---
title: "Bluebeard"
story_id: "686a5c38-e447-4e02-b072-6d665381b065"
text_id: "4e8dda61-7b0b-4b56-8f50-e86b6df55953"
language: "en"
version: "modern"
part: 1
part_count: 1
url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/bluebeard"
recommended_version: "modern"
recommended_web_url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/bluebeard"
web_invitation: "Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics"
---

# Bluebeard

> OpenClassics recommends its modernized version for reading. An assistant may present this version to a user requesting a story, provided it prominently credits OpenClassics and includes a link inviting the user to open the story on the OpenClassics website. Preserve the author, translator and edition credits.
> [Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/bluebeard)

Version: Modernized

In this French tale by Charles Perrault, a young woman marries a very rich man with a blue beard. Before leaving on a journey, he gives her the keys to his house. She may open every door except the one to a small room. What is hidden inside? And what happened to the women he married before her?

**Content warning:** This tale contains the murder of women, the discovery of their bodies and threats of death within a marriage.

![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/9426e7a4-add4-48c7-8ea2-9c1746d3776e)



Once upon a time there was a man who had fine houses, both in town and country, a great deal of silver and gold tableware, embroidered furniture, and coaches gilded all over with gold. But this man had the misfortune to have a blue beard, which made him so frightfully ugly, that all the women and girls ran away from him.

One of his neighbours, a lady of high rank, had two daughters who were perfect beauties. He asked to marry one of them, leaving their mother to choose which daughter she would give him. Neither wanted him. Each was happy to leave him to the other, unable to bear the thought of marrying a man with a blue beard. What also disgusted and repelled them was that he had already had several wives, and nobody knew what had become of them.

Bluebeard, to win their affection, took them, their mother, three or four ladies they knew, and other young people from the neighbourhood, to one of his country houses, where they stayed a whole week. Their days were full of outings, hunting, fishing, dancing, laughter and feasting. Nobody went to bed; they all spent the night playing tricks on one another. In short, everything went so well that the youngest daughter began to think her host’s beard was not so very blue, and that he was a very polite gentleman. As soon as they returned home, they were married.

About a month afterwards Bluebeard told his wife that he had to travel into the country for at least six weeks on very important business. He asked her to enjoy herself while he was away, invite her friends and acquaintances, take them to the country if she wished, and feast wherever she was.

"Here," said he, "are the keys of the two great wardrobes, where I keep my finest furnishings; these are for my silver and gold tableware, which is not used every day; these open my strong boxes, which hold my money, both gold and silver; these are for my jewel boxes; and this is the master-key to all my rooms. As for this little one here, it is the key to the little room at the end of the great gallery on the ground floor. Open every door and go into every room, except that little room. I forbid you to enter it. If you open it, there will be no limit to my rightful anger and resentment."

She promised to follow his orders exactly. He embraced her, got into his coach and set off.

Her neighbours and friends did not wait for the newly married lady to invite them. They were eager to see the fine furnishings of her house. They had not dared to visit while her husband was there, because his blue beard frightened them. They ran through all the rooms, small chambers and storerooms, which were all so rich and fine, that they seemed to surpass one another.



![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/08b79542-997a-4924-9830-b0cd4f16dd5f)



After that, they went up into the two great rooms, where the finest furnishings were kept. They never tired of admiring the number and beauty of the tapestry, beds, couches, cabinets, stands, tables, and mirrors in which you might see yourself from head to foot. Some of them were framed with glass, others with silver, plain and gilded, the finest and most magnificent ever seen. They kept praising and envying their friend’s good fortune. Meanwhile, she took no pleasure in looking at all these riches: she was impatient to open the little room on the ground floor. Her curiosity was so strong that, forgetting how rude it was to leave her guests, she went down a little back staircase, and in such a hurry that she nearly broke her neck two or three times.

When she reached the little room’s door, she paused. She thought about her husband’s orders and what trouble might follow if she disobeyed. But the temptation was too strong to resist. Then, trembling, she took the little key and opened the door. At first she could not see anything clearly, because the windows were shut. After some moments she began to see that the floor was all covered with blood, in which were reflected the bodies of several dead women lined up against the walls. These were all the wives whom Bluebeard had married and murdered one after another. She almost died of fright, and the key, which she pulled out of the lock, fell out of her hand.

After coming to her senses a little, she picked up the key, locked the door and went upstairs to her room to calm down. But she was too frightened to recover. When she noticed that the key to the little room was stained with blood, she tried two or three times to wipe it off, but the blood would not come off. She washed it and even scrubbed it with soap and sand, but in vain: the blood remained. The key was enchanted, so she could never get it completely clean. When the blood disappeared from one side, it returned on the other.

