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"A book is a dream that you hold in your hands." -- Neil Gaiman |
Dedication:
To Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve for writing Beauty and the Beast.
To Paige O'Hara, Susan Egan, and Emma Watson for showing us that true beauty comes from within.
To Angela Lansbury and Celine Dion for giving us a song as old as time.
In loving memory of Howard Ashman (1950-1991).
Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve was a French author. She was born in
1695 in La Rochelle. In 1706, she
married an aristocrat named Jean-Baptiste Gaalon de Villeneuve. Six months into
their marriage, she requested a separation of properties from her husband as he
had squandered much of their family inheritance. In 1711, Gabrielle-Suzanne
became a widow at the age of 26, lost her family fortune, and was forced to
work to support herself. Eventually she made her way to Paris where
she became close friends with the controversial playwright Claude Jolyot de
Crébillon. Influenced by the styles of fairy tale writers such as Madame
d'Aulnoy and Charles Perrault, Madame de Villeneuve had also written her own
fairy tales. She died in Paris on December 29, 1755.
Her greatest legacy is
that she is the author of Beauty and the Beast.
II. Summary of the Fairy
Tale
🏠Chapter 1: There Was Once a Merchant🏚️
A rich merchant lives in a great city with his twelve children: six sons and six
daughters. The family of thirteen lives a luxurious lifestyle at first. Then one day, the family's house
burns down along with their possessions and the merchant loses all his trading ships to either shipwreck or to pirates.
The family's friends cut off ties the moment they become poor, and the
merchant's colleagues even spread rumors that
the burned house and stolen ships are his punishments for spoiling his
children. Dismayed by their neighbors' heartlessness, the
family moves to the countryside to live in a cottage the merchant owns.
To survive, the siblings split the chores between themselves and live on whatever they can sow. Not used to hard work, the sisters wish that they are rich again, except for the
youngest. She adapts to her new lifestyle much better than her sisters and is
more than happy than to comfort her father and brothers by helping them with
the chores and would entertain them by playing the musical instruments salvaged
from the fire. The youngest daughter is not only kind, but also hardworking,
and charming, and her name is Beauty. Because of her looks and
nature, the country folk would always inquire about her, much to her sisters'
jealousy.
Two years after moving to the countryside, the merchant receives news
that one of his ships has been recovered along with precious cargo on it. But
with the harvest season coming soon, the merchant decides to go to the docks
alone. He commands his sons to look after the farm while he is away and asks
his daughters what gifts they want should his trip be successful. Still being
greedy after all their time in the countryside, the eldest five demand gowns
and jewelry. When asked what she wants, Beauty requests for a rose as it is her favorite flower and she has not
seen one since they left the city.
The next day, the merchant leaves his family for the city. Six months of
travel, however, prove fruitless. When he arrives at the docks, he learns that
his colleagues, believing him to be dead, have split the cargo between themselves and left him nothing. The father has no choice but to go home empty-handed.
As it is the middle of winter, a severe snow storm forces him to take shelter in
the woods.
🏰Chapter 2: The Palace of the Beast🌹
When morning comes, the merchant arrives at a magnificent palace
surrounded by beautiful gardens with orange trees and many life-like statues.
Entering the building, the father is fed and treated very well, although there
is no one to be seen. Nevertheless, the merchant is grateful for his mysterious
host. The next morning, the father, still unable to meet his host, decides to
resume his journey home. While walking in the gardens, he comes across a bower
of roses and remembers his promise to give Beauty one. No sooner than he plucks
one flower, his host, a terrifying Beast, appears behind him and tells him that
as punishment for stealing one of his precious roses after accepting his
hospitality, the merchant must die.
The father begs to be free and tells the Beast that he only wants to give the
rose to his youngest daughter. The Beast agrees to let the merchant go home and
give Beauty the rose, on the condition that he returns to the palace in one month with one of his daughters. Should the merchant break his promise, the
Beast will hunt him down and kill his family. The father is distressed at
making the deal, but cannot think of another way to see his children again. The following morning, the father is given a magic horse which carries him and
the rose to the farm in a few seconds.
Upon coming home, the merchant gives Beauty her rose and tells his children of
the deal he has made with the Beast. Shocked by this pact, the six sons tell
their father they would storm the palace and kill the Beast, but he forbids them from committing such a misdeed because he has decided to keep his end of
the bargain. When asked which one of them should go to the Beast, the five
greedy sisters declare that it should be Beauty since she is the one
who has wished for a rose. Beauty, out of her love for her father, agrees to go
to the Beast’s palace. The father is so moved by his youngest child's sacrifice
that remembering a prophecy about Beauty saving his life one day and making
their family happy, allows her to accompany him to the palace by the end of the
month. The greedy sisters are delighted to be rid of her, although the
brothers are saddened at the idea of never seeing Beauty again.
One month later, a magic horse appears to take father and daughter to the
Beast's palace. After bidding her siblings farewell, Beauty and her father ride
the horse to their destination. Along the way, the merchant begs Beauty to go
home, but she insists on meeting the Beast, believing he may not be as
horrifying as her father describes. By nightfall, the two arrived at the palace
where Beauty is greeted by a spectacular fireworks show and even jokes that the
preparations for her funeral are beautiful.
