Bluebeard's Legacy: Death and Secrets from Bartok to Hitchcock (New Encounters: Arts, Cultures, Concepts)

The tale of the serial wife-murderer Bluebeard, his defiant, and surviving, final wife, a bloodied key and a secret chamber of horrors, has fascinated writers, composers, artists and film-makers throughout modern times. It is a unique story that dares to disclose and explore masculine violence: the homme fatal.This transdisciplinary book explores the deep appeal of the Bluebeard story for twentieth-century culture. Its major focus is how the modernist imagination used the elements of Bluebeard’s tale to explore masculinity’s anxieties in the face of the emerging demands of women for redefinition and sexual equality: anxieties also of ethnic and cultural difference, and fundamental disquiet about sexuality, pathology and violence in the masculine.Starting with investigations into Bartók’s opera 'Duke Bluebeard’s Castle', major cultural thinkers, including Elisabeth Bronfen, Ian Christie, Griselda Pollock and Maria Tatar, trace Bluebeard’s evolution from Perrault in the seventeenth century to the cinematic hommes fatals of Méliès, Fritz Lang and Hitchcock. The result is an intriguing kaleidoscope of sexuality, curiosity, violence and death. Contents......Page 6 List of Illustrations......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Series Preface--New Encounters: Arts, Cultures, Concepts -- Griselda Pollock......Page 14 Preface -- Griselda Pollock......Page 22 Introduction: A Perrault in Wolf's Clothing -- Victoria Anderson......Page 34 1. Bluebeard's Curse: Repetition and Improvisational Energy in the Bluebeard Tale -- Maria Tatar......Page 46 2. Bluebeard, Hero of Modernity: Tales at the Fin de Siècle -- Mererid Puw Davies......Page 62 3. Béla Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle: A Musicological Perspective -- David Cooper......Page 84 4. A Tale of an Eye: Revealing the Jew in Duke Bluebeard's Castle -- Victoria Anderson......Page 102 5. Hidden Debates Under a Baroque Surface: Barbe-bleue by George Méliès (1901) -- Michael Hiltbrunner......Page 118 6. Hommes Fatals: Murder, Pathology and Hollywood's Bluebeards -- Griselda Pollock......Page 130 7. The Enigma of Homecoming: Secret Beyond the Door --Film Noir's Celebration of Domestic Anxiety -- Elisabeth Bronfen......Page 164 8. Dying for Art: Michael Powell's Journey Towards Duke Bluebeard's Castle and the Filmic Art-Work of the Future -- Ian Christie......Page 206 Notes......Page 232 Bibliography......Page 256 List of Contributors......Page 268 Index......Page 272 The tale of the serial wife-murderer Bluebeard, his defiant, and surviving, final wife, a bloodied key and a secret chamber of horrors, has fascinated writers, composers, artists and film-makers throughout modern times. It is a unique story that dares to disclose and explore masculine violence: the homme fatal. This transdisciplinary work identifies the deep appeal of the Bluebeard story for twentieth-century culture. Its major focus is on how the modernist imagination used the elements of Bluebeard's tale to explore masculinity's anxieties in the face of the emerging demands of women for redefinition and sexual equality, as well as anxieties of ethnic and cultural difference. It also examines fundamental disquiet about sexuality, pathology and violence in the masculine. With chapters by Maria Tatar, Elisabeth Bronfen, Mererid Puw Davies, Ian Christie, David Cooper, Michael Hiltbrunner and the editors, the volume undertakes cultural, contextual and musicological analyses of Bartók's opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle, tracing Bluebeard's evolution from Perrault in the seventeenth century to the cinematic hommes fatals of Méliès, Fritz Lang and Hitchcock. The result is an intriguing kaleidoscope of sexuality, curiosity, violence and death. The tale of the serial wife-murderer Bluebeard, his defiant, and surviving, final wife, a bloodied key and a secret chamber of horrors, has fascinated writers, composers, artists and film-makers throughout modern times. It is a unique story that dares to disclose and explore masculine the homme fatal. This transdisciplinary book explores the deep appeal of the Bluebeard story for twentieth-century culture. Its major focus is how the modernist imagination used the elements of Bluebeards tale to explore masculinitys anxieties in the face of the emerging demands of women for redefinition and sexual anxieties also of ethnic and cultural difference, and fundamental disquiet about sexuality, pathology and violence in the masculine. Starting with investigations into Bartks opera 'Duke Bluebeards Castle', major cultural thinkers, including Elisabeth Bronfen, Ian Christie, Griselda Pollock and Maria Tatar, trace Bluebeards evolution from Perrault in the seventeenth century to the cinematic hommes fatals of Mlis, Fritz Lang and Hitchcock. The result is an intriguing kaleidoscope of sexuality, curiosity, violence and death. Bluebeard's Curse : Repetition And Improvisational Energy In The Bluebeard Tale / Maria Tatar -- Bluebeard, Hero Of Modernity : Tales At The Fin De Siècle / Mererid Puw Davies -- Béla Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle : A Musicological Perspective / David Cooper -- A Tale Of An Eye : Revealing The Jew In Duke Bluebeard's Castle / Victoria Anderson -- Hidden Debates Under A Baroque Surface : Barbe-bleue By Georges Méliès (1901) / Michael Hiltbrunner -- Hommes Fatals : Murder, Pathology And Hollywood's Bluebeards / Griselda Pollock -- The Enigma Of Homecoming : Secret Beyond The Door--film Noir's Celebration Of Domestic Anxiety / Elisabeth Bronfen -- Dying For Art : Michael Powell's Journey Towards Duke Bluebeard's Castle And The Filmis Art-work Of The Future / Ian Christie. Edited By Griselda Pollock And Victoria Anderson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [225]-236) And Index. The tale of the serial wife-murderer Bluebeard, his defiant, and surviving, final wife, a bloodied key and a secret chamber of horrors, has fascinated writers, composers, artists and film-makers throughout modern times. It is a unique story that dares to disclose and explore masculine violence: the homme fatal. This transdisciplinary book explores the deep appeal of the Bluebeard story for twentieth-century culture. Its major focus is how the modernist imagination used the elements of Bluebeard's tale to explore masculinity's anxieties in the face of the emerging demands of women for redefinition and sexual equality: anxieties also of ethnic and cultural difference, and fundamental disquiet about sexuality, pathology and violence in the masculine.-- Publisher's description Explores the deep appeal of the Bluebeard story for twentieth-century culture. This book focuses how the modernist imagination used the elements of Bluebeard's tale to explore masculinity's anxieties in the face of the emerging demands of women for redefinition and sexual equality.