Act I
Country girl Fleurette is in love with the shepherd boy Saphir. But as we will soon find out, Fleurette is in reality the Princess Hermia, abandoned in infancy and taken in by kind shepherds. And Saphir is also a prince, in disguise because he loves Fleurette. Boulotte is another country girl who pursues Saphir determinedly.
Meanwhile, the King’s son is unsuitable to rule, so the King has suddenly remembered his long-abandoned daughter and asks his minister Oscar to find her. Oscar manages to find Hermia in her life as Fleurette and brings her to her parents.
Boulotte has won a village lottery, and Knight Bluebeard’s alchemist Popolani has decided to bring her to be his superior’s fifth wife. Popolani was also charged with the poisoning of Bluebeard’s previous wives, and appears to work at the bidding of his master.
Act II
Tableau 1
Reunited with her royal parents, Hermia resists their attempts to arrange a fortuitous marriage for her, but is delighted to find out that her intended is Prince Saphir, the very same Saphir who was her shepherd boy.
Tableau 2
Bluebeard has quickly grown tired of Boulotte and has set his sites on Hermia. He tells Popolani to prepare the usual anti-wife potion and to poison Boulotte. But Popolani has not actually been poisoning Bluebeard’s wives – he merely gave them a potion that put them into a restful sleep. Boulotte wakes up and leads all the wives in a feminist march towards the palace.
Act III
As Saphir and Hermia are to be united in marriage, Bluebeard bursts into the palace and announces the “tragic death” of his latest wife, Boulotte. He snatches Hermia and attacks Saphir. Suddenly Boulotte and the other former wives burst in, very much alive, to reveal Bluebeard’s crimes.