Catherine takes great pleasure in terrifying her elder sister Marie-Anne by reading her the infamous tale of "Bluebeard" until the poor girl is so frightened she bursts into tears. She also enjoys performing re-enactments of the fairy-tale in the role of Marie-Catherine, Bluebeard’s last wife. Although all of Bluebeard’s other wives are executed, she is the only one who escapes this fate, being the virgin princess about whose death Bluebeard prevaricates. His deliberation proves to be his downfall, and so it is the virginal Catherine who winds up in possession of the monster’s head, instead of the other way around.