Arguably, the alluring tale of “Beauty and the Beast” is perhaps one of the most romantic fairytales ever told. How has this wonderful, concocted amusement—filled with intrigue and come-hitherness—managed to sustain its audience for so long? Foremost, the title of the fairytale is stirring and enticing, painting a picturesque simile in the minds of those that are curious and alert, not unlike the designated heroine in the tale, Beauty. Too, the title suggests that the capacity to be beautiful is no more powerful than the stealthful, nefarious beast that lurks inside us all, making the theme of the tale as relevant today as it was in the 17th century. Further, when one digs deeper inside the nest of the tale, discovering the foreshadowed lining of “Beauty and the Beast,” the initial conundrum slowly becomes more gratuitous and substantial. Inquisitive onlookers will soon realize there is much more to “Beauty and the Beast” than the obvious facts and accessories in the tale. In the following response, my aim is to deconstruct—by comparing and contrasting—both the 1756 traditional French tale of “Beauty and the Beast,” written by Madame Leprince de Beaumont, and Disney’s more synthetic yet shrewdly animated version of the tale. However, more specifically, I intend to devote most of my reaction to “Beauty and the Beast” to the two title characters, with emphasis on the subtle yet noticeable changes in the character Beauty, as opposed to the more dynamic changes in the character of the Beast.
In Beaumont’s tale of “Beauty and the Beast,” the character of Beauty has all the traits a young lady should have. On the surface, Beauty is younger, prettier, and much nicer than her two older sisters are. Inwardly—where her sisters are unapp...
... middle of paper ...
...sney’s Beast is more constant with his behavior, remaining quick-tempered, hardheaded, and resentful throughout most of the movie, until Beauty makes him truly see how bitter and angry he has become. Furthermore, Disney’s Beast struggles with his own identity, fighting against both his gruesome outward appearance and the innermost man that he so desperately wants to be. At first, it becomes apparent to the viewer that Disney’s Beast has a difficult time controlling his rage, using his external prowess as the Beast to make Beauty feel threatened and unsafe, by both verbally abusing her with his aggressive shouts and intimidating her with his shocking presence. Because the once handsome prince was changed into a hideous monster for being unkind, he now allows his unpleasant persona as the Beast to control the man that lay underneath his gruff exterior.
In “The Biopower of Beauty: Humanitarian Imperialism and Global Feminism in an Age of Terror,” Mimi Thi Nguyen argues that beauty as a measure of moral character functions to regulate an individual. Nguyen explains that beauty promises to be redemptive and bring an individual from the outside in relation with the world(362). For example, the United States through nongoverenmental orgainizations (NGO’s), have promoted beauty to Afghanistan women because it is a way if liberating them from an uncivilized barbaric society that oppresses them to hide their beauty through the veil. According to Kant, the veil is considered ugly because it hides the body, which is associated with the erotic. Kant claims that beauty made visible is true and good, while the invisible is ugly and erotic (266). Nguyen claims using Kant that beauty is connected to morality because it makes visible what the “ugly” is trying to hide by providing a pathway in which beauty can improve ones life. Nguyen asserts that individuals use beauty as a serious of techniques to produce knowledge and emotions that function to portray the individual with dignity in comparison to the “ugly”. Thus, the use of beauty as an educational tool that measures their character is an important factor in teaching women to associate themselves with the rest of the world.
In “The Classic Fairy Tales” by Maria Tator and “Mad Shadows” by Marie-Claire Blais, both texts deal with the idea that suffering and understanding are deeply connected. The authors aim to prove that suffering and understanding go hand in hand in order for change to occur. In “The Classic Fairy Tales”, Beauty and the beast, Snow White and Cinderella, will explore the relation between understanding suffering via transformation, desire, and physical injuries, when compared and contrasted with Mad Shadows.
When examining Beauty and the Beast by Andrew Lang, from a feminist perspective, it is evident that the portrayal and treatment of women is dreadful. The story was written in 1889 where women were seen as objects that were solely there for men’s pleasure and although, for once, the woman is portrayed as the heroine and not a damsel in distress, the story still includes misogynistic elements. For instance, when the beast threatens the father, the two characters treat Beauty as if she is an object that can be traded. On top of that, a father, who is supposed to love their children and protect them, decides it is okay give away his daughter, so he could stay alive. To add, later on in the story, Beauty seeks advice from her father about her dreams and he says, "You tell me yourself that the Beast, frightful as he is, loves you dearly, and deserves
Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont’s take on “Beauty and the Beast” is a pretty simple story. A single merchant father of six kids loses his fortune. He meets the Beast when
In addition, this film explores a new way to love, breaking the trope of Disney’s traditional and antiquated love stories. Beauty and the Beast is not about love at first sight, but rather a more realistic representation of love, when two equal people learn to know and appreciate one another. As Charles Solomon explains in his insightful article "Animated Heroines Finally Get in Step With the Times” in the Los Angeles Times:
Connie can be labeled as an average teenage girl: vulnerable, carefree, desirous, and curious. She has just discovered the power of her own beauty, but hasn't yet realized that power, in any form, must be controlled. Connie has long, dark blond hair. She is petite and seems confident in her looks, yet "everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home" (par. 5). Connie loves to h...
