Symbolic Interactionism In Beauty And The Beast

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The interactions between the people are highly influenced by a range of factors determining patterns of individuals' behavior and the course of action. Many works of literature as well as movies raise the issues of human behavior and depict the actions of the characters that can be explained within a framework of a social theory. For example, produced by Disney movie Beauty and the Beast and the events that take place as the film develops can be explained in terms of the theory of symbolic interactionism claiming that people act towards things based on their perception of those things and the meanings prescribed to them during social interaction. In the light of the perspective of interactionsim, the first aspect of the film that needs to be considered is the character of the Prince. In relation to the name Beast provided to this character, the Beast is treated as the monster exposing mean behavior because he is ugly, which is a symbolic meaning ascribed due to the …show more content…

With respect to the meaning of a monster prescribed to the Beast, she would refuse to share dinner with him at the beginning of the story. According to the beliefs of the society, what is ugly outside cannot have a beautiful meaning. This impacted Belle since the symbols and meanings are learned due to the socialization process (Ritzer 351). Therefore, Belle also perceives the Beast as a monster and is unable to see his inner beauty at first. However, as she spends some time with the Beast, she becomes able to make her own assumptions and to revise her approach. This is also relative to symbolic interaction theory since people are able to form new meanings determined by their own interpretation of interactions and of the situation (Ritzer 352). In consideration of this idea, the change of Belle's perception of the Beast and her approach to him appears not to be a

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