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Essay on beauty and the beast
A modern fairy tale- essay
Critique analysis about beauty and the beast
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In many ways, Disney’s adaptation of Beauty and the Beast reinscribes the patriarchal values and stereotypical gender roles of Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont’s original version of the tale. This is evident through the representation of the fairy-tale heroine at its center, de Beaumont’s Beauty, juxtaposed with Disney’s Belle. IT is quite clear that de Beaumont’s tale uses Beauty to express female “socialization according to male oriented requirements” (Zipes, 24). Conversely, Disney’s Belle might be seen as a “nineties heroine” (Cummins, 23) and a “new kind of female protagonist who thinks and learns” (Cummins, 23). These observable differences can be seen with Beauty and Belle’s interactions with the male characters of their specific stories; Beauty with her father and the best, and Belle with her father and the beast. The purpose of this Essay is to argue that although Disney’s Belle’s agency might seem obvious, in reality, her story, or “woman’s story” (Cummins, 24) as Sylvia Bryant puts it, functions within “a fairy tale frame of reference” (Cummins, 24) implying that her agency is limited by the same limiting continue as de Beaumont’s Beauty because “the end of the girl’s journey, if successful, will bring her to the place where the boy will fin her” (Cummins, 24).
Zipes explains that Beauty’s “attachment” (Zipes, 120) to her father is positive and “desirable” (Zipes, 120) because during Beauty’s “process of maturation” (Zipes, 120) this bond is “transferred and transformed as it becomes detached from the parent and concentrated on the lover” (Zipes, 120). When Beauty’s father’s life can only be spared if he delivers Beauty to the beast, “Beauty, as a model of humility and obedience, saves her father by agreeing to liv...
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...re their affection for the men in their lives limits their agency as independent agents.
Works Cited
Cummins, June. "Romancing the Plot: The Real Beast of Disney's Beauty and the Beast." (n.d.): n. pag. Rpt. in Children's Literature Association Quarterly,. 1st ed. Vol. 20. N.p.: n.p., 1995. 22-28. Web.
De Beaumont, Jeanne-Marie LePrince. Beauty and the Beast. 1740. Folk Tale.
Beauty and the Beast. Perf. Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson. Disney, 1991. DVD.
Zipes, Jack. "The Dark Side of Beauty and the Beast: The Origins of the Literary Fairy Tale for Children." (n.d.): n. pag. Rpt. in Children's Literature Association Quarterly. N.p.: Johns Hopkins UP, 1981. 119-25. Web.
Zipes, Jack. "Towards a Social History of the Literary Fairy Tale for Childr." (n.d.): n. pag. Rpt. in Children's Literature Association Quarterly. 2nd ed. Vol. 7. N.p.: n.p., 1982. 23-26. Web.
Film analysis with a critical eye can give the viewer how animation giant Disney uses literary element to relay key messages to the audience. Walt Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” is a perfect example how different literary theories like ‘the Marxist theory’ and ‘Archetypal theory’ can be embedded in the simplest of the fairy tales. The different literary elements in the movie, shows a person how characters like ‘the banker’ and the setting of the houses helps to portray the socio-economic differences in New Orleans at that time. Applying ‘the Marxist theory’ and ‘the Archetypal theory’ to the plot, characters and the setting, shows how movies can be a medium to confront social issues and to prove that all fairy tales are of the same base.
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.
If children or adults think of the great classical fairy tales today, be it Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella, they will think Walt Disney. Their first and perhaps lasting impression of these tales and others will have emanated from Disney film, book, or artefacts (Zipes 72)
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 ...
Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont’s take on “Beauty and the Beast” is a pretty simple story. A single merchant father of six kids loses his fortune. He meets the Beast when
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 Tale Text & Motif. Prod. Distribution Access. Distribution Access, 2001.Discovery Education. Web. 1 December 2001. .
Social factors have always encouraged the idea that men embody masculinity and women embody femininity and, thus, certain gender-norms are expected accordingly. In the past, such expectations were traditional and to go against them was frowned upon by the general public. Contemporarily speaking, there is more freedom to avail oneself of today than there was once upon a time. Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont’s fairytale adaptation of ‘Beauty and The Beast’ was published in 1740. During this time, men and women were compelled by the social conventions associated with their gender. When analyzing the literary work, the reader can grasp what gender roles are eminent in the characters identity and motives. By exploring the choice of language being
Ross, D. (2004). Proquest. “Escape from wonderland: Disney and the female imagination”. Marvels & Tales, 18(1), 53-66,141.
Most modern fairytales are expected to have happy endings and be appropriate for children, nonetheless, in past centuries most were gruesome. Consequently, fairytales have been modified throughout time. The stories “Beauty and the Beast” by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont and “The Summer and Winter Garden” by Jacob and Wilherm Grimm share similarities and differences. The two stories are distinct because of the peculiar year they have been written in. LePrince de Beaumont’s story is written in London of 1783 and Grimm’s in Germany of 1812. At the time, wealthy people in London, were educated and had nannies who would read to their children; whereas, in Germany, the Grimm brothers created their own interpretation into a short story. Because many high class parents in 18th century London would not be able to spend time with their children, nannies would read “Beauty and the Beast” to them since they were intended for children and considered appropriate. In “The Summer and Winter Garden,” the Grimm’s’ story was mostly based to entertain misbehaved children and teach them the valuable lesson that everyone should be treated with kindness. The Grimm brothers’ goal in rewriting this short story is to better children’s behavior which worked quite well. Since these stories have been re-written for children, it would be safe to say the reason why parents expose the two stories to their children is because they both portray the same moral: good things happen to good people. The two interpretations of “Beauty and the Beast,” although written in separate countries, share important similarities and differences even though the authors have different interpretations and came from different cultures.
With the second wave of women's rights surfacing, Disney upgraded their roles of females as well. With The Little Mermaid(1989), Aladdin(1992), and Beauty and the Beast(1991), they all had different roles, and they shared one specific trait: curiosity. They also strived for something new. Belle was the most remarkable with the fact that what defined her was her brains and intellect. Beauty and the Beast really pushed the patriarchal views of women in France at the time. Gaston being th...
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: the Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. London: Thames and Hudson, 1976. Print.
..., Maria. “An Introduction to Fairy Tales.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Toronto: Longman, 2013. 230-235. Print.
"Children's Literature - Early History, Fairy and Folk Tales, Victorian Childrens Literature, Contemporary Childrens Literature - Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society." Internet FAQ Archives - Online Education - Faqs.org. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .
Zipes, Jack. Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.