Project Gutenberg 2014-01-01 Public domain in the USA. 142 Cruikshank, George 1792 1878 Cruickshank, George The Wonderful Story of Blue Beard, and His Last Wife Produced by Chris Curnow, Chris Whitehead and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) "The Wonderful Story of Blue Beard, and His Last Wife" by George Cruikshank is a darkly whimsical tale likely written in the early 19th century. This book is a story rooted in the folklore and fairy tale tradition, exploring themes of curiosity and consequence. The narrative revolves around the enigmatic character of Blue Beard, a wealthy nobleman with a shocking physical trait: his blue beard, which renders him both feared and shunned by women. The story follows the younger of two sisters who, after being courted by Blue Beard and marrying him despite her initial fears, is given the keys to his castle with strict instructions not to enter a forbidden chamber. Overcome by curiosity, she eventually opens the door only to discover the horrifying truth about Blue Beard's previous wives. This revelation puts her life at risk when he returns unexpectedly and demands the key. The climax sees her narrowly escaping death thanks to the timely arrival of her brothers, leading to a subsequent realization of the importance of fidelity and virtue. Following Blue Beard’s defeat, Fatima, the young wife, chooses to use her newfound power and wealth to improve the lives of those around her, transforming her initial misfortune into a blessing for the poor. (This is an automatically generated summary.) file:///public/vhost/g/gutenberg/html/files/44558/44558-h/images/cover.jpg Reading ease score: 63.1 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Fairy tales Bluebeard (Legendary character) -- Juvenile fiction Curiosity -- Juvenile fiction PZ Text Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore Category: British Literature 64475 2025-08-18T05:23:54.455219 text/html 39748 2024-10-23T21:50:29 text/html 1037060 2025-08-18T05:23:56.978190 application/epub+zip 1035464 2025-08-18T05:23:55.204255 application/epub+zip 91131 2025-08-18T05:23:54.797213 application/epub+zip 1069917 2025-08-18T05:23:58.448289 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1058144 2025-08-18T05:23:56.618214 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 118230 2022-09-20T10:15:55.070371 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 47604 2025-08-18T05:23:54.246217 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 27659 2024-10-23T21:50:29 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17045 2025-08-18T05:23:58.601183 application/rdf+xml 31903 2025-08-18T05:23:54.906222 image/jpeg 4639 2025-08-18T05:23:54.850226 image/jpeg 1007953 2025-08-18T05:23:54.517252 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia