Bluebeard and us

In these two essays, the author’s goal is to define the underlying drama at the backbone and roots of the various Bluebeard stories. These themes; subtly expressed in Perrault’s tale, come to our attention more insistently in Gustave Doré’s illustrations for it, and also arise in the story of a psychoanalysis today. Doré’s engravings reveal what Perrault merely hinted at in print, with his fairytale associated with reassuring “morals” for young readers. Analyst Christian Gaillard draws on certain passages from Jung’s Memories and on one of his earlier essays: “Jung, Picasso, and the Color Blue” to show that the tale is actually that of a nekyia, or journey to the underworld, a life-threatening adventure. The analyst goes on to describe how a young woman of today managed to resituate herself in her story by engaging in what he calls “the four dimensions of an analysis”: the flow of life through an analysis, the reliving of childhood, the transformations of imaginary and symbolic life, and the experience and analysis of the transference relationship.