Beauty And The Beast Stereotypes

In my RIP Project, I wrote an unique version of the fairytale “Beauty and the Beast” by Jeanne-Marie Leprince De Beaumont. The overall arch of the tale is the same as it ends in a “happily ever after”; however, the plot, message, characterization, setting, and tone are different as I import aspects from other fairytales such as Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. Especially since my tale has a more mature message than just a simple moral, it is directed towards a different age group, adults who are interested in social issues. By having this underlying message, it not only addresses the societal concerns but also criticize the gender norms that are “set” in stone because change is scary. However, in reality, change is actually necessary

for the good or bad in order for society to progress as it challenge its own flaws rather than overlooking them. Through my fairytale, I will be bringing this issue into the light and advocate for change, to be able to eliminate gender stereotypes.

I want people to see past the differences and treat others with respect, as individuals, as equals. In my fairytale, I will put the story mainly in the Beast’s point of view to exemplify how the feminist perception can be applied on males as well as I will counter three gender stereotypes: dominance, animalistic behavior, and power.

The concept of dominance is prominent in the story as both protagonists, the prince and the young maiden experience the sense of being in power. The characterization of the Beast is similar to the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. In the beginning of the tale, the Beast acted as the dominant and manipulative character, which is similar to the wolf. He ends up raping a woman, which demonstrates how he takes advantage of Beauty in order to satisfy his sexual desires. I purposefully set in the medieval era, particularly in 18th century France, in which the brutality that the characters face is emphasized upon, in order to address the extremes that people can take, especially when it comes to being dominant. It was one of the shared characteristic among French fairytales according to Robert Darnton in order to expose the cold, hard truth rather than

sugarcoating with censored imagery. The rape scene not only impose graphic imagery but also underscore the dominance that the Beast has. However, Beauty attempts to rebel, but fails to because of how overpowering Beast can be. But Beauty isn’t the ordinary Cinderella/Beauty character. Beauty actually decides to take vengeance rather than being virtuous, which is a twist in character, in order to punish the Beast and make him miserable. When Beauty succeeds with her vengeance, she takes the upper hand as she was able to have the Beast leave his position as prince. Especially when she takes over the household in Beast’s castle later on, she also takes advantage of the Beast by making him to do what she wants. In the plot twist, we see the switch in roles in order to demonstrate how personality is not influenced by gender, but by decisions. The choices they made due to their personalities affect the plot of the story. Their choices has their consequences as shown from the punishment, which helps carry the plot forward. The epiphanies that Beauty and Beast have when karma hits are their recognition of their actions and true nature. Especially when Beast can see his old self in Beauty when she takes advantage of him, it comes to show how these stereotypes should not be gendered as anybody is capable of behaving this way. Thus, gender roles are not defined under certain stereotypes as shown through the reversal in roles.
Another motif that is prevalent in the tale is the animalistic behavior that is portrayed by the protagonists in the story. I named the character “Beast” to further exemplify his animalistic and savage nature. Because the Beast acts animalistic, I want to represent this side by talking about how he is seen as a predator, searching for women to prey upon to satisfy his lust. Especially since he forces Beauty to come to bed, the brute force emphasizes that animalistic behavior. The sexual desires that overcome the Beast also show that his instincts take over his rationality as he doesn’t realize what he has done until later on. By considering him as a wolf, he is two-sided in the sense that people believe he is a good natured person but in actuality dominant and manipulative. However, his changed appearance brings in the irony in which the Beast ends up being obedient to Beauty even though he is a monster. This demonstrates that looks can be deceiving. Especially when these characters have their bad sides, they conceal themselves with their looks and class like the good looking prince. Despite his looks as the beast, his animalistic behavior is not apparent but his friendly self. However, despite of being monster on the outside, he is still humane in the sense that he can get hurt. I demonstrated this by using a rose with thorns as a symbol. When Beast is hurt by the thorn, it demonstrates that he can be hurt both emotionally and physically by love. I purposefully used this concept from Oscar Wilde’s “The Nightingale and the Rose” in order to illustrate that love hurts, human or not. Moreover, I was able to counter this animalistic gender stereotype through symbolism. The mirror was used represent the realizations that both characters have as they look into their souls. Despite their differences in gender, the animalistic side was apparent in both characters. By looking into the mirror, they can see their own reflection, the side that they haven’t seen before: the animalistic side that took over and innocuously inflict harm on others.
Lastly, the power struggle is illustrated in the tale between Beast and Beauty.

Another theme is class in which the class struggle is between the upper and lower class. The class represents the rank in society, which emphasizes on the idea of power struggle. In the tale, Beast was the prince while Beauty was the young maiden. I purposely placed Beast under higher ranking because he was male and his employment opportunities are better compared to Beauty. As the prince, he was treated with such royalty because of his status. In essence, he has the freedom to do whatever he likes. However, in Beauty’s situation, she couldn’t do the same because of her class background. Beauty’s character is similar to Cinderella in which she is under domestic servitude as she is a lower class woman. I gave Beauty the role as a maiden because it was one of the traditional gender role back in the days. It was also a role that demonstrates the concept of submission that I want to eliminate. The social injustice is clearly represented when Beast and Beauty were treated differently due to their social standings. The power struggle between Beast and Beauty also relates to Perrault’s “Donkeyskin” where the king abuses his power to have an arranged marriage with the princess. I was able to counter the stereotype by introducing that switch in role which shows how gender doesn’t influence status. After they realized their faults and learned how much they have in common, they were able to understand

each on a deeper level. They were able to set aside their differences, class status, and reach a mutual understanding. The falling action of this scene demonstrates how people are all the same on the inside despite their differences.
Upon writing my RIP project, I examined societal norms by addressing underlying social issues, specifically about gender. The double standards of gender in society illustrate how the genders are categorized under different stereotypes. In my fairytale, I focused on the male stereotypes such as dominance, animalistic behavior, and power struggle, in order to criticize the feminist perception. Through my story, I wanted to demonstrate that both genders are suffering under such stereotypes, not just women or men. By including the social injustice that both genders experience by including aspects of discrimination and juxtaposing gender dominance for men and women, I exemplified how the gender inequality exists for both genders. In doing so, I was able to contrast the characters’ gender explicitly in order to show how genders don’t affect personality and that society should get rid of these gendered stereotypes, especially since they are unreasonable.