Bluebeard by Charles Perrault is a story about the appeal of mystery. There is no person who doesn’t know how difficult it is to suppress sparks of curiosity. An unsolved mystery nags and nags till it is impossible to resist a temptation. If we consider Bluebeard to be a fairy tale for children, then it becomes clear that it is not just a fairy tale but a lesson. Children are taught that there are rules which should be followed. If they are broken, a punishment follows. Why would one want to scare his/her child? The answer is simple - to prevent them from being reckless.
Who is Bluebeard and why are people so afraid of him? It has been mentioned a lot of times that his neighbors are so afraid of him that they refuse to visit his young wife – their life-long friend – while her husband is at home. Frankly speaking, a beard of a blue color is not the worst kind of ugliness this man could be cursed with. There is no need to take his blue beard literary. It stands for any kind of deviation. It can be his abnormal cruelty, an eccentric style of life, literally anything. He is the only one with a blue beard, which means that he is the only one, who is a freak.
The young wife of Bluebeard embodies naivety. She knows that Blue Beard has been already married. She is also well aware of the fact that no one knows where his other wives are, but prefers to ignore those facts in favor of his high position and wealth. It takes her a week to believe that he is a respectable gentleman. However, readers shouldn’t think that her only interest is gold and silver. She receives keys to every room and closet in the house, where all gold and silver plates and goblets are kept, she has a free access to his money, but she pays no attention to it. The only one thing which interests her is a little closet. Again, there is no need to take it literary. The closet stands for her husband’s past. They are newlyweds, so she hasn’t seen his flaws yet. On the contrary, he proves to be a generous man. But she remembers that her husband has ill fame among their neighbors. To open the closet means to get needed information about him, to learn all his secrets. Blood, which couldn’t be washed off, shows that no matter how one tries to get rid of his or her past, it stays with them for the very end. Neither the master of the house nor his young wife can forget about traces of blood on the little key. It means that they can continue to live happily after the truth is reviled.
Although this is a rather short story, it teaches us, even adults, a lot of useful lessons. Its happy end proves that no matter how rich, influential, and successful a person is, it is impossible to hide all secrets and there is a punishment for every crime.
