Storytelling Ben Rhodes

Storytelling Discussion

I found these stories fascinating, I was especially impressed by Atwood’s Bluebeard’s Egg. Central to the theme of all five stories is how curiosity can be both a blessing and a curse, truth can be a heavy burden. In fact, in Perrault's and Atwood’s take on the Bluebeard tale, I found myself reflecting that if the central characters had not investigated their circumstances if everything would have been all right for them. Though extreme in Perrault's Bluebeard, the deaths of his former wives are a response to them looking in the forbidden room, if they did not look would they have lived happily ever after? Is Bluebeard a murderer or is curiosity the real evil? Similarly, in Atwood’s story had Sally not be so obsessed with understanding Ed would she have been happy rather than plagued by what Ed could be? It seems in these Bluebeard stories that the central theme is that there is a consequence to curiosity, should Pandora's Box be left unbidden?

Another similarity of all the stories is the central protagonist is a pretty woman. There are two things at play here, gender and beauty. Tatar looked into gender quite a bit, so I’ll take a stab at the other quality of the protagonists, beauty. Beauty is a central conceit of the characters in each story, why? Is it important that the protagonist is beautiful to juxtapose the wretchedness of the villain? But, then there’s Atwood’s story, where both characters are considered pretty? Certainly, with Grimm, Perrault, and Jacobs, beauty is aligned with fairness and innocence. Perhaps innocence in character is important because often innocence and ignorance can be seen in the same light, such as in Adam and Eve’s story, and curiosity and knowledge can be burdensome.

Link to chart - https://docs.google.com/document/d/13C7hIQf91sqSleNNq0Z023cq3zNq-xeC4tC8yI0OwOo/edit?usp=sharing

Ben from Schenevus