Revolt of the Pawns Anonymous

The Big Bad Wolf, Prince Charming, and The Beast: many fairy tales provide images of men varying from the courageous to the very evil. Each tale encodes messages for young girls about men, marriage, or sex as a type of socialization. Charles Perrault's traditional version of the Bluebeard tale, which includes morals regarding curiosity and marriage, is no exception. In her book The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter totally flips the messages of traditional fairy tales, such as Bluebeard, by rewriting them from a feminist perspective. Carter transforms the tale of Bluebeard into a feminist story in her version entitled "The Bloody Chamber" by placing the mother in the role of savior, allowing the protagonist to participate in her own rescue, and subtracting strength from the secondary male figures.

One of Carter's most notable adaptations to the story of Bluebeard in an effort to create a feminist tale is her treatment of the protagonist's mother. In the traditional version of the fairy tale, Perrault mentions the protagonist's mother only briefly as, "a respectable lady, [who] had two daughters who were perfect beauties" (144). Unlike Perrault, Carter chooses to make the mother a central figure....