Introduction
The legend of the Bluebeard ascends to the early 15th century, reciting the story of Gilles de Rais – a nobleman from Brittany, the late Marshal of the French army, and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. Accused of practicing occultism, demon summoning, and mass murder, de Rais was sentenced to death via hanging and burning by the secular court, the sentence executed on 26th of October 1440. Although Gilles de Rais did not kill his wife, and his supposed crimes involved children murder rather than women, the presence of a real person behind the fairy tale continues to fascinate creators throughout history.
Exploring The Bloody Chamber
The grotesque motif of a middle-aged serial killer with a room full of his previous spouses’ bodies is a centerpiece of the short novel The Bloody Chamber. Written masterfully by Angela Carter, the story explores a traditional narrative of a young girl married to an older French Marquis against her direct will. Following her curiosity, the girl finds her husband’s pornography collection and, instead of recoiling in disgust, takes her pleasure in exploiting it. This creates an unusual juxtaposition of primordial innocence and primal temptation of lust, which greatly diverts the story from the stereotypic retelling of a children’s tale to the new grounds of “adult novel”. Supporting this claim, Lokke (1988) states that “This tale of the wealthy, seemingly chivalrous aristocrat who murders seven young brides and inters them in his cellar brings together violence and love, perversion and innocence, death and marriage in an unsettling combination” (p. 7). This approach to a well-known plot confuses the audience’s expectations, causing a clash between the supposed need for a happy-ending and the inherent tendency for violence in the mind of the reader.
Exploring Rebecca
Rebecca is claimed by critics worldwide to be one of the most brilliant works of Alfred Hitchcock. The grim atmosphere of a black-and-white film compliments the haunting presence of the main hero’s dead wife, Rebecca, creating a powerful psychological pressure on the characters on the screen and viewers alike. In contrast to the Bluebeard’s and The Bloody Chamber’s traditional setting of a male villain, the story concentrates on dissecting the hidden motivation of every character, including the ghost of Rebecca. Although at first, the narrative still hints at Maxim de Winter being the “Bluebeard” and killing his first wife in murderous anger. However, when his deeper self begins to unfold, the viewer can see that he is more of a victim rather than an abuser. The climax not only puts a point to the long story of betrayals and lies but it also becomes a first step in Maxim’s way to freedom. Relieved of all his burdens, he sets his mansion ablaze, burning all the bridges between him and Rebecca and finalizing the end of their tale.
Conclusion
The storyline and outcomes of The Bloody Chamber and Rebecca seem to strongly differ from each other, creating two independent morals. The first one concerns the justification of curiosity and its consequences, while the second one sets off into a more ethical ground, creating in Rebecca a metaphor for an unclosed gestalt. However, both narratives carry an uncanny resemblance in their ways of revealing controversial aspects of human nature through absurdity and grotesque, without creating any unnatural situations, which one would dismiss as “unbelievable”. An accurate and vivid portrayal of different characters interacting in complicated patterns of love, hate, obsession, and misguided loyalty lays bare the ever-present inner conflict of a man and a monster in each and every move, word, and line.
References
Lokke, K. E. (1988). “Bluebeard” and “The Bloody Chamber”: The Grotesque of self-parody and self-assertion.Frontiers: a Journal of Women Studies, 10(1), 7–12. Web.