The Beast Archetypes

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Throughout the movie Beauty and the Beast, many archetypes are demonstrated by the characters’ thoughts, actions, and personalities. Each person has distinct characteristics that clearly fit one archetype or another, which is an important aspect of children’s fairy tale. First, Belle represents the maiden because of her innocence, purity, and naivety. Next, Maurice is the inventor as he is constantly creating new machines and is very persistent. Third, the shadow is represented by the Beast at the beginning of the movie, as he hurts others and only looks out for himself. Finally, Lafou, Gaston’s sidekick, takes on the role of the trickster, as he is always goofing off and not being serious.
In the story of Beauty and the Beast, Belle represents …show more content…

This is described as someone who is constantly thinking, creating new products, trying to get others to sample their creations, and is very persistent (Archetypes). It is evident throughout the movie that Maurice is constantly trying to invent new things, although they do not always work out as he anticipated. He was a very imaginative man and looked at what the future could be like, not at past failed inventions. Towards the beginning of the story, he created a wood-chopping machine, which he claimed would lead him and his daughter to fame and fortune. However, while he was bringing his machine to the fair, Maurice took a long turn and ended up at the Beast’s castle. When Belle took his place in the dungeon, he went home and would be able to continue working on his inventions. Then, he became very worried and feared his daughter’s safety, resulting in him asking every person around town about the mysterious beast, but they thought he was mentally ill. Although no one believed him, he was persistent, an important quality of the inventor, and went off looking for her in the woods. In the end, while his inventions did not necessarily lead him to success, they did lead him and Belle to the Beast, her one true …show more content…

Because of his past negative choices, he was forced to turn into a horrible beast and took his problems out on other people, particularly Belle and Maurice who were lost. After he captured Belle, he showed how violent he was and did all he could to make her feel as miserable as possible. For example, when she first refused to attend dinner with him, he became increasingly angrier and treated the young woman with much disrespect, most likely since he was not used to being rejected after living alone for so long. In addition, he showed his dominance and abusing power over others by constantly bossing the talking objects around and telling them that they weren’t allowed to do certain things. The Beast’s actions show that prior to developing feelings for Belle, he was very controlling, acted on instinct, and had many difficulties getting along with others. However, as the story went on, he was able to control his temper more easily and form relationships with those he came in contact

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