Analysis of Blue Beard by Charles Perrault
Introduction
Bluebeard, a fairytale by Perrault, is about an affluent man who is known and revered on account of his despicable blue beard. Even though he has had several wives, their whereabouts are a source of mystery. As such, Bluebeard purposes to persuade one of his neighbor’s daughters to take his hand in marriage. Eventually, his efforts pay off and he ends up tying the knot with one of his neighbor`s daughters. After some time has passed in their marital union, Bluebeard announces to his wife that he must set off on an important journey. Before commencing on his journey, he gives the castle`s keys to his wife and the liberty of having access to all the rooms apart from a single room.
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In this story, the minor characters include Anne, Bluebeard`s neighbors and the friends to Bluebeard`s wife.
Plot
The plot or sequence of a story is the order in which events in a story take place and how these events are related to one another. The integral components of a plot include: the exposition, the climax, the conflict and the resolution.
The beginning of the story or the exposition may be defined as the insight the author gives the audience concerning the location or time in which the story is set and the characters in the story. The information provided usually aids the audience in better understanding the behaviors and actions of the characters in the story. For example, in the fairy tale Bluebeard, the author begins by describing Bluebeard. Through this description, the audience notices that an element of mystery surrounds him.
Conflict often arises when two parties have conflicting or different opinions on a given matter. In this folktale, conflict arose between Bluebeard and his wife. Upon returning to his home, he notices his wife’s reluctance in returning his set of keys to him. As a result, he deduces that she must have opened the forbidden room. He resolves to kill her, as he did to his previous wives, but before executing her he grants her some time to pray. He soon grows impatient and demands she goes down and meet her fate. This captures the audience’s attention as they await the outcome. Will he
NOW list the events in the SEQUENCE in which they are PRESENTED IN THE STORY (the orchestration of PLOT).
Plot is very important to a story, novel, or even movies. It helps to make object of the story plain to the reader, and make it as enjoyable to the reader as the author wanted it to be. Plot starts out with an introduction of sorts then runs into the rising action, followed by the main point of the story, then the exposition. When that is over the falling action occurs and finally, the resolution of the story. Willa Cather expresses this very intently in his story “The Sentimentality of William Tavener.” He draws the reader in with a man that is strict with his son and wife who are worthy to participate in the circus in town. Willa tells of the wife trying to convince her husband to allow them to go. Then he surprises the
In the folktale “The Blue Beard” written by Charles Perrault, conforms to both Dworkin’s and Lurie’s representations of fairy tale heroines. Perrault states, “The fatal effects of curiosity, particularly female curiosity, have of course long seen the subject of report” (133). Andrea Dworkin author of “Women Hating” and Alison Lurie author of “Don’t Tell the Grown-Ups” explain their different views regarding the heroines in fairy tales.
In the opening pages of the text, we are introduced to the main characters through the believable and
The plot in a fiction text is important in keeping the reader's attention. The majority of the story builds towards a climax. This climax is where the peak of action, suspense or thrill takes place, which then leads to the resolution of the story. As in "Lord of the Flies" the author continued to increase conflict between the boys until a full-scale war takes place, which is the climax. The building
Stated by the Dictionary of Literary Terms, an exposition is, “Applied to the beginning of the portion of a *plot in which back ground information is set forth” (Shaw 150). The exposition is basically the first few paragraphs of a story. To me a healthy exposition is very detailed. Personally, when reading knowing the main characters and setting are the two main things I tend to look for; not knowing this information can be risky and cause readers to be unentertained and stop reading the story. In the short story “Grand Stand-In,” the character goes right into telling her background story. Within the first few paragraphs she states, “I never had a family of my own. I didn’t get married, couldn’t see the use of it. […] I
Plot is defined as, "the authors arrangement of incidents in a story it is the organizing principle that controls the controls the order of events (Meyer,64)." The element of plot is heavily relied on in the short story, "The Killings" by Andre Dubus. The plot which is completely made inside the imagination of an author (Meyer,64), gives the audience important insight to people, places, and events in the story (Meyer,64) . "The Killings" provides a somewhat conventional plot pattern, where the character is confronted with a problem and is then led into a climax, which late leads to the resolution of the story (Meyer,65). The conventional plot is easy to follow and serves as a basis for movies and other
The significance of the opening chapter or intro was to set up a tone and style of the author. The first chapter shows how the story may not be as happy and calm as it may seem. It talks about how cruel the world is and how houses are being burned down because of having books in your home. It was also made to attract the attention of the reader showing that this is different from a fairy tale . This also shows the authors style of imagery because Ray Bradbury is constantly giving extra details making the story a paradox itself because he writes in a way where the story is written as if someone was describing their dream, except the story is opposite from a dream. The opening scene also gives us a background of what may occur in the story because it is an introduction. It introduces the Firemen and what they do.
