Literary Analysis
Life is full of surprises, many of which shape our lives. Beauty and the Beast by Andrew Lang was technically told orally far before stories were written down, but tells the story of a family who runs into a terrible misfortune and loses everything it owns. After moving away, however, the members of the family think their luck has changed. Unfortunately, more misfortune befalls them when the father of the family comes across a horrible Beast and is given an ultimatum; he is to either bring back one of his daughters to live with the Beast forever or be punished with death. After his daughter, Beauty, volunteers to go live with the Beast, who is actually quite kind, to save his life she begins to miss her family. Her time
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In the story, the Beast is portrayed as an awful, horrible creature (i.e a beast), but he proves that he is so much more than that by the compassion he shows to Beauty’s father, the gifts he sends for the family, the love he shows to Beauty, and, in the end, that he is not a beast at all; he is a prince. “Turning to ask the Beast what it could all mean, Beauty found that he had disappeared, and in his place stood her long-loved Prince” (Lang). On the outside Beast appears to be just that, a beast, but his character is complex and proves that although human nature is to judge by one’s outward appearance, looks can be deceiving. Beast in this quote transforms into his original form revealing just how deceiving his appearance is. Beast has to be a beast to teach this lesson and to show how appearances do not tell the whole story, so to speak. The theme, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” is especially evident through the Beast because he shows that he is not a beast, although that is the way he is …show more content…
Likewise, someone can be unattractive in appearance, but have a fantastic personality. Beauty and the Beast are both perfect examples of this theme because neither of them represent the stereotypes that are generally associated with their appearances. Beauty has inner beauty and outer beauty, while Beast lacks in outer beauty, but possesses much inner beauty. The Beast proves how compassionate and selfless he is, in the latter, when he risks his life to make Beauty happy. “The Beast, who had been sighing dolefully while she spoke, now replied: 'I cannot refuse you anything you ask, even though it should cost me my life '” (Lang). Beauty proves her inner beauty when she says, " 'But as I did the mischief it is only fit that I should suffer for it. I will therefore go back with my father to keep his promise '" (Lang). Beauty sacrifices herself in the previous quote because she offers herself up to the Beast to save her father. Beast and Beauty both ultimately show their inner beauty when they each risk their own lives in an attempt to make someone else happy. Their selflessness protrudes through during these moments because instead of caring for themselves, they allow the ones they truly love happiness. The theme, “true beauty shines from within,” is exemplified in this story because that is truly Beauty
Transformation is present in both Mad Shadows and Beauty and the Beast. Transformation and change go hand in hand in order for suffering to be understood. Suffering is understood throughout Beauty and the Beast when an evil fairy transforms the handsome prince into a hideous beast, in order to teach him a valuable lesson. The prince, “. . . remained in [the form of a beast]. . .” (41), which reflected his ugly behaviour, to teach him that there is more to life than just appearance. Therefore, he was ultimately punished for his temper and shallow behaviour. It was only when Beauty acknowledged that, “it is neither good looks nor great wit that makes a woman happy with her husband, but character, virtue, and kindness. . . .” (40). Beauty realized the importance of virtue and the transformative power of love, which freed the prince from his curse, and in the end he acknowledged the value of essence over appearance. Suffering is understood in Mad Shadows when Louise, a selfish mother, who is mesmerized by her beauty, develops a deadly disease, “Cancer! Cancer of the cheek!” (93). It is only then that she begins to accept that her pride, her beauty, is fading as the cancerous puss on her face, portrays the vile, self-centered and ...
While contrasting with her sisters, Belle is the light, and her sisters are the darkness. Apparently, Belle's patience and unsophisticated personalities make her become the light, and on the other hand, her sisters' jealousy and vanity are the darkness. Nevertheless, while contrasting with the beast, regardless of the appearance, the beast is the light, his kindness and patience, he had not give up even though Belle rejected him every day.
