Lessons Found in Beauty and the Beast
Once upon a time?
The classic opener for any fairy tale, which is no different in the case of Beauty and the Beast. Fairy tales were meant to teach our children life lessons that society, at the time, deems important to learn. They teach us the difference between right and wrong, black and white, good and bad, light and dark, and beautiful and ugly. There are many different variations and names to Beauty and the Beast. This famous fable has been passed down and integrated into our culture time and time again, each time adding different lessons that were thought to be important in that day and age. What has changed over the years? How have the fairy tales of Beauty and the Beast affected the children of yesterday, today and tomorrow? I hope to show how fairy tales, more importantly Beauty and the Beast, is helpful to children in many ways, but mostly by teaching them the way that they should act in society. There are three very important lessons that Beauty and the Beast teaches us. First, and probably, the biggest one, is that beauty is only skin deep. It is what is on the inside that counts. Second, which ties in with the first lesson is, don't be too greedy because you will only be looking for the beauty on the out side. Finally, do unto others as you would have done to you, this will make you beautiful on the inside were it counts.
In this paper I am going to take a look at two versions of Beauty and the Beast. Although The Lady and the Lion and Beauty and the Beast are very different, the base story is there. True beauty is determined by what is on the inside and not on the outside. In addition vanity and riches will not make you happy. Finally, to be truly beautiful you must treat people how you would want to be treated.
Before I get into those versions of Beauty and the Beast, I want to talk about those who don?t think this fairy tale should be seen or heard by children. One version of this tale is by none other than Disney. Kathi Maio said, ?Disney?s version features a beast who looks ugly and acts even uglier? What a heart-warming fable! Why it?s a regular training film for the battered women of tomorrow!? (194). At first I thought, wow she has issues, but when I looked deeper I found what she meant. Not to say that I agree with her by any means. It is a fairy tale for a reason! These things...
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...because of the fear that fairies will come after me and turn me into a beast or a statue. (Which if you think about it would be very scary, seeing a something with wings and a wand flying at you.) I just feel that if you want to be treated well, you should treat others well. This was most likely imbedded into me through fairy tales just like Beauty and the Beast.
As you can see from only two very short versions of this fairy tale that the values in it are virtues that we should all have. This fairy tale has been passed down for many generations and with each year it grows and adapts to society, but the bases for this story stay true. You can?t judge a book by its cover. The truth is it is what is on the inside that counts, which leads to the next lesson; that being greedy will not make you happy. For everything you get that you think will make you happy, you will only find that you are unhappier than before. This flows nicely into the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have done to you, and this will bring you true happiness. I believe that this is a great fairy tale and the values it teaches are even better. My children will know the story of Beauty and the Beast well.
The exodus of the majority of skilled workers brought about a rapid change in the methods employed in educating Cuba’s population. If the revolution was to be successful, Cuba needed to replace the skilled workers that left with other skilled workers in the shortest amount of time possible. In 1961, the revolutionary government developed a nationwide campaign to rid Cuba of illiteracy. The program was given slogans like “ The people should teach the people and If you don’t know learn; if you know teach”. This program consisted of volunteer teachers who would help illiterate Cubans increase their education by teaching them the fundamentals. According to Fitzgerald, “(The literacy campaign) helped to integrate town and county and to galvanize support for revolutionary goals by bringing urban and rural populations into direct contact. ( p. 41)” Also, according to Fitzgerald, “ Enrollment in adult education rose dramatically from 66,577 students in the 1960-1961 school year to a peak of 842,024 students in the 1964-1965 school year, but plummeted to 309,717 students in 1969-1970. (P. 42)” This program benefited the poorer citizens of Cuba who remained in Cuba. They w...
