Curiosity Killed the Wife - Almost

The story of Bluebeard takes us on the journey of young girl reluctantly entering a new phase of life as a bride.

It's hard to say if she is attracted to Bluebeard's personality or wealth but the young girl agrees to marry Bluebeard only after spending time at his country estate. Once married, Bluebeard gives his new young wife a test of sorts, perhaps to prove her obedience and loyalty, by going away and leaving her with a set of keys to all the rooms in his home. He tells he must leave for business and that she should invite over friends and entertain, to show them all the rooms but to be certain she doe not go into the room in the basement. This room is forbidden and little to his wife's knowledge the small key which unlocks the door is enchanted.

The wife decides to go through the room, but while her guests are admiring the riches she is overtaken by curiosity and goes down to the small room only to find that sometimes it's best to do what you're told. Upon find the corpses for Bluebeard previous wives, the new wife drops the key which becomes stained with blood. This stain cannot be removed no matter how much she wipes it.

When Bluebeard returns home the wife tries to hide the fact that she was in the room and now knows his secret. All of his previous wives have been murdered by him and she is next. Or is she?

This new wife is very clever in that she finds a way to bide her time, knowing her brothers are on their way to visit. As Bluebeard is ready to kill her she asks for time to pray, to make peace with herself but really it is to delay her fate and hope her brothers make it in time to save her, which they do.

Charles Perrault's Bluebeard leaves us with a moral: "Curiosity, in spite of its appeal, often leads to deep regret. To the displeasure of many a maiden, its enjoyment is short lived. Once satisfied, it ceases to exist, and always costs dearly.

Simply put curiosity killed the cat and here almost the wife, but we have seen this story of curiosity and temptation leading to the downfall of women.

Genesis 2-3 the Creation and Fall of Man we find Eve, Mother of all, tempted by the serpent to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, though God has told both Adam and Eve that if they do they will die. Eve not only gives into her temptation, after the serpent tells her this is not true but she also feeds Adam from the tree opening their eyes and giving them both knowledge. They as well are discovered and punished for disobeying the Lord's command.

Was Bluebeard an attempt to reiterate the Bible's message? The (anonymous) wife gives into her temptation and her life is threatened but in the end she is not only saved but rewarded with Bluebeard's wealth once her brothers kill Bluebeard instead. Though the stories can be compared in that they are both stories of temptation winning over a woman's curiosity I do not think it was an attempt to repeat the message.

In the end Adam & Eve were punished for Eve's actions, Bluebeard's wife however threatened with punishment was in the end saved by her brothers and rewarded. I don't think this story truly even portrays Perrault's moral because her curiosity was satisfied she gained wealth and ended up marrying someone better.

The Psychology of Fairy Tales

Why do we read fairy tale to our children if we know that they can be frightening? Fairy tales help children develop, yes, I know that is hard to believe and the feminist of the world are screaming as I write this but fairy tales can be beneficial in the development of our children. Teaching children not just the evil gender roles pushed by society, but they teach children about the challenges of life. Let's face it, life is not all peaches and cream; there are many thorn laden roses in the world & children need to learn how to overcome the jabs of these thorns.

Bruno Bettelheim suggests, in his book The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning andImportance of Fairy Tale, that fairy tales help to guide children toward “self-identification” allowing them a chance to reduce fears and discomforts in their world while learning problem solving skills and understanding that one can overcome challenges if they work hard.  

These tales from Snow White, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel & Gretel, and Bluebeard all show us a happy ending once our heroins have surpassed some type of challenge and only then will things go right. Fairy tales teach children the virtue of patience, all good things come to those who wait but they also teach them that waiting is not enough. We must take action and use our minds to achieve our goals and not be afraid to occasionally stray from the path. One thing I've noticed with all these tales is that happy endings only come to the "beauty" that must fight or go against what is expected of her before she gets her prince charming.