His blue beard causes people to fear him as an unnatural color for a beard or most things in the natural world. Another significant symbol in this story is the ‘key’. The key in this tale has many symbolic meanings. Firstly, a key represents power and/or wealth. They are used to lock away something precious. In folktales, a key symbolizes a mystery yet to be solved “on the road to enlightenment and revelation” (Chevalier 1982). In this case, it represents a mystery to the bride which must be solved; Bluebeard gave his bride the key to give her admission and power in her new home. This privilege comes with a warning for he forbids her entry into one of the rooms showing his lack of trust in her. Basically, the key is a trap in this story because the use of the banned key comes with a death sentence but he did not tell her this— he only told her that she may expect his “just anger and resentment” (Perrault, 2). Another point worth nothing is that, the wife will use the key to open the forbidden room and therefore she will be given a disclosure about the true nature of her husband.
. The exposition in any story or poem is the beginning, probably the first paragraph that lays
As the story progresses, Perrault presents an example of the dire consequences that occur when a traditional woman shifts into a non-conformative one. Bluebeard's wife is shown as a imprudent, betraying her husbands trust by deliberately disobeying his orders. " She was so much pressed by her curiosity that, without considering that it was very uncivil for her to leave her company, she went down a little back staircase, and with such excessive haste that she nearly fell and broke her neck" (56). Because of her disobedience, she ends up discovering her husbands terrible secret- a room hiding the corpses of all his previous wives. Her curiosity is demonized as the cause of her misfortune. Bluebeard's marriage is an example of the traditional
Charles Perrault wrote “Bluebeard”, a French literary folktale, in the year 1658. A time where woman did not hold very many positions of authority or power, of course except for Queen Elizabeth I. The life of a woman of those times was quite cut and dry. A woman would often be married off at a young age, to a man she did not know, usually chosen by family members. A woman was expected to be respectful and courteous to her spouse and her superiors (Butler). The woman in Perrault’s “Bluebeard” has a life similar to this. She is married off to one of her neighbors, who had coerced her mother into it by bringing them all out to party and how them a good time. His wife is timid towards him, because she does not know him on a personal level, even though they are married. She is socially expected to obey her husbands orders, and often does so. In Jane Campion’s romantic drama film The Piano, the main character Ada is also married off to a man she has never previously met. Ada, a mute pianist, and her daughter move to the West coast of New Zealand to live with her new husband. Ada is reluctant to go, but feels it will be best for her little family. Ada’s most prized possession is her piano, which travels to New Zealand with her. She is distraught when she hears that it wont be possible for her piano to reach her new home, due to a treacherous hike through the muddy forrest and a lack of man power to do so. Through Ada’s time spent in her new home,
Typically a story begins with an exposition, which introduces the characters, setting and plot. In the short story ?Popular Mechanics? by Raymond Carver, the exposition is excluded. The story begins with a short rise in action, moves quickly to the climax and totally omits the resolution. Carver uses third person objective narration to reveal the actions and the dialogue between a man and a woman. The narrator gives very little descriptive details, never revealing the characters? thoughts or their motivation. This allows the reader the freedom to interpret and develop their own opinions of the setting, plot, and characters of the story. This also stimulates the reader to
Plot – these are the events or incidents that take place on the stage. The plot is clearly defined problems that the characters must solve. The plot is very different from the story line and is chronological detailing events that have happened on and off stage. Events that happen off stage are often introduced through a narrative dialogue. The playwrights often create a plot that is sincere and astounding.
Stories are told through various forms of literature, and the overall point of telling a story is to convey a message, a meaning that the author wants the reader to interpret and understand. The author does