"Bluebeard" (French: La Barbe bleue) is a French literary folktale, the most famous version remaining that written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in January 1697 in Histoires ou Contes du temps passé. The tale tells the story of a violent nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of one wife to avoid the fate of her predecessors. Gilles de Rais, a 15th-century aristocrat and prolific serial killer, has been suggested as the source for the character of Bluebeard, as has Conomor the Accursed, an early Breton king. "The White Dove", "Mister Fox" and "Fitcher's Bird" are tales similar to "Bluebeard".
Read more about Bluebeard: Plot Summary, Sources, Commentaries, Aarne-Thompson Classification, Bluebeard's Wives, Variations