Beauty and the Beast is a fairy tale about a beautiful girl who falls in love with a Beast. That saves him from a curse. It's also a story about modesty, jealousy, and sacrifice.
Plot
There's a merchant who falls in trouble. He has to leave his fancy home and move to a cottage. Both of his older daughters are spoiled and hate the change. His youngest daughter, called Beauty, is more adaptable. Then good news comes. One of the merchant's ships is back in the harbor. He leaves their new home and wants to bring some gifts to his daughters. The elder ones want clothes and jewels but Beauty wishes only for a rose.
On the way back the merchant stops at a mysterious castle. It's very hospitable yet without any inhabitants. He sees a rose in the garden and takes it. Suddenly a Beast materializes in front of him demanding revenge. Merchant gets a few days to farewell with his family. Then he must be back and face his punishment - death. But Beauty wants to take his place.
Beauty moves to the castle and meets the Beast. He is very nice and they became friends. He even asks her to marry him. She likes him but not enough to become his wife. After a while, she dreams about her father. He is sick and she wants to visit him. The Beast allows her but she must promise to come back in a month. Otherwise, he will die.
When Beauty returns and tells her family about the Beast her sisters become jealous. They want him to die. They trick her to stay longer then she should. When she returns the Beast is very ill. She realizes how important he is to her and promises him a marriage. His health almost immediately improves. Then he transforms into a handsome prince.
Her love broke the spell. They invite her family to his castle and the father starts living with them. Her jealous sisters transform into statues made of stone, forced to look at Beauty's happiness forever after.
Characters
Beauty: She is clearly the main character. She starts as a rich daughter, falls with her father, and climbs up the social ladder on her own. She is nice, pretty, and sacrificial. She loves her father and is able to see beyond the Beast's ugliness to reveal his true character. Readers can easily identify with her, or, better, ideal she represents.
Beast: He is less important than Beauty. We don't learn a lot about his personality. We just follow his transformation which is, to be honest, pretty selfish. Yet he wins enough sympathies to remain popular for centuries.
Merchant: His dramatic function is catalytic. If he didn't fail as a businessman, Beauty wouldn't experience poverty as her first test of humility. If he didn't steal a rose (it was entirely his decision) Beauty wouldn't meet the Beast. If he didn't become sick, she wouldn't discover how important is the Beast to her.
Sisters: They act as the contrast to Beauty. She is humble and they are presumptuous. She is nice and they are not. She is selfless and they are selfish. She is truthful and they are hypocritical. They, not the Beast are true opponents to Beauty and her love.
Versions
- First literary version of Beauty and the Beast was written by Madame Barbot de Villeneuve. It's a lengthier variation of the story described above. The merchant had twelve kids (six boys and six girls), but their dramatic function is close to non-existent. The curse of the prince is explained in detail, yet it's almost irrelevant for the story.
- Madame Leprince de Beaumont's Beauty and the Beast is much shorter and simpler although she still uses three sons and three daughters with sons without real dramatic use. Her version made the story widely popular and is still the nucleus of most of today's variations. It faithfully follows the plot above.
- Before any of the described versions was published, numerous myths discussing the relationships between beautiful ladies and ugly or even monstrous men already existed. Cupid and Psyche, Hades and Persephone, Zeus and Europa, ... are just some of the popular ones.
Have you learned anything new about Beauty and the Beast?
Image credits:
https://john-hassall-fan-page.page.tl/The-Beauty-and-the-Beast.htm
https://fairylore.jimdofree.com/2018/09/02/the-beauty-and-the-beast/