- "Seven winsome Wives, some fat some thin. Six of them were faithful but the seventh did him in."
- ―Bluebeard Family Crypt
Bluebeard's Wives are seven characters mentioned in the Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square.
Description[]
Biographies[]
There were a total of seven wives, these being;
- Penelope, died 1434
- Abigail, died 1435
- Anastasia, died 1436
- Prudence, died 1437
- Phoebe, died 1438
- Eugenia, died 1439
- Lucretia, who murdered Bluebeard in 1440. The date and cause of her death is unknown.
Each of the seven woman lived in the 15th century and married the wealthy nobleman yet hideous who was known as Bluebeard and went to live in his estate. For some unknown reasons, Penelope was murdered by Bluebeard and he chose to hide her corpse in a room of his estate. After this incident each of Bluebeard's following wives found themselves wandering into the room while their husband was away, only to find the corpse(s), be murdered by Bluebeard, and have their bodies hidden in the room as well.
All except for Bluebeard's seventh wife Lucretia in the year 1440, who reached out for help from her sister Anne and together they murdered Bluebeard before he could murder Lucretia. However at some point Lucretia herself died with the date of death having been unknown, and she was buried in the same crypt as her late-husband and his late-wives.
The Bluebeard family crypt found itself relocated to the Haunted Mansion's mausoleum and the ghosts of the murderer and his victims found themselves new residents of the Haunted Mansion; how this happened is unknown. It is possible that the crypt was purchased by a possible former owner of the Haunted Mansion and brought there. It is also possible that Bluebeard and/or his wives moved into the manor post-mortem and arranged to bring the crypt with them. A much less likely possibility is that it could have been found already on the mansion's grounds back in the 15th century, likely predating the mansion.
Origins[]
The characters originate from the French fairytale of Bluebeard (or Le Barbe Bleue in the Original French) with six of the wives being based on the deceased wives we are introduced to in the story, and the final being based on the story's protagonist.
Appearances[]
The Haunted Mansion[]
The crypt of Bluebeard and his wives appears within the exit for the Haunted Mansion at the Magic Kingdom. The tomb makes no mentions to Bluebeard's own murders however, only his death at the hands of his final bride.
Other Appearances[]
The crypt for the wives and for Bluebeard are on display
The Ghost Gallery[]
Bluebeard's wives are briefly referenced in the Ghost Gallery where it is said that their crypt was relocated to the Haunted Mansion in the 18th century by the pirate Captain Francis Xavier who was an admirer of their late-husband who in this story was a 15th century pirate captain.
Trivia[]
- The Wives are similar to Constance's husbands as they are both groups of deceased individuals who were murdered by their own spouse. Only Constance murdered for her husbands' money, while Bluebeard was already wealthy and murdered to keep his crimes a secret.
- The crypt's epitaphs are written in such a way that if someone reads it and has no knowledge of the source material, at first glance it might seem as if Lucretia was the villain rather then Bluebeard
- Bluebeard’s seventh wife shares a name with the staring bust known as Aunt Lucretia and his fourth with the poetess ghost Prudence Pock.
- In the original fairy tale, Lucretia has a sister named Anne who helps her figure out how to escape death. She also has two brothers who are the ones that ultimately wind up killing Bluebeard.