1. Bluebeard

2. R e ad ing qu iz
1. What does Bluebeard give the young bride
before leaving on his business trip?
2.How does Bluebeard find out the young
bride went into the forbidden chamber?
3. What does she find in the hidden chamber?
4. Who killed Bluebeard?

3. ANSWERS!
1. The keys to all the rooms
2. Blood on the key
3. Dead bodies of his past wives
7. The young brides’ brothers
Great Job! Thank You 

4. H e ro’s j rne y for b lu e b e ard ’s wife
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5. O th e r Ve rs ions !

6. Broth e rs G rim m
“Th e R ob b e r Brid e G room ”
• A fixed marriage between a lovely young lady and a wealthy
young man (no bluebeard)
• The man lived in a dark forest with a group of robbers
• They would “hunt” for lovely brides, drunken them with
wine, then chop them and “eat” them
• The young bride witnessed everything and was warned by a
bird in a cage and escaped with the help of an elderly
woman
• Evidence of the chopped finger with golden ring
• Robbers get executed by the guests

8. F itch e r’s Bird
• The bridegroom was a sorcerer who disguised himself as an old
man who took young women to his luxurious house
• Gave the young woman keys and an egg
• Killed the first two sisters who opened the chamber and got blood
onto the egg
• Third sister was more clever, put the egg somewhere safe and took
her sisters bodies and put them back together
• Tricked the groom into thinking she didn’t use the key
• Led him to his death where he was killed by the daughters family
• Daughter disguises herself as a bird
• Note what role a bird plays in the Grimm’s version

10. S ym b olis m
•The color blue is a cold color, and when people have
no friendly or loving qualities, we often say that they
are "cold."
•beard is a symbol of male virility and masculinity
•the key is a trap in this tale, for use of the forbidden key will
bring a death sentence. The wife uses the key to open the
forbidden chamber and thus receives a revelation about the
true nature of her husband.

11. Cont’d
•egg is a sign of female fertility, and she was to carry hers around
and keep it pure.
•When the first two sisters let it get stained with blood, he knew
that they were disobedient and unfaithful. Thus the egg was
symbolic of female fidelity.
•The last sister kept her egg "pure" by trickery!
•central theme of this story to be a caution against
female curiosity
•the female must not inquire into the secrets of the
male

12. FINAL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS!
• What are some of the virtues in marriage
each story has? (Name one per group)
• What is the lesson of the stories?
• Would you have opened the forbidden
chamber? Was it for the better?