Genre
A fairy story
Setting and Context
A young wife breaks her husband’s bane and enters a forbidden closet, where finds corpse of his ex-wives. Neither time nor place is not mentioned.
Narrator and Point of View
The story is told from the third point of view by an omniscient narrator.
Tone and Mood
Tone is mostly ironic and amused, mood is mysterious.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The young wife is a protagonist of the story, while Blue Beard is an antagonist.
Major Conflict
There two types of conflicts. The first one is person vs. self, for the young wife has a certain kind of an inner battle. She knows that she is not allowed to open the door, but her curiosity is too strong. The second conflict is person vs. person, for the wife tries to persuade her husband not to kill her, while he says that there is no way he can spare her life.
Climax
Death of Blue Beard is the climax of the story.
Foreshadowing
“And what besides gave them disgust and aversion, was his having already been married to several wives, and nobody ever knew what became of them.”
Readers learn that the color of the antagonist’s beard is not the only one strange thing about Blue Beard. It also foreshadows the events of the story, for the readers are going to learn what have happened to Blue Beard’s wives.
Understatement
“Nought will avail,” said Blue Beard, “you must die.”
Blue Beard behaves in a way as if death is something simple and unquestionable. Why should she die? What is the reason? Isn’t it a too severe punishment? H doesn’t give the answers!
Allusions
The story alludes to Dragoons and musketeers.
Imagery
Imagery is used to describe wealth of Blue Beard, his ugliness and a mysterious closet.
Paradox
“Open them all; go into all and every one of them; except that little closet which I forbid you, and forbid it in such a manner that, if you happen to open it, there will be no bounds to my just anger and resentment.”
The paradox is that he forbids her to enter the closet, but he gives her a key to it. He could simply keep it.
Parallelism
O curiosity, thou mortal bane!
Metonymy and Synecdoche
To one of his country seats. (Seats are metonymy which stands for residences).
Looking-glass. (Looking-glass is synecdoche which stands for a mirror).
Personification
What unhappiness might attend her.
