{"product_id":"secrets-beyond-the-door-the-story-of-bluebeard-and-his-wives-9780691127835","title":"Secrets Beyond the Door: The Story of Bluebeard and His Wives","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe tale of Bluebeard's Wife--the story of a young woman who discovers that her mysterious blue-bearded husband has murdered his former spouses--no longer squares with what most parents consider good bedtime reading for their children. But the story has remained alive for adults, allowing it to lead a rich subterranean existence in novels ranging from \u003ci\u003eJane Eyre\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003eLolita\u003c\/i\u003e and in films as diverse as Hitchcock's \u003ci\u003eNotorious\u003c\/i\u003e and Jane Campion's \u003ci\u003eThe Piano\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this fascinating work, Maria Tatar analyzes the many forms the tale of Bluebeard's Wife has taken over time, particularly in Anglo-European popular culture. It documents the fortunes of Bluebeard, his wife, and their marriage in folklore, fiction, film, and opera, showing how others took the Bluebeard theme and revived it with their own signature twists. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In some tales the wife is a deceiver; in others she is a clever investigator. Earlier ages denounced Bluebeard's wife for her \"reckless curiosity\" and for her \"uncontrolled appetite\"; our own times have turned her into something of a heroine, a woman who rescues herself--and often her marriage--through her detective work and psychological finesse. And as for Bluebeard? Once considered a one-dimensional brute, he has found renewed cultural energy both as a master criminal who kills in order to create a higher moral order and as an artist figure who must shield himself against intimacy to foster his creative powers. A brilliant account of how one classic fairy tale has been continually reincarnated, \u003ci\u003eSecrets beyond the Door\u003c\/i\u003e will appeal to both literary scholars and general readers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMaria Tatar\u003c\/b\u003e is Dean for the Humanities in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales, Off with Their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eLustmord: Sexual Murder in Weimar Germany\u003c\/i\u003e (all Princeton).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50412813222162,"sku":"9780691127835","price":40.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_ccd9754e-263b-45f0-8535-efb01efd5268.jpg?v=1729329940","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/secrets-beyond-the-door-the-story-of-bluebeard-and-his-wives-9780691127835","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}