Bloody Chamber: Intertexual References

Bluebeard- The Myth

Bluebeard is a wealthy aristocrat who is shunned for his beard which is a strange colour of blue. This means his wealth is he only attraction and he wants a wife that he knows will obey him. He appeals to his neighbor to let him marry one of his daughters but neither want to until he asks the younger to his chateaux and hosts a banquet for her. They are married and she goes to live with him.
He announces he must leave but gives her a set of keys and while saying she has free range of the castle he stresses she must not go into a small room. She vows to agree but curiosity takes over and she enters the forbidden room to find her husband's former wives in various states of mutilation. She drops the key in the blood, a stain that she can't wash off and later reveals her betrayal. He threatens to behead her but she pleas for time to say her prayers and she is locked in a tower with her visiting sister. They are taken to the courtyard where she is to be beheaded only to be interrupted by her brothers who kill Bluebeard. She inherits and pays for her brothers to get good jobs, her sister to marry who she loved and for herself to remarry to a rich man.

Within Bloody Chamber- This provides the main story which Angela Carter has rewritten from a gothic perspective

Mark of Cain

The mark of Cain is symbolic of the bible where God cursed Cain for killing his brother and is supposed to enact vengeance seven-fold on anyone who hurts Cain.

Within Bloody Chamber- The mark that is placed on the narrators head by the key and exposes her betrayal

Catherine de Medici
(1519-1589)

Daughter of Lorenzo de Medici II and Queen of France after marrying Henry II. Her heirs and regency of France kept them in power during a time of civil war. She comes from a background of wealth and ruthlessness.

Within the Bloody Chamber- Named as a friend of the Marquis ancestors and shows opulence and wealth as well as a strong family background

Croesus

King of Lydia in 560-545 BC until defeated by the Persians. He is known for being extremely rich and in Greek culture his name became synonymous of wealth. He even distributed pure gold coins as currency. His demise came at his own misinterpretation of an oracle when he asked what would happen if he attacked the Persians and the answer was 'you will destroy a great empire'.
Within Bloody Chamber- Used to describe the Marquis

Tristan and Isolde
(opera) 

A tragedy based on the doomed love of Tristan (a knight), and Isolde (a princess).

Felicien Rops
(artist) 

A Belgian artist famous for his printmaking style and his nude models depicted in erotic scenes. He was greatly influenced by Baudelaire.

Huysmans’ Là-Bas(novel) 

Written by Joris-Karl Huysmans, and published in 1891 it deals with Satanism in fin-de-siecle France. It;s name translates to Down there or The Damned. It focuses on a man who studies the Middle Ages after becoming disillusioned with the modern world only to find Satanism is still practiced in France.

Grand Guignol 

A famous theatre in Paris that was open from 1897-1962 and was famous for specialising in naturalistic horror films.

Rape of the Sabines
An ancient Roman event dated to around 750BC where the first generation of Romans sought out wives by kidnapping and raping the neighbouring Sabine women.

St Cecilia

Patron Saint of musicians. Her name is supposedly derived from the latin word for 'blind'. She became a martyr after being struck in the neck three times with a sword and surviving for three days afterwards. It is also said despite being married she had an angel watching over her virginity.

Pandora’s box 

A greek legend that Pandora was given a box of all the world's evils. Despite being told not to unleash what was inside she opened the box and released all of the evil of the world leaving only hope inside.

Paul Poiret

French fashion designer at the beginning of the 20th Century who designed women's clothes. He is known for giving women freedom for the tight corset.