The Castle of Murder

We've discussed in class how many of the Bluebeard stories are more closely related to the horror genre than that of a fairytale. "The Castle of Murder," despite its horrific and straight-forward title, however, has a lot of tropes of a fairytale. For one, it begins with "Once upon a time..." and ends in a marriage (which is unlike other Bluebeard tales where the maiden lives happily ever after with her family).

What's interesting is that Bluebeard himself, asks the maiden if she is "feeling any doubts," and although she does feel a "certain uneasiness" she replies no. Not only does she say no, but she provides an explanation for her answer. Also interesting, in this tale the man is not called Bluebeard, but the rich gentlemen is referred to as the "nobleman." It's amazing that we don't get an image of the man as being old, ugly, or having a Bluebeard. Judging from his physical appearance, we have no reason to assume he is not a suitable match for the maiden. While his physical appearance does not seem harmful, the maiden still senses something is not quite right...but she hides her uneasiness.

The nobleman also does not tell of a forbidden room, which suggests he is willing to share everything with the maiden. At the same time, it too seems like maybe he wanted her to enter, which seems more likely when we meet the old woman sitting in the cellar. Her existence is very unique within the Bluebeard tales and her character is some mix between good and evil. On one hand she's scraping intestines, and on the other she helps the maiden escape from this horror.

Upon escaping and telling the story of the madness inside the castle, the maiden does not need a finger like in other tales. Her words are believed without evidence and the castle is destroyed. The maiden then goes on to marry the lord's son, which says something about how marriage is viewed. She could not be tricked into marriage, despite that the nobleman seemed normal, but marriage is only reserved for two non murders...good people.

Even though "The Castle of Murder" may seem by it's title to contain awful things, it really does not. It does not even explain the maiden's sisters' deaths, it merely puts this info in parentheses. There are no horrific death scenes with elaborate descriptions. For me, even with it's violence, it is more of a fairytale.