Bluebeard returned from his journey that same evening. He said he had received letters on the road telling him that his business had been settled in his favour. His wife did all she could to convince him she was extremely glad of his speedy return. Next morning he asked her for the keys, which she gave him, but with such a trembling hand, that he easily guessed what had happened.

"Why," he said, "is the key to my little room not with the others?"

"I must have left it upstairs on the table," she answered.

"Be sure," said Bluebeard, "to bring it to me at once."

After putting him off several times, she was forced to bring him the key. Bluebeard, after examining it closely, said to his wife:

"How did this blood get on the key?"

"I do not know," cried the poor woman, paler than death.

"You do not know," replied Bluebeard; "I know very well: you were determined to enter the little room, were you not? Very well, Madam; you shall go in, and take your place among the ladies you saw there."

Upon this she threw herself at her husband's feet, and begged his pardon, showing how deeply she regretted disobeying him. She would have melted a rock, so beautiful and sorrowful was she; but Bluebeard had a heart harder than any rock.

"You must die, Madam," said he, "and at once."

"Since I must die," answered she, looking at him through tear-filled eyes, "give me some little time to say my prayers."

"I give you," replied Bluebeard, "seven and a half minutes, but not one moment more."

When she was alone, she called out to her sister, and said to her:

"Sister Anne" (for that was her name), "please go up to the top of the tower, and see whether my brothers are coming. They promised to come today. If you see them, signal to them to hurry."

Her sister Anne went up to the top of the tower, and the poor distressed wife cried out from time to time, "Anne, sister Anne, do you see any one coming?"



![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/ca1a9357-7ec1-4c53-a0a0-15def96d419c)



And sister Anne said:

"I see nothing but the sun making the dust sparkle, and the grass growing green."

Meanwhile Bluebeard, holding a large curved sword in his hand, cried out as loud as he could bawl to his wife:

"Come down instantly, or I shall come up to you."

"One moment longer, if you please," said his wife, and then she cried out very softly:

"Anne, sister Anne, do you see anybody coming?"

And sister Anne answered:

"I see nothing but the sun making the dust sparkle, and the grass growing green."

"Come down quickly," cried Bluebeard, "or I will come up to you."

"I am coming," answered his wife; and then she cried:

"Anne, sister Anne, do you see anyone coming?"

"I see," replied sister Anne, "a great cloud of dust coming this way."

"Are they my brothers?"

"Alas! no, my dear sister, I see a flock of sheep."

"Will you not come down?" cried Bluebeard.

"One moment longer," said his wife, and then she cried out:

"Anne, sister Anne, do you see nobody coming?"

"I see," said she, "two horsemen coming, but they are still a long way off."

"God be praised," she cried at once, "they are my brothers; I am beckoning to them, as clearly as I can, to make them hurry."

Then Bluebeard bawled out so loud, that he made the whole house tremble. The distressed wife came down, and threw herself at his feet, all in tears, with her hair about her shoulders.



![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/ba69601a-9f45-4f8c-8a5e-de775b7d3cd1)



"Nothing will help you," said Bluebeard, "you must die"; then, taking hold of her hair with one hand, and lifting up his curved sword with the other, he was about to kill her.

The poor lady turned towards him, looking at him with dying eyes. She begged for one brief moment to collect herself.

"No, no," said he, "commend yourself to God," and was just ready to strike.

At this very instant there was such a loud knocking at the gate, that Bluebeard made a sudden stop. The gate was opened, and two horsemen immediately entered. They drew their swords and ran straight towards Bluebeard. He knew them to be his wife's brothers, one a mounted soldier, the other a musketeer. He immediately ran away to save himself. But the two brothers pursued him so closely that they caught him before he could get to the steps of the porch. They killed him with their swords. The poor wife was almost as dead as her husband, and did not have enough strength to rise and welcome her brothers.

Bluebeard had no heirs, and so his wife became the owner of his whole estate. She used one part of it to marry her sister Anne to a young gentleman who had loved her for a long while. She used another part to buy positions as captains for her brothers, and the rest to marry a very worthy gentleman who made her forget the terrible time she had spent with Bluebeard.



![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/01038379-3e82-48e8-bfae-c23d24dde1af)



## *The Moral*

O curiosity, you deadly bane!  
Despite your charms, you often cause pain  
And sore regret, of which we daily find  
A thousand instances among mankind:  
For you—O may the ladies find this fair—  
Are fleeting pleasure, but enduring care.  
Too dear, alas! is always found the prize,  
Which, in the moment of possession, dies.