👩🏽Chapter 3: Beauty Meets the Beast🦁
In the palace, Beauty meets the Beast, although she is scared of him at first.
When asked if she has come on her will and would she be his guest, Beauty
agrees. The Beast tells the merchant to leave the following morning and must
not, under any circumstances, return to the palace. Still, father and daughter
are allowed a final evening together and are permitted to fill trunks with
gifts and gold for Beauty's siblings. While filling the trunks with the goods,
Beauty advises her father not to let her siblings know about the money in case
it would cause more problems; her father agrees. The next morning, the merchant
packs the gold and leaves the palace with two magic horses: one for
him to ride on and the other to carry the gifts. Beauty is left in the palace
with the Beast. Entering her room and thinking she will never see her family
again, Beauty cries herself to sleep.
On her second night in the palace, Beauty dreams she is in a garden where she
meets a handsome youth beside a canal. The Unknown, which he is, tells Beauty
that he loves her and wishes for her to be happy in the Beast’s palace. A
mysterious lady also appears in the dream, warning Beauty not to judge others
by their appearances. The next day, Beauty explores the
palace. In one room, she finds all the walls covered in mirrors and a
bracelet with a portrait of the Unknown on it. In a hallway full of paintings, she
finds a life-size portrait of him. In a third room, she plays with some musical
instruments and in the fourth, which happens to be a vast library, she reads
books like she used to do during her studies back in the city. That evening, Beauty is having dinner when the Beast appears and converses with her. During their talk, Beauty perceives the Beast to be stupid. Out of the blue, he asks her to marry him. Although shocked by this unexpected proposal, Beauty is told that she could either accept or reject it. Beauty rejects the marriage proposal and the Beast bids her goodnight and leaves her after somewhat wholeheartedly accepting the rejection. Later, Beauty again dreams about the Unknown who is mysteriously sad and would not tell her why.
The next day, Beauty explores the gardens which are full of flowers, trees, and fountains. Beauty is surprised to find herself in one garden identical to the one in her dreams. Although the Unknown does not appear, Beauty is convinced that the Beast is keeping him a prisoner in the palace.
The next day, Beauty explores the gardens which are full of flowers, trees, and fountains. Beauty is surprised to find herself in one garden identical to the one in her dreams. Although the Unknown does not appear, Beauty is convinced that the Beast is keeping him a prisoner in the palace.
In the following days, Beauty explores rooms full of songbirds, parrots, and
monkeys. The birds entertain her with their singing, the parrots with their
speeches, and the monkeys volunteer to be her servants. In her room, the
parrots serve as translators for the apes who perform a play for Beauty.
🐦🦜Chapter 4: Beauty Explores the Palace🐵
Beauty
wants to ask the Beast about the Unknown, but decides not to. In another room,
Beauty finds glass windows that project realistic plays and operas like the
ones she used to watch in the city. Every night at dinner, the Beast
asks Beauty to marry him, but she always rejects his proposals as she fears that he will eat her one day. Still, the Beast just bids her good night
after being rejected.
In another one of her dreams, Beauty tells the Unknown that she cannot stand
the Beast's nightly proposals and confesses that she loves him. However, the
Unknown persuades her to marry the Beast as it is clear that he loves her. The
youth warns Beauty not to be deceived by others' appearances. He tries to
explain to her how to free him, but everything gets confusing as the Unknown
and the Beast keep switching places in the dream garden and Beauty fails to
make any sense of her illusions.
During the day, Beauty would wear new dresses her wardrobe provides for her,
spend time with her animal friends, read books in the library, and watch the
latest plays the theatre room has to offer. On one of her nightly meetings
with the Beast, she wants to ask him about the Unknown, but instead asks
him if they are the only inhabitants in the palace. He replies that, with the
exception of the animals, he and Beauty are the only people in the palace. In
her latest dream, the Unknown threatens to kill the Beast. Alarmed, Beauty tells him she would rather die than see her ugly host harmed, and claims that even though she continues to reject the Beast's marriage proposals, she is nevertheless grateful for him taking good care of
her. The dream ends with the mysterious lady's voice congratulating Beauty on
seeing the Beast for his kindness, rather than his ugliness.
In the weeks that follow, Beauty no longer finds her animal companions, her activities, and the plays entertaining. She becomes so sad that the Beast asks her what the matter is. Beauty confesses that she is homesick and wishes to see her family. The Beast reluctantly agrees to let Beauty go visit her family, on the condition that she return to the palace in two months. He also gives her a magic ring which she must turn on her finger on the eve of her destination and lets her fill more trunks with gifts for her family. Grateful for the Beast's permission, Beauty promises to return upon the appointed time and packs her family's gifts. Before going to bed, Beauty turns the ring and dreams of her beloved Unknown lying as if he were dead and accuses Beauty of leaving him forever. Beauty promises that she would only be away for a while and to free him from the Beast when she returns to the palace. When asked if she truly loves the Beast, Beauty says she is only doing her end of the bargain. The dream ends without the mysterious lady nor her advice.
