Horror and Heroines

Element of horror: Well, I guess you could say there is the before and the after.  Before, there is certain horror of marrying a man with a blue beard, whose wives have all mysteriously disappeared.  This element of fear creates a vision of this malicious character.  Even for the bearded old man that dressed up, knocked on peoples' doors and stole their daughters, he is a frightening feature, also.  But does it move the plot on?  No.  But it is imperative that he is vulgarized in some way.  Next, and most obviously is the horror in the dismemberment of his wives.  Blood and gore and guts all over the place.  Does it move the plot on?  Yeah, kind of.  It reveals why Bluebeard is as malicious a character as he is, and sets the stage for the escape/outwitting.

As a fan of Margaret Atwood, I must choose her heroine, Sally, as the topic of discussion.  (Anyone else that's read Atwood notice her obsession with fantastical plots and affairs?)  This girl is the meaning of cleverness and has a mean superiority complex, proven by the name she gives to her husband ("Edward Bear of Little Brain," a man with a particularly annoying "brand of stupidity" that only one wittier can prescribe to another).  After all, "Sally isn't a nothing;" she is mentally quick and hard-headed, and very philosophical.