Once we set a plan in motion we must follow it through to the end because we all have our evil witches, ogres and wolves in our lives, challenges we face everyday but still we beat out these evil and have a better life for them just like in the fairy tales we grew up with.

Hansel and Gretel

The poor family on the verge of starving with so little they must send their children away into the woods? Throughout history we have come across times where means where so tight that many parents have opted to send their children away, generally to other family members that are better off or to orphanages. At times we find that parents are so desperate that they feel the need to abandoned their children whether in the woods, a river, a church, these days some are so desperate the leave their children in the trash.  I used to think that was a harsh joke older siblings said to younger ones, that they were found in the trash but the truth is many parents are not much different from those of Hansel and Gretel.
When reading the Grimm Brothers final edition (1857) of Hansel and Gretel, we know the tale the children are abandoned in the woods by their parents not once but twice since the first time Hansel was too clever, leaving a trail of stones to find their way back. The second time however, they get lost since Hansel could not fills his pockets with stone; he uses bread crumbs which are eaten by the birds. While the search for their way home, the children happen upon a house made of bread, cakes and candy; the house of a wicked witch set out to eat them. If it were not for clever little Gretel pushing the witch into the oven, the witch would have had them for dinner for sure. The witch is dead; Gretel saves herself and her brother and as a reward the take the witches riches and return home to their father and live happily ever after in wealth.

So what does it mean? The parents do not want to watch their children die, so the step-mother makes the father abandon is children in the woods; can a mother, even a step-mother be so cruel and selfish or is this an annotation of the fears that children may have that the one who gave them life will leave them. It is the father that does not want to let them go, yet he does as his wife wishes; perhaps this tale also is a means of change in society from matriarch to patriarch enforcing the importance of the father in the home. While Hansel at first saves him and sister by cleverly dropping pebbles to find their way, the second time the step-mother locks the doors preventing him from gathering the pebbles.
When we look at the women of this tale we have the step-mother that wants to be rid of the children, Gretel that starts off as a fearful girl dependent on her brother for safety and ends up the heroine depending on herself to get her and her brother out of trouble. There is no fairy god-mother and no handsome prince to come and safe the day but there is God. In the final edition of this tale, Hansel tells Gretel, “God will not forsake us” sending her back to sleep without fear and when the witch grew impatient waiting for Hansel to get fat, Gretel prayed “Dear God, please help us” and with this pray Gretel gains the insight to know the witch had planned to push her in the oven and Gretel was able to outsmart the witch and pushed the witch into the oven instead saving herself and her brother; leaving one to believe that with determination and faith in God any challenge can be overcome.

The Company of Wolves

In Angela Carter's The Company of Wolves we see a newly development Little Red Riding Hood that is no longer afraid or naive. She's young woman prepared for the wolf on her way to grandma's house with her basket of goods and a knife for protection.
It's good to see her developing as a character and as woman, she is learning that a woman has things a man wants ans she is learning that using these thing will save her life. This is not the spiritual warnings of staying on the right path or are they. Even in this tale if LRRH had not allowed the man/wolf to peak her womanly interest she would not have taken her time to get to her grand mother while letting the wolf take her basket that was holding her knife. She hoped for a kiss, she received a lot more; with her grand mother dead and her life at risk she does the only thing she can think of to save herself, She gives herself to the wolf becoming his bride.

I was watching the movie Red Riding Hood (2011 directed by Catherine Hardwicke) last night and realized for the first time that the ending is a combination of tales, from LRRH eating her grandmother after she was killed by the wolf, the Grimm Brother's placement of stones in the wolf's belly, the Bisclavret's werewolf though this one does not seem ashamed of what he is, right down to the marriage of Red and the wolf.
It's interesting to see the various versions of a tale rolled into one. More interesting is how the role of Red Riding Hood has changed becoming a woman no longer afraid. She has a power within her, a strength to surpass the things she has been taught to fear. She now understands that she is a woman and no longer a girl and more importantly she now knows what needs to be done to save herself.