He is willing to sacrifice himself so his daughters can live in peace. Beauty offers herself up to the Beast. Poor, kind-hearted Beauty could not bear for her father to be at the Beast’s mercy, so she goes in his place. Beauty is a strong, compassionate girl who will risk her life for the ones she loves. When Beauty is with the Beast she is content with her life. She thinks the Beast is ugly and not that smart, and is still fearful of him, but she grows comfortable in his presence. As she spends more time with the Beast she also becomes more comfortable with herself and what she wants. Beauty isn’t afraid to ask Beast for something she wants, like seeing her father. While Beauty has been with the Beast her father has been dying of grief, with no one to take care of him. Beauty makes a promise to return to the Beast after a week, but her jealous sisters manipulate her into staying, and, of course, gentle Beauty just can’t leave her family behind. When Beauty finally returns to Beast she confesses to loving him, flaws and all, and Beast turns into a handsome, smart, man for Beauty to live with and
Castro implemented additional significant social-economical polices which further more increased his popularity with in the public order, such as attempts towards improving health care, medical facilities, and tourism, but mostly highlighting the importance of education by drastically transforming the Cuban educational system. Achieving an extraordinary change required Castro to start the “1961 literacy campaign” which called for raising the literacy rate percentage in the Cuban society, by allowing education and it’s equipment free of charge, building schools, increasing the amount of teachers per student, and making it available to all ages who desired to peruse education. These reforms where a major increase in Castro’s popularity. “The quality of life lies in knowledge”- Fidel Castro (The Right Priorities: Health, Education, and Literacy. PBS.o...
After his graduation in 1950, Castro continued to practice politics and study law. He decided to become a member of the reformist Cuban People’s Party, called Ortodoxos. The Ortodoxos called for economic independence from the United States, political liberty, social justice, and an end to government corruption. Throughout these years, Castro stayed true to his interests, and political capabilities, and became a candidate for a seat in Cuba’s House of Representatives during the election of June 1952. However, right before the election was held, Fulgencio Batista disbanded the previous government and cancelled the election. This incident is what really pushed Castro into fighting this corrupted government and restoring justice to Cuba. Th...
At first glance, what makes a fairy tale a fairy tale may seem obvious—some kind of magic, hidden symbols, repetition, and of course it’s evident it’s fiction—but fables are more than that. As Arthur Schelesinger puts it, it’s about “[expanding] imagination” and gaining understanding of mysterious places (618). While doing this, it also helps children to escape this world, yet teach a lesson that the reader may not be conscious of. A wonderful story that achieves all of this is Cinderella, but not the traditional tale many American’s have heard. Oochigeaskw, or The Rough-Faced Girl, and Ashputtle would be fitting for a seven-year-old because they get the gears of the mind turning, allowing for an escape on the surface, with an underlying enlightenment for children of the ways of the world.
Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.
Brave New World seems to be more advance in its practices, because it manages to keep the people in a happy brainwashed state rather than a fearful state as seen in 1984. Most of the technology seen in 1984 was through the telescreens which allowed for Big Brother to be all knowing as well as influencing all actions of the people. Brave New World has a greater emergence of technology due to the advancements in science, this allows the World State to be in control of the people before birth. The government in Brave New World conditions people to do the actions which the World State demands. Although Brave New World and 1984 show great similarity, they differ in their fear vs. pleasure practices, as well as Brave New Worlds advancement in technology compared to 1984.
Kim, B. &. (2011). Combination of project cost forecasts in earned value management. Journal Of Construction Engineering & Management, 958-966.
The publication from the institute of medicine has garnered much interest since its publication in 2010 focusing on the future of nursing and the implementation of this with in the nursing community. The nursing profession has over 3 million members and is the largest segment of the nation’s health care workforce. Working on the front lines of patient care, nurses can play a vital role in helping realize the objectives set forth in the 2010 IOM (Institute of Medicine). One of the recommendations is that of a nurse residency program for new nurses or nurses transitioning into new clinical practice areas. The area I work in is home health and this is a growth area the need for a residency program cannot be over stated home health is not the
In the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”, Beauty rescues the Beast and her family with brilliant morality and arduous efforts. Rowe merely focuses on the oedipal complex between Beauty and her father, so she overlooks Beauty’s persistent character and a...
