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The tale of Bluebeard has fascinated audiences for centuries and
has spawned books, plays, poems, music, opera and films. From the
early oral folk tales to the best-sellers of our own time, the man-monster
who kills a succession of wives has been re-defined for each new
generation. |
| Charlotte Bronte used the motif of the hidden wife
in Jane Eyre to create Mrs Rochester, the first wife kept prisoner
in the attic. |
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Angela Carter is one of several modern authors redefining
the Bluebeard myth for a post-feminist generation. |
| The strangest version must be the Hollywood
romantic comedy Bluebeard's Eighth Wife in which Claudette Colbert
tames the playboy Gary Cooper who has been divorced seven times – a
cleaned up version this one! |
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