Little Red Riding Hood - Sexual Context

lurking in the mist

Many view Little Red Riding Hood as an innocent tale with a moral and message not to talk to strangers, but what if that is not the message at all?

Is something there

Let's take into consideration that fairy tales were never meant for the ears of children; this is one reason many of them are so dark and disturbing. Considering this fact, let's review the details of Little Red Riding Hood: we have a young girl sent into the woods by her mother to bring her grandmother goods (cakes, breads, butter, and wine depending on the version you read). A long her route she encounters a wolf who gets her to tell him exactly where LRRH is going and how to get there. The wolf convinces her to take the longer path and in turn reaches Grandmother first, killing her. Red shows up, see the wolf in her grandmother's nightgown and in some tales knows something is wrong, yet she still gets in bed with him.
Yet no one seems to see the sexuality taking place.
I for one not only see it but agree with many that Little Red Riding Hood, regardless of the version you read has a sexual under tone to it. The coming of age, a passage of generational knowledge from grandmother to mother to daughter; perhaps a warning to young women about the desires of men. The wolf is used as a symbol of the animalistic nature of men to address sexual urges.
Catherine Orenstein states in her book Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale we see the morals of Charles Perrault's version as the unchaste woman being as good as dead. In later versions the young LRRH is told not to stray from the path, telling women if they do stray they may die, but if they stay on the right path she will become the heroine.

Maybe I like the Big Bad Wolf

Psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim suggested that Little Red Riding Hood was either "stupid or wants to be seduced" claiming that by disobeying her mother she becomes a "fallen woman" and allows the wolf/man to seduce her.

In Marie de France's Bisclavret we have a completely different tale where the Bisclavret/werewolf is ashamed of what happens to him. He tries to keep is a secret but tells his wife after she pleads with him. His wife betrays him and uses her sexuality to have another man steal Bisclavret's clothing making Bisclavret remain in his wolf state. Bisclavret is discovered by the king taken in as a pet and is loved dearly by his master. Upon seeing the knight that stole his clothing and his former wife, Bisclavret attacks them both. The truth is later discovered by the king and Bisclavret is given back what was his. In this version, the woman is not heroine or victim but a seducer of men.
As versions evolve, Little Red Riding Hood grows from a naive child to an aware young woman. She slowly goes from victim to a true heroine that no longer needs a huntsman to save her from the big bad wolf. She can now use her sexuality to trap and kill the wolf.

Little Red Riding Hood Part 2

Possessed by Fate

Alone in the woods

Little Red Riding Hood one of my favorite tales, it is a tale that makes you question the role of LRRH, her grandmother and her mother and the wolf. Most people read the tale and assume that LRRH is a little girl but as I read it, it seems to me that LRRH is really a girl, perhaps at the edge of womanhood.
Sent off to her grandmother's to bring her goods, she encounters the wolf, tells him where she is going and essentially causes the "death" of both grandma and herself. Many have questioned where the mother was in all this, but not me. I see this story as warning to all girls but not about the dangers of talking to strangers. I see Little Red Riding Hood to be more about the dangers of being a young woman and trusting men.
Little Red Riding Hood is by far the most evolving of fairy tales, we see LRRH start out as a complete victim with no savior in Charles Perrault's 1697 and move to the victim that is saved by the woodcutter in the Grimm brothers' version 1812. In 1940, LRRH evolves in to an intelligent, gun toting little girl that's not afraid of the big bad wolf by James Thurber. In 1995, Roald Dahl has her evolve again and this time not only does LRRH shoot the wolf with her pistol she skins the wolf and makes him into a coat.
Today, we see tales of LRRH as the wolf herself, she is no longer afraid but is feared. She has gained power where there was none, as women have gained power. She is no longer the child but a woman capable of defending herself against those lurking in the woods.

