Sometimes sassy, always clever (Q2)

Depending on what I was thinking about beforehand (Tartar's interpretation, what my snack will be tonight, etc...) I am able to see the female role in "Bluebeard" stories as either as a celebration of self-preservation and cleverness or as a disobedient female. But, specifically in The Grimm Brothers' "The Robber Bridegroom," I see the girl, whom I will henceforth call Sally (as an homage to the name sassy Sally, a title which any girl who can stomach having a severed finger fall in her lap and then carry it home to convict her fiance obviously deserves) as a celebration of self preservation and cleverness.

Sally is framed as a girl who, if she is not actually smart, at least has good instincts. Even though the suitor passed the "parent test", Sally still "didn't care for him as a girl should care for her betrothed, and she didn't trust him." Sally is clever enough to know something just isn't quite right with Buffalo Bluebeard (Silence of the Lambs reference; lets see if this theme resurfaces in post number 2 (Q1)). Sally also "made excuses and claimed she couldn't find the way" to Bluebeard's house, trying everything she had at her disposal to try and get out of this. When all of her efforts don't work and she is forced to go visit anyway, Sally again makes a great move towards self-preservation by being inspired to take peas and lentils with her to mark her way. She is luckier than Hansel and Gretel, because instead of birds eating these tasty morsels they sprout in the interim to lead her home. While Sally cannot exactly be credited with being clever here, because she did this "without knowing why," she still gets points for self-preservation.

I don't fault Sally for not taking the caged bird's warning at face value and running away. If I ever get a parrot, that phrase will be one of the first things I teach it to say. What impresses me most about the whole story is her ability to play it cool when the robbers come in. Again, it does not display her cleverness, but it does showcase her obvious black belt in self-preservation. The old woman tells her to hide and she does what she is told, ducking behind a big barrel. Would I have found her? Yes. But she isn't working with much (remember how empty the castle is) and I am excellent at hide-and-seek. Once behind the barrel, Sally is told "Don't stir and don't move or it'll be the end of you," and for once in fairy tales, Sally is able to do as she is told. So much so that even after she has sat in silent horror as she watched the robbers drug, strip, dismember, and salt one of her less-clever classmates she is still undetected. Even when a dismembered finger complete with the best cracker-jack prize ring ever falls into her lap, she can keep quiet.

Sally escapes, mostly from the fact that she is lucky enough to be Irish as far as I can tell. When her ax-murderer fiance arrives to celebrate the wedding, she entertains him by talking about her "dream." But clever Sally really just retells her experience at the bachelor pad. Sally is apparently as clever as Hamlet, and Hamlet is regarded as a pretty clever guy. She catches him by monitoring his reaction, the robber "turned white as a ghost while she was telling the story." Bingo-bango, clever Sally has all the evidence she needs to get Bluebeard locked up and passed off to the proper authorities.

Is Sally touted as clever from the beginning because of how well she does in spelling bees? Not exactly. But when you look at how she handles herself throughout the tale, it is pretty obvious that Sally is presented as clever and concerned with her self-preservation. And like all good stories, it ends in a public execution.


Song of the Blog "Heartless," by Kayne West. I'll bet Bluebeard feels this way about Sally.