If children or adults think of the great classical fairy tales today, be it Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella, they will think Walt Disney. Their first and perhaps lasting impression of these tales and others will have emanated from Disney film, book, or artefacts (Zipes 72)
...n” is a great example of an old myth or tale reconstructed and adapted for a modern audience in a new medium. It is a progression on one hand in its use of modern language, setting, and style but it is also the product of the old myths in that it is essentially the same on the thematic level. In addition, the level of self-awareness on the part of the narrator and, by extension, the author marks it out as an illustration of the very notion of evolutionary changes of myths and fairy tales. Adaptation is the solution to the fairy tale, and fairy tales have been endlessly changing themselves throughout history and, by some strange transforming or enchanting power endlessly staying the same.”
It is easily inferred that the narrator sees her mother as extremely beautiful. She even sits and thinks about it in class. She describes her mother s head as if it should be on a sixpence, (Kincaid 807). She stares at her mother s long neck and hair and glorifies virtually every feature. The narrator even makes reference to the fact that many women had loved her father, but he chose her regal mother. This heightens her mother s stature in the narrator s eyes. Through her thorough description of her mother s beauty, the narrator conveys her obsession with every detail of her mother. Although the narrator s adoration for her mother s physical appearance is vast, the longing to be like her and be with her is even greater.
Social factors have always encouraged the idea that men embody masculinity and women embody femininity and, thus, certain gender-norms are expected accordingly. In the past, such expectations were traditional and to go against them was frowned upon by the general public. Contemporarily speaking, there is more freedom to avail oneself of today than there was once upon a time. Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont’s fairytale adaptation of ‘Beauty and The Beast’ was published in 1740. During this time, men and women were compelled by the social conventions associated with their gender. When analyzing the literary work, the reader can grasp what gender roles are eminent in the characters identity and motives. By exploring the choice of language being
The tale of Sleeping Beauty is influenced by oral folklore and various written versions. Today fairytales are told as a domain for the entertainment and teachings of children. In traditional storytelling, peasants transmitted folklore orally around campfires to audiences of mixed ages. However, during the 17th century, peasant tales, such as Sleeping Beauty, were altered by writers like Charles Perrault’s, to appeal to the courts of aristocracy. Thus the characters of Sleeping Beauty adorned a courtly air to appeal to the crown, such as Louis XIV of France. Throughout history, various cultural influences transformed the tale of Sleeping Beauty through the manipulation of various social forces to achieve better entertainment purposes and reflect Christian beliefs and customs. In addition, the moral of the tale conveys a message that women remain passive in hope to marry her true lov...
The use of ‘wild’ in both Catherine and La Belle’s descriptions shows their similarity in nature. The similarities of their descriptions of a charming, appealing appearances compared with their saucy, wild natures demonstrate the comparison of conflict within these texts.
Some fairy tales are so iconic that they withstand the passing of time. One of those fairy tales is that of Cinderella. The rags to riches story that gives even the lowliest of paupers, hope that they may one day climb the social ladder. While the core message of the story has transcended time, over the years it has been adapted to address a variety of audiences. One of those renditions is Perrault’s Cinderella where the traditional idea of gender is conveyed and therefore associated with good/evil. This idea is challenged by a fellow 1600’s French author, L’heriter de Villandon’s, who’s version of Cinderella brings about a female protagonist who is also the heroine.
...e ability to achieve anything in life. Hopefully, readers would learn from this novel that beauty is not the most important aspect in life. Society today emphasizes the beauty of one's outer facade. The external appearance of a person is the first thing that is noticed. People should look for a person's inner beauty and love the person for the beauty inside. Beauty, a powerful aspect of life, can draw attention but at the same time it can hide things that one does not want disclosed. Beauty can be used in a variety of ways to affect one's status in culture, politics, and society. Beauty most certainly should not be used to excuse punishment for bad deeds. Beauty is associated with goodness, but that it is not always the case. This story describes how the external attractiveness of a person can influence people's behavior and can corrupt their inner beauty.
Beauty and the Beast is probably one of the most well known fairy tales that the Grimms’ reproduced. In it’s original form it was a long, drawn out story that was catered to adults. The Grimms’ changed the story to be more understood by children and made it short and to the point. Unlike many of the other fairy tales that they reproduced, Beauty and the Beast contains many subtle symbols in its purest form. It shows a girl and how she transfers to a woman; it also shows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The one major thing that separates this story from all the rest is that Beauty gets to know the Beast before marrying him.