Absence, Violence, and Desire: Derrida, Girard, and Blue Beard’s Justice

The story of Blue Beard has horrified and fascinated people for centuries, but its most common interpretation is called into question in this chapter. Traditionally read as a cautionary tale about curiosity—especially female curiosity—the chapter applies Girardian and Derridean critiques to the problem of desire in the story to shift its focus onto an underlying cause for the violence inherent in the story. Ultimately culminating in an analysis of Malorie Blackman’s reinterpretation of the grim tale, Blueblood.