He first takes them out on dates in a coach and six and marries them in a coach and twelve.
‘He made love in a coach and six, and married in a coach and twelve’
He then has his teeth filed sharp, a month and a day before the murder. He then tells her to make a pastry of a pie, if she doesn’t know how to make one he then teaches her. She asks him what is the filling to be.
‘Dear Captain Murderer I see no meat’
He replies
‘Look in the glass’
He chops of her head and puts her in the pie, he salts her, peppers her, and sends it to the bakers then eats it and picks the bones.
Captain Murderer follows the structure of a children’s story. This is interesting as the original idea came from Charles Dickens nurse who would make up stories for him as a child to help him sleep. She obviously borrowed her ideas from other stories as this one is similar to that of Blue Beard.
‘ And that day month, she rolled the pie crust out, and Captain Murderer cut her head off, and chopped her into pieces, and peppered her, and salted her, and put her in the pie, and sent it to the bakers, and ate it all, and picked the bones’
In the story of Blue Beard the main character marries one of a set of twin’s and also a spot of blood appears on his key. These are important points to take. Another interesting point to take is that one of the twins end up killing the husband.
The most successful element in this story surely must be the repetitive phrases which Dickens uses to engage the readers interest and to keep them interested.
In the story of Captain Murderer the dark and fair twins are loosely based on the twins in the Blue Beard and the story of Snow White and Red Rose. The meeting of twins is the beginning of the end for Captain Murderer.
‘Captain Murderer went on his way prospering exceedingly until he came to choose a bride from two twin sisters.’
Charles Dickens uses a typical dark and fair twin’s pair in a children’s story that’s based on the sister in Blue Beard.
Charles Dickens successfully shows the reader that Captain Murderer uses a sick ritual that gives him pleasure, the dark twin gets her revenge in this typical children’s story because good always wins evil.
Charles dickens uses lots of old style language throughout the story. It is old fashion because our language is now modernised.
‘Captain Murder’s mission was matrimony, and the gratification of a cannibal appetite with tender brides.’
In the story Charles Dickens uses language we no longer use. E.g. diabolical, matrimony and immense. This shows that the story was written in the 1800’s.
Charles Dickens successfully uses language to show that the story was written a long time ago.
The theme of this story is based on a murderer who follows his own ritual to kill and eat his wives. And then one sister of twins sacrifices her life for revenge.
‘Before she rolled out the paste she had taken a deadly poison of a most awful character.’
The twin is not a murderer, we feel that Captain Murderers death has been justified.
Charles Dickens successfully show the reader the moral of the story instantly at the brink of revenge with a typical children’s story moral that good wins over evil.
Dickens uses various details from this fairy tale genre to create this dark tale .however it is not simply a strong fairy tale.