The Blue Bird

L'Oiseau bleu · published 1908 · ISBN 9781412166898

Maurice Maeterlinck — Maurice Maeterlinck (1862 – 1949) — Belgium, writing in French. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911.

“in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, distinguished by imagination and poetic fancy” — The Nobel Committee citation

About Maurice Maeterlinck

Belgian poet, playwright and essayist writing in French, and a major figure in Symbolism. His stage places ordinary people before unseen forces such as fate, death, love and the mystery of consciousness.

How it came to be

The six-act fairy play premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1908 under Konstantin Stanislavski. Its international success carried Maeterlinck’s Symbolism to a wide audience through theatre, film, opera and children’s editions.

What The Blue Bird is about

On Christmas Eve the poor children Tyltyl and Mytyl are sent by the fairy Bérylune to find the Blue Bird of Happiness. A magic diamond reveals the souls of Fire, Water, Bread, the Dog and the Cat. They cross the Land of Memory, Palace of Night, Forest and Kingdom of the Future before returning home to discover how near their object had always been.

Analysis & legacy

The search is a philosophical journey in fairy-tale form. Each location embodies a way of confronting time: the dead live when remembered, terrors grow in darkness, and future children wait with their inventions and destinies. The Blue Bird changes colour or escapes because happiness is not a fixed possession. Back in the same small house, Tyltyl sees familiar things with altered eyes—a simple ending that is not simplistic.

Themes: Happiness · Memory · Childhood · Vision and perception · Symbolism and fairy tale

Rating: 3.5/5 from 2 ratings (Open Library).

What critics say

• The complete English translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos is available to read freely. — Project Gutenberg, Ebook #8606

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