The Bluebeard Motif Reflected in the Eyes of Margaret Atwood

Abstract

The Bluebeard fairy tale has influenced several spheres of art from the seventeenth century till now. It has preserved its fame in music, visual representations and literature through centuries, which shows the Bluebeard motif’s huge didactic, aesthetic, cultural and social power. I have chosen to explore the art of Margaret Atwood in the light of the Bluebeard story, which is a key influence on her visual representations, poems, shorts stories and novels. Among her various artistic creations infiltrated by the Bluebeard motif, I decided to analyze the following ones: her illustration entitled “Death as a Bride,” her poem, “Hesitations outside the door,” two of her short stories –“Bluebeard’s Egg” and “Uglypuss”- and her novel, Alias Grace.