Bluebeard's Egg

Universidad Simon Bolívar
El mundo de la literatura en ingles IDE-143
Prof. Heather Minford





















Discuss the differences between Bluebeard’s Egg and the other stories we have read to date. ( Discuss your answer with references to the texts.)






















Roshanak Hannani 08-10519
06/12/11

Bluebeard’s Egg is the onlystory set in the American continent that we have studied during the course of this class and it’s also one of the few tales that is written by someone who’s first language is English. It was written by Margaret Atwood, a Canadian author that has one won many awards for her talents, especially when it comes to writing fiction.
We can say that the story is set in modern times since the women in ithave jobs and are fairly independent; as oppose to some of the other tales and also it deals with a topic that hasn’t necessarily been seen in the other stories. Most of those other texts discuss the problems of race and religion whereas Atwood debates mainly about the politics of human relationships and emotions.
Sally is the main lead in Atwood’s tale and she narrates the whole story using a lotof inner monologue to reference many things from her past experiences and her thoughts in general. The story in itself develops while she is preparing for a dinner party and ends that same night when she goes to bed. Throughout the narrative, Sally describes what her married life is like and her social life as well. The other two main characters are Edward, her husband, and Marylynn, her bestfriend.
For example, “Watching his bent back with its frayed, poignant lettering, Sally dissolves […]. My darling Edward, she thinks. Edward Bear, of little brain. How I love you […]”.
This particular paragraph begins with Sally describing her feelings for Ed and then it shows a sort of conversation with herself about her husband, whom she adores.
If we compare this story to Return toParadise, we find many differences. Aside from the fact that Cicely Waite-Smith’s tale is a play, there’s also a variation in the way it’s narrated. It’s easy to understand the feelings of each of the characters, whereas in Bluebeard’s Egg, the reader is only given Sally’s opinions or what she chooses to share about the other people in her life.
“ANNIE: The truth is, Missis, I really needs the work. Istronger that I look, Missis, I can still work good.
MRS. ROGERS: Yes, I’m sure you can. But I just don’t need anybody.”
This excerpt is a great example of what both of the women are feeling, as it’s required from a play. There’s also the fact that Annie, who’s the main character in Return to Paradise, is an uneducated woman or at least with very little education while Sally is clearly veryintelligent and in fact always talks about the various classes she takes.
In The Two Grandmothers, there’s a significant similarity because the reader can only perceive the thoughts of the storyteller (the girl who’s writing the letter) and even though it’s written as a letter to someone else, it becomes more of a stream of consciousness as well.
“Mummy, do you know that Grandma sends me to SundaySchool? We stay over for big church and I walk home with her and all the people, it’s so nice.”
Another similarity is that at the beginning both female characters feel a certain way about their world and then as the stories progresses both of their perceptions completely change. In Olive Senior’s text, this change probably develops due to the fact that the girl grows up and therefore the worldbecomes different to her; what use to be fun becomes boring and the people she befriended no longer matter to her. When it to comes to Sally, the change it’s most likely because she was lying to herself the whole time. She thinks her husband is stupid but then she realizes that he may be cunning and manipulative. However, she’s very afraid to find the truth because she is very insecure about...