Summary of Bluebeard

One upon time a very powerful lord with many riches lived in France; his name was Bluebeard this was a nickname he had because of his black beard with blue. He was handsome and charming but he made some people feel uneasy.  

He often went away to war and left his wife in charge of his castle, he had many wives, unfortunately hey had all died and so he had to keep remarrying. Someone asked him how his wives died and he told them of varies diseases and ailments, he had buried them in the castle chapel. Bluebeard had to leave his new wife to go away but said she could do whatever she pleased, he gave her a bunch of keys which open all the doors in the castle but he had forbidden her to use one of the keys.

After few days his wife began to wonder why she should not enter that room, so she went in out of sheer curiosity and found hanging bodies of Bluebeard’s dead wives. She then noticed the small key was stained with blood but no matter how much she washed it, it would not come clean. Bluebeard returned, When she gave him back the keys he was infuriated as to why the key was stained with blood and accuses her of entering the room he had forbidden her from going in. He said he would have to kill her immediately but she begged for another 10 minutes and went to visit her Sister Anna asking for her brothers. Before she could arrange anything Bluebeard came and fetched her dragging her by the hair holding knife. He was about to kill his wife when her brothers show up and rescue her they catch and kill Bluebeard. His other wives were buried and the girl remarried to a good man, she completely lost her sense of curiosity. 

Presentation of the creature in chapter two

Our first presentation of the creature from Frankenstein's narrative is negative from the outset, as Frankenstein describes even the setting of the creature as 'terrifically desolate' this creates a sense of fear about the creature from the outset as it associates him to his setting 'desolate' empty and bare. When the creature is visible to Frankenstein he is described as 'the figure of a man' this immediately places the creature outside of mankind as 'figure' suggests he has the appearance and stature of a man but is not a man, this isolation of the creature displays him as typically Gothic, where he is isolated to himself and alone in his setting. Frankenstein also describes the creature to have 'superhuman speed' creating the image of him being of higher power than man and more than human in physicality, this also shows that even before any contact with the creature Frankenstein immediately judges him for his physical appearance, giving negative connotations to the creature from the outset 'too horrible for human eyes'. The first things Frankenstein says to the creature is 'Devil' which creates a very negative idea of the creature and again displaces him to something awful and inhuman, he also later refers to him as 'Daemon' building on the negative connotations to the creature. The most striking feature of the presentation of the creature in chapter two is that the creatures reaction to all of this negativity and build up of fear, is to retaliate with reason. 

 

'I expected this reception' this completely contradicts what you would think of the creatures reaction, this reason and intelligence of his first words to Frankenstein suggests that he is already one step ahead of him and despite him knowing he is of higher stature and bigger physical presence, he continues to almost allow Frankenstein to calm down and use his own method of reason. The creature presents himself to Frankenstein as the authority with the use of his archaic language 'thy creature to whom thou art bound' this creates a clear sense of authority and order and presents the creature as rational against his creator who responds with threat and aggression. 'My rage was without bounds' this seems to only heighten the creature in comparison to Frankenstein as he is the one who resorts to violence, which lowers him compared to the creatures reasoning values 'you accuse me of murder.. yet you would with a satisfied conscience destroy your own creature' from our impression of Frankenstein so far I think this shows the creatures sly ways to get round his creators plan to destroy him, as secretly he sees that his passion for what he has produced is too great possibly showing the reader the first glimpse of the creature as a sly and deceptive character. 

The creature is extremely clever in the way that he adheres to Frankenstein's values of reason, order and pride in this achievement, which allows us as an audience to have some positivity toward the creature as in this instance he shows Frankenstein kindness by not reacting and showing intellect and an offering of peace, rather than violence, however alternatively I feel there is a glimpse of deception as the creature is trying to reason with Frankenstein to get what he wants, although at this point he seems to be succeeding, this could be a front as clearly he is trying to argue for his own life.