The Bluebeard mythos, typified by scholar Cheryl Renfroe as a “misogynistic tale frame,” exists on the fringes of popular fairy tale types, riding the line between gothic narrative, rife with medieval manors and horrific violence, and morally driven folk literature, aimed to inform an audience’s social practices (83).
Lokke as “the quintessence of the negative animus archetype-the ruler of a land of death who tortures woman and cuts her off from life murders life for her” (11). Carter transforms Perrault’s Bluebeard, a symbol of absolute patriarchal rule, into her character named The Marquis, an icon of the hubristic and all-consuming male gaze, described by critic Kari E.
Carter’s blending of Roman Catholic symbols and practices with the erotics of sadomasochism and the all-consuming male gaze shows that the true problem of the story is destructive hypermasculinity rather than the feminine disobedience displayed in the Bluebeard mythos. In reimagining “Bluebeard” within “The Bloody Chamber,” Carter enhances Bluebeard’s god-like omnipotence and his fetishistic approach to female mutilation to turn the tale’s sanctioning of patriarchal traditions on its head. Carter expands upon these elements present in “Bluebeard,” while keeping her focus on the representation of villainous Bluebeard and his abuses towards the innocent bride.
She boldly addresses the sexuality, gender relations, and biblical comparisons inherent in Perrault’s tale in her prose, particularly by blending allusions to Judeo-Christian figures with sadomasochistic practices. Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” is a touchstone of postmodern fairy tale revisions, deftly marrying the latent content of Charles Perrault’s “Bluebeard” with her entrancing and opulent prose.
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