضح أن هذه الرواية مليئة بالرموز التي سأتوقف عند بعضها:
اللحية الزرقاء: هي عيب أو نقص في الشخص، فبطل القصة رغم ماله ومعشره الحسن ينقصه أو بالأحرى يعيبه شيء واضح للعيان قد يكون خصلة سيئة أو عادة كريهة.
الغرفة السرية: رمز للخصوصية التي يحتفظ بها كل إنسان لنفسه والتي رغم ارتباطه أو زواجه تبقى حيزه الخاص.
الزوجات المقتولات: رمز لكثرة المرات التي يتعرض فيها الشخص للخيانة فالزوجات قتلن لأنهن فتحن الغرفة بمعنى اخر لأنحن لم يحافظن على الأمانة.
المفتاح الذي ينزف دماً: رمز واضح للجرح الذي لا يشفى، للكسر الذي لا يجبر، وهو رمز انثوي بحت مستمد من العذرية التي إذا فقدت لا تسترد أبداً.
بمحاولة تحليل كل تلك الرموز يمكننا أن نستخلص مجموعة من العبر أرادت الرواية أن تقولها:
مهما كثرت محاسن الشخص من مال أو جمال فلا يمكن التغاضي عن لحيته الزرقاء. إن الذي يتغاضى عن إحدى الشذوذات الواضحة في شريكه مقنعاً نفسه أن هذا لن يؤثر مادام يملك المال أو الجمال فإنها يعرض سعادته للدمار. لا يكفي أن ننظر إلى سطحية الأشخاص الذين نريد الارتباط بهم بل علينا أن نبحث في أعماقهم فنعرف داخل نفوسهم لنفهم طباعهم التي تظهر للعيان على شكل لحية زرقاء.
الفضول والحشرية هي أحد الأسباب الأهم في تدمير حيات الناس. في هذه الرواية نجد محاكاة لقصة ادم وحواء في العهد القديم (الشجرة الممنوعة والغرفة الممنوعة) وفي كلتا الروايتين فإن فضول حواء وفضول الزوجة هو سبب هدم الجنة التي تعيش فيها.
عندما نقرر الارتباط علينا أن نضع كل ماضينا في غرفة ونغلق عليها جيداً بالمفتاح ويفضل أن نضيع المفتاح.. لا أقصد أبداً أن لا نخبر شريكنا بوجود غرفة سرية وإنما إبقاء هذه الغرفة في الماضي الذي لا يمكن الرجوع إليه.
بعد أن نرتبط بشخص علينا أن لا نبحث في ماضيه فهذا يهدد علاقتنا بالموت. علينا أن نقبل بأن لكل منا حيز خاص به وكما أشرت سابقاً في الماضي الذي لا يمكن الرجوع إاليه.
وأهم من كل ذلك الحفاظ على الأمانة والثقة في العلاقة لأن أي جرح فيها ينزف إلى الأبد.
قد يبدو كل ما سبق مجموعة أفكار متناثرة غير مترابطة.. نعم.. فالرواية تحمل العديد من المعاني والرموز التي يختلف صداها من شخص لاخر والتي يمكن فهمها كما هي أو حتى بقلب الأدوار، ولكن كل ما أريد أن أقوله أن الارتباط والعلاقات الحقيقية بين الأشخاص من الأشياء المرهفة والسريعة العطب فعلا كلا الطرفين أن يبذلا كل جهدهما في الحفاظ عليها.
لا يغركم في الاخر ماله ولا شكله ولا كل ما يعجب الناس، اذهبوا أبعد من ذلك لتعرفوا خبايا نفسه.
احرصوا على أن لا تنبت لحيتكم الزرقاء، لا تفسدوا كل محاسنكم بعيوب قد تبدو صغيرة لكنها تبقى كنقطة سوداء في رداء أبيض.
وأخيراً أختم وأقول أن حياتنا نعيشها مرة واحدة، وشركاء حياتنا نختارهم لمرة واحدة وأخطائنا بقررات كهذه لا تصحح إلا بالموت.. فلنحسن القرار..
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September 10, 2011
Maria Tatar is excellent -- this book is informative and easy to understand, but, above all, fascinating. She begins by discussing the origins of the Bluebeard tale, providing accompanying images of some beautiful illustrations that have graced reproductions of the story over the years. After this, she examines the role of both Bluebeard and his wife in a variety of modern productions, looking at the ways they've been adapted and changed, and suggesting some possible reasons. Ultimately, this is a brilliant book for anyone interested in the Bluebeard fairytale, and it's a great starting point for anyone studying or researching one of its modern variants.
February 12, 2009
Tatar gives an excellent analysis of the story of Bluebeard in literature and film. The book covers how writers, such as Atwood, and directors, such as Hitchcock, used the tale in their work. I enjoyed the analysis of both Jane Eyre and Rebecca. Tatar made me think about how Eyre is more than just a "Beauty and the Beast story".
August 15, 2009
I truly enjoyed this survey of BlueBeard. I didn't know much about the fairy tale before reading this book, so I found the historical information about the tale, as well as the analysis very interesting.
December 4, 2009
Of course there isn't a plethora of scholarly books out there on the subject of Bluebeard, but I just felt this book spent far too much time analyzing the stories that were inspired by the original (i.e. films, modern fiction, etc) and not enough time scrutinizing the original source material.
August 16, 2011
Fascinating book about one of the most fascinating types of fairy tale, and the echoes that continue to appear in Western culture, even though many people today are unfamiliar with the original.
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June 19, 2012A fairly good overview of the Bluebeard story . However, it does drag a bit, and at times you lose sight of the story in the endless dissection. Interesting material-dry execution.
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