"The Bloody Chamber" v.s. "The Blue Beard"

        “The Bloody Chamber” and “The Blue Bread” are two similar folktales that share many difference but also many similarities.  From reading both pieces of folklore I noticed that “The Blue Bread” had a more magical unrealistic theme to it. “The Bloody Chamber” was more mature and was written for a more mature audience. In the “The Blue Beard” the forbidden room was said to be a magical blue closet that has to be opened with a magical key, opposed to the dingy old dark room described in “The Blood Chamber” 

            Gender Roles were very different between the two stories. Both of the young girls were portrayed to be very naïve.  The husband was given the role of an evil manipulative beast. This character has been introduced in many folktales including “Little Red Riding Hood”. In the end of the stories the young girl is saved from the guillotine preformed by her husband.  In “The Bloody Chamber” Carter has made the mother of the bride the heroine of the story, erasing the stereotype of weak women.  She is described as a strong horsewoman on a mission to save her daughter.  In the “Blue Beard” The heroes are the two bothers of the naïve helpless girl.

                 Alice Carter did not follow the stereotype of ignorant women. Even though the character of the young girl was naive she was still smart. She was aware that something was not right and she handled the situation with thoughtfulness unlike the female character in “The Blue Beard”. Carter used seduction and sharp-wittedness to defeat the wrath of the evil husband.  She also portrayed the strength of a woman’s intuition, the mother of the bride knew by the tone of her daughter’s voice that things we were not right so he took it upon herself to be strong and courageous and rescue her daughter. Carter also introduced the character of a young blind boy who played the role of a comforter, which is mostly played by a female.