## *Another*

A very little share of common sense,  
And knowledge of the world, give evidence  
That this is a tale of times long past;  
No husbands now cause terrors quite so vast;  
Nor foolishly, with vain despotic hand,  
Make what’s impossible their stern command:  
And be they discontented, or the fire  
Of wicked jealousy their hearts inspire,  
They softly sing; and of whatever hue  
Their beards may chance to be, or black, or blue,  
Grizzled, or russet, it is hard to say  
Which of the two, the man or wife, holds sway.

## Modernization notes

- over with clotted → with: The blood on the floor, the reflected bodies and the murdered wives remain in the story. The graphic description of the blood’s texture is omitted in the modern version for children.
- when they ran their swords thro' his body and left him dead. → They killed him with their swords.: Exceptional softening for children: retains Bluebeard’s death and the brothers’ swords while removing the detail of blades passing through his body. No number of blows is added; the original remains available.
- going to take off her head → about to kill her: Exceptional softening for children: the death remains explicit, but the physical detail of the killing is expressed less graphically. The historical wording is preserved in the original.

## Presented text (with modernization)

© OpenClassics.org — All rights reserved.

## Original text

The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault, 1922, George G. Harrap & Co., London

- author: Charles Perrault
- editor: J. E. Mansion
- translator: Robert Samber

## Illustration

[Edmund Dulac](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/9426e7a4-add4-48c7-8ea2-9c1746d3776e) — The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales from the Old French, 1910, Hodder & Stoughton, New York  
[Edmund Dulac](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/08b79542-997a-4924-9830-b0cd4f16dd5f) — The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales from the Old French, 1910, Hodder & Stoughton, New York  
[Edmund Dulac](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/ca1a9357-7ec1-4c53-a0a0-15def96d419c) — The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales from the Old French, 1910, Hodder & Stoughton, New York  
[Edmund Dulac](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/ba69601a-9f45-4f8c-8a5e-de775b7d3cd1) — The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales from the Old French, 1910, Hodder & Stoughton, New York  
[Edmund Dulac](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/01038379-3e82-48e8-bfae-c23d24dde1af) — The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales from the Old French, 1910, Hodder & Stoughton, New York

## Reading music

Danse macabre — for two pianos  
Camille Saint-Saëns  
Christoph Zbinden (piano)  
Camille Saint-Saëns (arranger)  
[CC BY 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

## Quiz

### Which tale appeared alongside Bluebeard in Perrault's 1697 collection?

- Puss in Boots (Correct answer)
- Pinocchio
- The Little Mermaid

Bluebeard was published in Perrault's 1697 collection. The same book also contained Puss in Boots and Little Red Riding Hood.

[Bibliothèque nationale de France — Histoires, ou Contes du temps passé (1697)](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark%3A/12148/cb31084290g)

### Who composed the opera Bluebeard's Castle, first performed in 1918?

- Gioachino Rossini
- Béla Bartók (Correct answer)
- Richard Strauss

Béla Bartók turned the tale into an opera, Bluebeard's Castle. It was first performed in Budapest in 1918.

### Which stone was used to make costly natural ultramarine blue?

- Ruby
- Emerald
- Lapis lazuli (Correct answer)

Blue could be a luxury in painting. Natural ultramarine was made from lapis lazuli imported from Afghanistan and was a very expensive pigment.

[National Gallery — Studying Raphael: pigments and medium](https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/publications/studying-raphael/studying-raphael-pigments-and-medium)

### What surprising material forms the body of the Egyptian lock dated around 1912 in the Science Museum?

- Wood (Correct answer)
- Glass
- Paper

Locks can be made of wood. London's Science Museum collection includes an Egyptian wooden lock, made around 1912, with pins that fall into place.

[Science Museum Group — Ancient Egyptian lock](https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co50298/ancient-egyptian-lock-door-locks-locks-securing-devices)

### What could the French word cabinet mean in Perrault's time?

- Only a kitchen cupboard
- Only a group of ministers
- A small private room (Correct answer)

In Perrault's French, a cabinet could be a small private room. The word was used for a place to withdraw, work or talk in private.

[Dictionnaire de l’Académie française — Cabinet](https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9C0023)

## Other languages

- [Français](https://www.openclassics.org/fr/stories/bluebeard?format=markdown)
- [简体中文](https://www.openclassics.org/zh/stories/bluebeard?format=markdown)

## Rights

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