Duke Bluebeard's Castle (Hungarian: A kékszakállú herceg vára) is a one-act Hungarian opera composed by Béla Bartók and written by Béla Balázs in 1911. The opera was first performed on May 24, 1918. Based on the tale of Bluebeard, the man who successively murdered his wives and kept the secret locked away, the opera is heavy on symbolism and exudes a dreamlike quality, best exemplified by the opening, which asks the viewer whether the ensuing drama is in the physical realm or of the mind.
The opera begins with Bluebeard's latest wife, Judith, entering his gloomy castle. Wanting to both brighten it and discover his secrets, she coerces him into giving her the keys for seven successive doors of the castle. As Judith unlocks doors and learns more about her husband, she finds that behind each door lays a realm of terror or awe, which often overlap. But once the seventh and final door's contents are opened, there's no turning back for either of them.
This opera contains examples of:
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: The original fairy tale ended happily, with Bluebeard's wife exposing his crimes and being saved from death herself. Here, Judith is made to join his wives in the darkness.
- Adaptational Sympathy: Depending on the director, Bluebeard can be seen as a man who, while proud of his wealth, feels extreme guilt at the lengths he went to get it, particularly at the sixth door's lake of tears. Either way, he's a much more rounded character than the wife-murderer of the original tale.
- Alternate Show Interpretation: Alternate takes on this opera are legendary, from a production where Judith's opening of the doors represents her journey to remember things lost to dementia, to a production where she's a private detective investigating Bluebeard.
- Ambiguous Time Period: The show intentionally has no specified time or place in the notes, letting directors interpret it however and whenever they wish.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Judith desires to know the entire truth about Bluebeard, and the final door seals her fate by showing her what became of Bluebeard's other wives, and having her join their number.
- The Bluebeard: Initially Judith dismisses the rumors that Bluebeard killed his previous wives, but as she opens more and more doors she begins to suspect him of this.
- Book Ends: The opera begins with Bluebeard alone in the darkness, and ends on the same note as Judith joins his other wives.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Each of the seven doors has a mood-appropriate color as it's opened and fills the halls. The torture chamber has red light, the armory is yellowish-red, the treasury is golden, the garden is bluish-green, the tracts of land are bright white and blue, the sixth door's pool of tears decreases the amount of light, and the seventh and final door where the wives are kept is silver.
- Death and the Maiden: One interpretation of the show paints Bluebeard as Death and Judith as a Persephone-like figure, best exemplified by the ending where she becomes his wife of the night.
- Genius Loci: The castle itself is treated as a character in the opera notes, and each facet of it reveals something about its master. Additionally, Judith mentions it sighs, bleeds, and cries green tears.
- The Ghost: Judith's parents, brother, and former fiance are mentioned, but never seen.
- Hope Spot: The opening of the fifth door and its aftermath suggest a happy resolution, as Bluebeard's castle has been fully brightened and he asks Judith to stop and come to bed with him. Instead, Judith keeps going and opens the last two doors, and the tale ends in darkness.
- Mental World: The castle is generally held to represent Bluebeard's mind/soul, as it's not strictly in the physical realm, each room reveals something about Bluebeard, and is heavy on symbolism.
- Minimalist Cast: The opera is notable for its extremely small cast; Bluebeard and Judith are the only singing roles aside from a short recitation at the beginning, and three roles at the very end are completely silent.
- Not His Sled: The fairy tale ended with Bluebeard's wives very much dead while his latest wife escapes, while here they're ambiguously alive and Judith joins their number.
- Point of No Return: Bluebeard gives Judith several chances to stop, including at the very start and after the sixth door, but once the seventh door is opened her fate is sealed.
- Rule of Symbolism: The entire show is heavy on symbols, the most obvious being the doors behind which lay facets of Bluebeard's past and personality. The motif of light is another obvious one, as Judith "sheds light" on who Bluebeard is as she brightens his castle.
- Runaway Fiancé: Judith abandoned her family and betrothed to marry Bluebeard and come to his castle. Bluebeard notes that her family isn't pleased with what happened and are gunning for him, but she's adamant she made the right choice.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Sort of. Whether Bluebeard's wives are truly alive, living effigies, or dead depends on the production, but either way they're not 'alive' in the way he and Judith are.
- Top Wife: While Bluebeard loves all his wives in their own ways, he praises Judith as the best of them all.
- Truer to the Text: Some productions change the ending to have Judith and the other women escape Bluebeard, making it closer to the original fairy tale.
- Wham Line: Judith realizes how deeply she messed up when Bluebeard, after talking about how he met his three previous wives, begins to describe his fourth wife.