When anyone thinks about a children’s fairy tale the most common ones that can come to mind is “Little Red Riding Hood”. Fairy tales convey a hidden message to children. Like how in “Little Red Riding Hood” the message is to not talk to strangers. Fairy tales have been created to help children understand things in a fun and enjoying way. Not every kid can learn and understand things the same way; it all depends on what they have been taught and exposed to in their life. There is controversy between the way these messages are conveyed to young children, like how in “Little Red Riding Hood” the story ends with Riding Hood and her grandmother being eaten by the wolf which can be frightening to children but it explains to you the bad things
Even though fairy tales don’t always end the way we want them to, we usually expect them to end with prince charming saving a princess. However, according to the Grimms Brothers version, “The Frog King,” the princess actually saves the prince. An innocent naive princess comes across a frog that once was a prince. Therefore, the only way he can overcome this curse is to ask a princess to fully have her assurance into becoming his companion. The moral of this fairy tale is express how appearances are deceiving. We don’t fully have an understanding what true beauty looks like until it is standing in front of us. The three main symbols that emphasize the true beauty in this fairytale is the frog, the fountain, and the golden ball.
Presently, many books and fairytales are converted movies and often, producers alters the original tales to grasp the attention of a large audience. However, some of these interpretations hide the primary interpretation. The original interpretations of the Disney classics Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are greatly reinvented from the original fairytales Sun, Moon, and Talia and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs because of the brutal nature of the treatment women in these original forms. Although there are differences in certain aspects from the original tales to the movies, there are many issues that are influential to the young girls who are still watching the Disney version. I realize this when my youngest niece, Anella asks me, “Why can’t I be beautiful and fall asleep and suddenly wake up to finally find my prince?” This is true in all cases of the four different translations of the fairytales. Every single girl in these stories are in a “beautiful” state of half-death who wake to find a prince who if eager to carry them off. This can lead to negative psychological effects on young girls as they are growing up, creating a large amount of pressure and low self-esteem due to the beauty that these stories portray and maintaining restrictions that these women experience in the stories. While it is true that Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves are considered Disney classics that entertain children and provide meaningful role models, it is evident that the true, vulgar nature of these tales are hidden; these stories are about women who are thrown away.
Over the years, Disney has presented many movies to their audience—most having a Princess as the protagonist. These movies became a babysitter for most parents in the early stages of their child’s life. Most people found these movies as relatively harmless. The obvious assumption about the Disney Princesses is that they only desire true love since almost every movie ends in romance. Parents just viewed these movies as romantic movies on a child’s level. However, these movies were not solely intended for an audience of an age that can be counted on both hands. They were intended to speak to “an intelligent and active audience” (Sumera 40). However, there are many people who disagree with the ways of the Disney Princess movies. The disagreements lie within the portrayal of women gender roles in these movies. It is argued that Disney portrays women as a being nurturing individuals without any control over their identity. The women are unable to think for themselves, because they are uneducated, and they are quick to fall in love with the first man that pays them any attention. However, this is not completely true. The people that are against the portrayal of women in the Disney movies are failing to recognize the underlying concepts in these movies. For example, Belle, in Beauty and the Beast, was well educated, Mulan went to war despite the consequences, and Merida, in Brave, stood up to her mother in refusal to marry. The Disney Princesses desired intelligence, bravery, strength, and independence—not true love’s kiss.
A person can take a story and look at it from many ways. Fairy tales represent the transformation of young people. Beauty is transformed into a young woman; she passes through the stages successfully and in turn is able to love. Every story teaches a lesson and in this case more than one lesson is taught. Not only is the lesson of sexuality and maturity taught, an even more important lesson is taught. Beauty and the Beast shows that true love comes from within the inside and if it is meant to be it will prevail.