Little Red Riding Hood Part 1

When we read fairy tales, we often read them to children under the impression that they are children's stories. We fail to realize is that these tales where not originally meant for children and have changed in many ways from their original oral formats. Each rendition adding to or taking away from the previous based on the current socially acceptable agenda.
We must also take into consideration that there was a time when childhood did not exist and all people were subjected to the same stories.
As we learn from Zohar Shavit, in the article The Concept of Childhood and Children's Fairytales: Test Case -"Little Red Riding Hood"; "Before children's literature could be written, "childhood" itself had to come into existence and receive recognition and legitimation as a distinct time period in the life of the individual". So if children didn't exist, then these tales were meant for adults.

The concept of childhood is still fairly new in relation to humanity, only coming into existence in the seventeenth century. Before this time, children were treated as miniature adults and expected to behave as such; becoming an active participant within the society at an early age, normally as soon as they were physically able. So what changed? For starters, the images of Jesus as an infant invited a new view of children as innocent beings closely related to Christ. Clothing began to be assigned between children and adults instead of children just wearing miniature versions of adult clothing. Toys and games were made for children, smaller version of what adults used in everyday life. An educational system was also established along with the first versions of children's literature.

Shavit continues by telling us "the child was perceived as a delicate creature who must be protected, educated ans molded in accordance with the current educational beliefs and goals". Changes were happening within society that now called for new ways of doing things, that included telling tales in a way that did not interfere with the delicate patterns that now surrounded children. Stories needed to be modified with all "inappropriate" materials turned into something morally approved by society.


This takes us to Little Red Riding Hood a tale that has many versions dating back to the Seventeenth century (Charles Perrault) and moving forward to most recent versions found in movies and television. A tale that has gone from the provocative adult state to a moral tale and every where in between. We have a story of a girl sent off to see her grandmother and bring her breads/cakes and milk/wine/butter depending one the tale. Each story gives the girl options to stay on the path or stray and each tales shows us a conflict between the protagonists (LLRH) and antagonist (the Wolf).

This is probably one of my favorite of all fairy tales, as it shows the reality of children that are not always obedient and not afraid to ask questions, while also warning young women of the dangers lurking in shadows. From this point of view LLRH may not be the most ideal story to tell a young child but a child on the verge of adulthood would be different.

"Breaking the Disney Spell"

There are many that may argue Walt Disney ruined fairy tales but I do not see how that is the case. Walt Disney recreated fairy tales much like the many writers and orators have done from the beginning of time. Adding his own personal touch to the tales to help those from his time relate to the stories.

As Jack Zipes states in Breaking the Disney Spell, "The dwarfs can be interpreted as the humble American workers,who pull together during a depression. They keep their spirits up by singing a song 'Hi ho, it's home from work we go' or 'Hi ho, it's off to work we go', and their determination is the determination of every worker, who will succeed just as long as he does his share while women stay at home and keep the house clean." This was typical of the time period, during the great depression, women stay homed while men went to work, if they could find work. Does is imply gender roles, yes but again this was how things happened during this period of history. He based his tales on the Grimm Brother's versions, who into edited the stories to be more child friendly, as the original tales were not intended for children.

Editing fairy tales is a common practice that still takes place today, if we look at stories such as Ella Enchanted and Fairest both by Gail Carson Levine, we have more modern versions of Cinderella and Snow White, so how is this different from Disney that brought stories to film.

While recreating these tales he also returned them to an oral state of being in a form; one that allowed all to enjoy not just those that could read or afford books. He removed the hierarchy and class segregation of literature and gave fairy tales back to the common working family, for this among many other aspects of his vision, Disney should be celebrated not condemned  

Gender Roles in Fairy Tales

Are gender roles truly defined in fairy tales or are we imposing our own personal views about gender?

As we evolve and read tales from long ago we forget that they were written in a different time with different societal rules and expectations.
We must look at these stories with unbiased eyes and see them for what they are or rather what they were, not for what we see in them now. Remember that times then were different, women played the domestic roles, cooking, cleaning, caring for children; while men were men, hunters, providers, protectors and warriors.
These where different times and to think that they imply gender roles would not be wrong, they do, but these are roles that were expected when the stories originated.

