Beauty and the Beast – The Symphony of Virtues
“Sit straight, speak softly, and take small steps while walking”, a mother says when she reminds her daughter of how she should behave in public. Etiquette protocols are what parents refer to when raising their children in order to shape them into the best versions of themselves. Just as developing children’s personalities and behavior is important to parents worldwide, virtues and manners are important to Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, the French author of the best known version of Beauty and the Beast. In the book The Classical Fairy Tales, Beauty and the Beast is presented in several forms, and alternating endings of the different versions. In addition to the structural changes, the authors’ messages vary as the tale passes
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What does the Beast represent? Why does Beauty love him even though he is extremely ugly and she is pretty? So many questions could be asked to solve the puzzle of the Beauty and the Beast situation, and the use of transformation to picture the change. The first puzzle piece to understand in the use of those characters is paying attention to inner-self vs. outer-self. Beauty was first described physically as attractive, but her physical appearance was no longer mentioned when diving deep into the tale. This part about Beauty teaches children that even though a person is gifted by a good look, her interior beauty which she has to work on is what makes the change. Moving on to the Beast, he is portrayed as such a scary and ugly creature that everyone would faint at the sight of him. However, scenes in the story reveal how kind-hearted he is and how generous and loving he is, which teaches children another lesson. People cannot be judged by how they look, because personality is the key, and to know someone's personality, you have to get to know him
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
Fairy tale is a story that features folkloric chapters and enchantments, often involving a far-fetching sequence of events. Fairy tales have been around for thousands of years, whether it comes from Grimm’s Fairy Tales which is what most people consider the “classic” or “traditional” fairy tales to Disney movies, the idea of the fairy tale fills our society with lessons and examples of how we should behave and live; fairy tales teach the same things in different ways, or teach different things with the same tale. A couple of these tales are “Beauty and the Beast”, by Jeanne-Marie Leprince De Beaumont and “The Pig King”, by Giovanni Francesco Straparola. They are both tales about falling in love with someone despite their appearance. The similarities and differences between “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Pig King” is captivating while still depicting a similar tale. They are similar in the way they find love and their love story but they also share a similar behavior pattern in the way the girls behave towards the prince. However, the two tales do display a difference in the attitudes of the princes and their actions towards their love
De Beaumont, Jeanne-Marie LePrince. “Beauty and the Beast.” The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar. New York: Norton, 1999. 32-42.
Also, the people thought that everything should be perfect and natural within the world and not ugly. Even though the monster was considered ugly, he was also smart, sensitive, and compassionate. In other words, you should never judge a book by its cover. Meaning that the people he met has judged the surface of his face instead of learning about him more.
”Assessment of the employee’s appearance is directly tied to the probability of getting employed” (Mahajan, 167) The society’s standards for beauty are even being drilled into the minds of young children. For example, Disney films, especially involving princesses are teaching both boys and girls false expectations of what society expects of them. For boys, Disney is saying that they have to be handsome, brave, and strong and they ultimate goal is to save the princess. For girls, Disney is claiming that being super skinny, having perfect hair, and having a flawless face make a woman attractive. If kids do not fit in those standards they can become victims of bully. For instance, Lady Gaga was bullied at school for being ugly and Steven Spielberg for not fitting in (Horner 1). “I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers -- their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions: but how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am” (Shelly 116). When the creature looks at himself through his reflection, he realizes for the first that he is different from everybody else. He becomes jealous of the cottagers beauty and understands that his horrific appearance is causing people to be terrified of him. Although he is intelligent like a human, he is trapped inside a monster’s body
In Toni Morrison’s story and in real life, beauty is described by people as having blond hair, blue eyes , perfect figure, etc. It’s been said that if you have good looks, you can make it in life with just looks alone. People only strive for becoming beautiful because they want attention. As is the case in Toni Morrison’s story. The characters in her story think that they are ugly , by others opinions of them , and want to become beautiful so they will be recognized and be the center of attention. But the harder both characters try, the worse things get.
In today’s culture, depending on the person, beauty can be depicted as a positive influence or as a negative influence. Alyssa Giacobbe outlines beauty in her article, “Youth, Beauty, and An Obsession with Looks.” Giacobbe swings towards a more negative viewpoint.
Women in these fairy tales are young and beautiful. In all reality not every girl in this world is truly considered beautiful by our society’s terms. In today’s society the term beautiful is often used to describe a women who is a size 0, tall, flawless skin, and dressed nicely. Haven’t you ever seen princesses that are in all these fairy tales, our society’s description of beautiful describes every single one of these princesses?
A prolific exemplification of the ideal female virtues portrayed in fairy tales is Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper”. Perrault presents the ideal female fairy tale character through his portrayal of Cinderella. Cinderella is a tame and forgiving individual who subjects herself to the will of her father, stepmother and s...
One way that this theme is evolved is through dialogue between the characters. Multiple times in the movie, Sophie expresses the idea that she does not like to discriminate against people because of their looks. In the movie she tells Howl,'' I don't care if you look like a monster.'' This shows that Sophie's first impression of Howl was not based off of his looks. Sophie also tells Howl that she is not pretty because she wants him to love her based on her personality.
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...
As in many fairy tales we have grown up with, the characters are always beautiful or handsome, with an evil mother that wants to destroy that. Baker-Sperry and Grauerholz state that, “The feminine beauty ideal-the socially constructed notion that physical attractiveness is one of women's most important assets, and something all women should strive to achieve and maintain…[is] viewed largely as an oppressive, patriarchal practice that objectifies, devalues, and subordinates women”(711). Women grow up with the impression that they must be perfect and beautiful in order to get a man. They will see the beautiful girl get a handsome guy and everything they want. The characters in Tangled prove the fact that every fairy tale follows the same guide lines; Rapunzel, Flynn, and even mother Gothel are beautiful. Their features are all the same with them being thin, having straight teeth, and being good looking. If a person was described as being perfect looking, than a fairy tale character is what they would be compared to. A little girl will see Rapunzel and want to be like her because she’s pretty and a princess and they will l...
...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.
In today 's society, it is normal for young children to believe in fairytales. These fairytales are normally seen throughout books and movies but also through parents reading them as bedtime stories. These tales in our society have unrecognized hidden guidelines for ethics and behaviors that we provide for children. One such children 's story is Disney’s Cinderella, this film seems to be a simple tale of a young woman whose wishes work out as to be expected. This tale reflects the expectations of women 's actions and beliefs of a proper women.
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.