The Unnatural
The single defining characteristic of the antagonist of this fairy tale is his blue beard. The very opening line sets the tone: the color of the beard served to make him so ugly that all females ran away. And yet there is no other information supplied about his appearance to indicate that were he to shave the beard he would still be so hideous. The ugliness is connected to the beard and the beard to its color and the color is what is frightening. Why? Because it is unnatural. Except for the sky and the water, blue is a not particularly omnipresent in nature. This is doubly so when it comes to human physicality. The blueness of the bear is therefore connected to a theme linking his unnatural appearance with his unnatural behavior.
Patriarchal Power and Dominion Over Women
Bluebeard ultimately kills his wives because they overstep their place within the patriarchal order conferring full authority upon the man and expecting submission from the woman. The punishment for the ultimate disobeyance of his rules is death, but that is just a symbol of the various lesser punishments woman are to expect for violating the terms of patriarchal protection offered in exchange for submission.
There's No Place Like Home
Although not true of all versions of Bluebeard, Perrault’s recasting of the story intensifies its inherent theme of the fear of the unknown that marriage brought to young women who would be leaving home for the first time. This version differs from most others in that there is a happy ending. Not only is there a happy ending, but it is means by which the bride gets saved that is significant. Her rescuers do not turn out to be a Prince Charming conveniently happening by to hear her screams. It is her brothers who come to her rescue. This, Perrault has the unfortunate new bride saved from the darkest mysteries in the home of her husband by those family members still living with her father. There is truly no place like home in this version.