In Some Day My Prince Will Come, an article written by Marcia Lieberman (1972), we are shown how fairy tales enforce gender roles. Lieberman writes "Not only do children find out what happens to the various princes and princesses, wood-cutters, witches, and children of their favorite tales, but the also learn behavioral and associated patterns, value systems, and how to predict the consequences of specific acts or circumstances. Among other things, these tales present a picture of sexual roles, behavior, and psychology, an a way of predicting outcome or fate according to sex, which is important because intense interest that children take in 'endings'; they always want to know how things will 'turn out'. From a psychological point of view, I would agree, children do want to know, they want to know everything and these days they can find out everything whether reading fairy tales or surfing the internet. Lieberman goes on to show us the specific roles imposed on these tales; the "meek", "passive", "obedient", and "submissive" girls are usually the beautiful heroines of the these tales. She also states, "Millions of women must surely have formed their psycho-sexual self-concepts, and their ideas of what sort of behavior would be rewarded, and of the nature of reward itself, in part from their favorite fairy tales." I for one am not one of those women, but I don't doubt that many woman have done exactly this.

When we read these stories now; whether to our children or ourselves we must keep these thoughts in mind. If there is such concern for what impressions may be left upon the reader perhaps we should explain that these were different times and today though some may follow these roles they are no longer expected in our society here in the USA.

Snow White

Does Snow White really show gender roles?

The young Snow White must run away to protect herself from her mother's jealousy and finds herself in the home of the seven Dwarfs. They offer to care for her as long as she agrees to take care of them in return by cleaning, cooking, sewing and essentially keeping house; "typical women's chores". OK maybe no longer the woman's chores, but they are typical household chores.
Also, when we read various versions of Snow White we will see a few common factors in relation to beauty: vanity leads to jealousy which leads to hatred of even ones daughter, so much so that the queen wants her daughter dead. Unfortunately, we do sometimes see this in the real world, where a woman of "beauty" has a child and becomes jealous of her child's beauty or popularity. Fortunately, we don't see it to the extent as shown in Snow White where the queen not only wants her daughter dead but want to eat her lungs and liver to ensure her death more than a bit frightening but thankfully just a story.
On the other side of that, Snow White's beauty is so enthralling that her mother can't stand her but men fall deeply in love with her. The seven dwarfs love her so that when they believe Snow White to be dead, they have a glass coffin made so her beauty can be seen. A passing prince falls so deeply in love with her that he needs "dead" body by his side even when he eats and when she awakes he marries her the next day.
Does this shows us that beauty will grant you love and hatred depending on who is looking at you?
Sadly, yes but also as we read Little Snow-White The Grimm Bros. and see beauty not just in the physical sense. Beauty is also portrayed in the behavior of Snow-White, in her innocence and faith that nothing will happen to her. Although naive about the queen, she does show faith in the protection by the Dwarfs that must continuously save her.
What else does this tale tell us? Snow-White was as stubborn as she beautiful, she continuously disobeyed the Dwarfs, which led to her attempted death by the queen, showing us the consequences of our actions could be bad.
Snow-White has many lessons to teach us:

• Be careful what you wish for - The Queen wished for a daughter "as white as snow, as red as blood and as black as ebony wood" (Grimm Bros.). She was granted her wish only to become jealous of her daughter.
• Give and take - Snow-White must clean the house while the Dwarfs work and provide her with all she needs.
• Beauty can be both wonderful and dangerous - While the Queen wants Snow-White dead, the Dwarfs love her as if she was their child and strive to protect her. The prince falls in love with her and takes her away - marries her once she wakes (thanks to the servant's annoyance) and gives her the opportunity to exact revenge on her mother.

Perhaps the biggest lesson is that there is power in beauty and beauty has different effects depending on who is looking.