In addition, this film explores a new way to love, breaking the trope of Disney’s traditional and antiquated love stories. Beauty and the Beast is not about love at first sight, but rather a more realistic representation of love, when two equal people learn to know and appreciate one another. As Charles Solomon explains in his insightful article "Animated Heroines Finally Get in Step With the Times” in the Los Angeles Times:
story points out that beauty has its cost as well, the power of being beautiful holds a great
Villeneuve uses love when she writes about the time when Beauty first notices that she does love the Beast and she does want to marry him. For the most part of the fairy tale, the Beast makes sure to ask Beauty if she would marry him in a daily basis, right after they had dinner. The sudden change from always saying no to finally agreeing happens after she spent some type apart from the Beast when she goes to visit her father. During this time apart, Beauty finally takes note of everything the Beast would do for her, from always asking how she is doing, to always making sure she has everything she needs (Villeneuve 100). Beauty then notices how much she loves him, she realizes how scared she really was to lose the Beast, then when realizing this, she vows to the Beast to marry him. Beauty’s own decision to marry the Beast is shown that Villeneuve wanted to show that Beauty did not marry him because she felt she had to for the sake of her life, but instead because she knew that she had feelings for the Beast. If Beauty had accepted the proposal because of fear, she would have accepted it the first night she had arrived there in the castle and the Beast had asked. Instead, just like Claire Fallon, a write for Huffington Post, said, Beauty practically begged the Beast to take her as his bride (Fallon). If Beauty did not love the Beast she would have not tried so hard to stay with him after he was virtually dead and had just about given up on her ever loving him back. The Beast obviously still wanting to marry her, accepted Beauty’s cries and agreed to still marry her. Love was always the factor in why the Beast and Beauty end up together in the end of this fairy tale, it was never because she thought if she did not accept his proposal then she would
...s not need to change to earn respect from others, and in Beauty and the Beast , both Belle and Prince Adam are taught the importance of getting to know someone before judging them as well as to have faith in yourself. It is not the magical transformation itself that is the main aspect of a fairytale, but the events, which follow it; it is these occurrences which the characters are being put into an environment out of their comfort zone and allowing themselves to explore and learn for their experiences; these values are also directed towards the readers as well. . Though fairytales are merely works of fictional literature, there are countless morals and principles, which they convey that one should apply in their real, everyday lives. Perhaps the magic within the fairytale is not from magical transformations at all, but from the impact they have upon their readers
Another of the symbols that was used to present the theme of the novel is the beast. The boys believed that the beast is an external source of evil. Though, in reality, it represents the evil present within them, which is causing life on the island to worsen. Simon begins to realize this even befor...
Through the three revisions of Beauty and The Beast, the fairy tales retold share many similarities as well as many differences according to their time period. In all three versions femininity and masculinity are presented in many ways. Femininity is shown through all three main female characters, Belle from the famous Disney film “The Beauty and The Beast”, the narrator in “Tiger’s Bride”, and Psyche in “Cupid and Psyche”. In all three versions, the female characters breaks society’s expectations of a typical woman. In CP Psyche stands up to Cupid’s mother Venus and accomplishes these activities usually performed by males. She shows society that women can overcome male activities and have strength to complete the same tasks. She breaks tradition of the male character fighting for her because in this version she takes on the hero role and fights for Cupid. This was not something ordinarily done by woman characters during this time. In TB the narrator breaks the tradition of the innocent stereotypical woman figure. The narrator exposes and does things most woman would never have the nerve to do. She shows society that women can fault their beauty in other ways. Even if society does not make it acceptable to have sex before marriage, she shows that women can expose their body and beauty in many ways. In DB version Belle is a great example that women should not be looked at as dolls and let males have control over them. She shows society that woman can be independent and educated. She does not get married to the most handsome male in town however she goes after someone who deeply cares about her. She displays a great example of how woman have their own mind and can think for themselves. Woman are allowed to make decisions and have ...
Disney attempts to show the feminist qualities of Belle. For example the movie portrays her as intelligent and not easily swayed by love, in the case of Gaston. However, the Beast is advertised as the possessor of ‘beauty’ and Belle must learn its nature; Belle’s fate is his. It is Belle, robbed by her traditional beauty, who is being instructed from the Beast in how to elicit beauty form beastliness. She must learn to love ugliness and literally embrace the bestial. Another problematic element might be Bell...
to reassure and respect him. The beast also confesses that he is lonely and disliked (Shelley 105). The creature’s confession indicates the impact prejudice can have on a victim. Though he
From Cupid & Psyche to Cocteau’s film and finally to Disney’s portrayal of this classic theme, not much has changed in the idea of Beauty and the Beast. All versions of this story have stressed the importance of being good and have even dwelled on the importance of looking behind appearance to see a person’s true nature. In order to convey his ideas and themes, Cocteau uses the beast as a lurking figure whose lack of appearance on the screen ultimately has a great effect on the viewer. The Beast that Cocteau portrays is a model for modern storytellers and has been vital in stressing the theme of genuine nature versus appearance throughout society.
According to Jeffords, Disney changes the fairy tale in its film version of Beauty and the Beast. This film has had countless number of changes since this fairy tale first came out. One major change was inanimate objects came to life. This is a difference because in the older versions of Beauty and the Beast, the Beast is isolated in his castle and he fulfilled all of Beauty's need by enchanted magic. I believe that this change is significant in this film. This is because it takes away from the Beasts power. In the older versions this shows that the Beast really cares about Beauty and will do anything to help her fulfill her needs. In Disney's version they took this out. They made it so the Beast was less powerful, making him come off as week.
First of all, the idea of beauty is not only based on a physical appearance of a person or object; beauty comes from the inner self. Natural and real beauty creates from within the heart of individuals. When a real beauty develops, it is expressed as a charming, attractive, and glamorous soul that is hard for one to contain. If a lady is beautiful on the inside, she is also beautiful on the outside because her body is an expression of soul and mind. Inner beauty creates a positive attitude towards oneself, others, and the environment. One real life example about inner beauty is the story of Chantelle Winnie. Chantelle was born with a skin condition vitiligo, which makes her different from other people.
...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.
One of the important messages that were taught through the story is that true beauty comes from within. Also, if love is true it will prevail through any means. Beauty is scared of the Beast at first because ...