💍Chapter 5: Beauty Returns Home🏠
Beauty awakes to find herself in her family's new house. Upon getting dressed, Beauty discovers her family's gifts inside an adjacent
room and surprises her family members who are shocked as they are
not expecting to see her again. Although her father and brothers are happy to
see her, her greedy sisters are upset. When left alone with Beauty, the merchant
tells her that when he came home from the palace on the day he left her, he did not plan to use the gold right away. Perceiving the gold as the
price for sacrificing Beauty's freedom, he sent it, along with the magic
horses, back to the palace. But the next morning, he finds the money in his
wardrobe. Believing this strange phenomenon to be a random act of kindness by
the Beast, the merchant had used the gold to buy the new house, slaves to do their
work, and provide Beauty's siblings with their needs and wants.
Beauty then tells her father that she must return to the Beast's palace in two months, and tells him of what she has experienced there and of her dreams. After listening to his
daughter's stories, the merchant advises Beauty to marry the Beast the next time
he proposes to her. He reasons that the Beast has done a great act kindness to
Beauty's family and obviously loves her. Beauty, however, still
cannot stand the idea of marrying someone who, despite being kind, is ugly and
only appears to her in the evening to propose to her. She also admits that she is
still in love with the Unknown. The merchant warns Beauty to follow the
mysterious lady's advice of not judging others' appearances as he fears that
should the Unknown exist in real life, he might only harm her, and that there are men whose hearts are ugly compared to their handsome
faces.
During Beauty's visit, she does not dream of the Unknown and her
family's new friends and neighbors visit her every day, charmed by
her looks and manners. The greedy sisters' suitors are so enamored with Beauty that they leave their original objects of affections and compete for her hand in marriage. Beauty persuades them to return to her
sisters. But her words fall on deaf ears and the five jealous sisters wish
for her to return to the Beast as soon as possible. On the last day of her
visit, Beauty bids her family goodbye. However, her father, her brothers, and
her unwanted suitors beg for her to stay a little longer. Seeing the sad look in her
father's eyes, Beauty agrees much to her sisters' annoyance. That night, Beauty
dreams of the Beast lying still in a cave and of the lady warning her to return
to the palace soon, otherwise, the Beast will die. Waking up from her
nightmare, Beauty firmly decides to leave her family again, much to her father
and brothers' sadness, her unwanted suitors' grief, and her sisters' gladness. Before
going to bed, Beauty turns the ring.
The next morning, Beauty wakes up to find herself back in the palace and is
happy to see her animal friends again. She spends the day deciding on whether
to accept the Beast's next marriage proposal or confess to him about her love
for the Unknown. Despite her conflicting emotions, Beauty has missed the Beast
very much. She is, therefore, displeased when he does not appear during
dinnertime so she enters the gardens to find him. Suddenly she remembers her
nightmare and finds the Beast lying unconscious
inside a cave. With the help of some monkeys, Beauty revives the Beast who is
happy to see she has returned. Happy to see him alive, Beauty tells the Beast
she loves him. Later that evening, Beauty dreams of the Unknown telling her how
happy she will be with the Beast. However, Beauty is annoyed that he is not
fighting for her. The lady also reappears and tells Beauty that victory is at
hand.
The next day, Beauty goes to the opera room to forget about the Unknown and
goes to have dinner. When the Beast proposes to her the nth time, Beauty accepts him. After a dazzling firework show
congratulating the couple on their engagement, Beauty sleeps with the Beast
beside her.
👩🏽Chapter 6: Beauty Meets the Prince🤴🏼
In her dreams, Beauty is again annoyed that the Unknown is not
going to fight the Beast for her love, but the lady tells her that the truth
will be revealed come morning. When Beauty wakes up the next morning, she finds
sleeping beside her not the Beast, but rather the Unknown, and realizes they are the same person.
A parrot announces the arrival of
two women. Beauty goes to greet them and recognizes one of them as the
mysterious lady in her dreams. The dream lady turns to her companion, a
Queen, and tells her that Beauty is the one who has broken the spell her son,
the Beast-turned-Prince, had been under for years. The Queen is thrilled to
have Beauty as her daughter-in-law until she finds out that she is a merchant's
daughter and not a princess. When the Queen complains to her companion, a Fairy, about Beauty's class and asks whether there is a princess suitable for
the Prince, she is told that there is no princess worthier than Beauty. The
Prince awakens and is reunited with his mother. The Fairy tells the Prince
about his mother's rejection to his engagement to Beauty. The Queen offers
Beauty a marriage to a member of the royal court, but not the Prince's hand. Beauty
decides to leave the Prince so as not to embarrass him. Dismayed, the
Prince begs the Fairy to turn him back into a Beast so he can be with Beauty.
When the Queen still refuses to give the couple her blessing, the Fairy reveals
that Beauty is not a merchant's daughter at all, but rather the long-lost Crown
Princess of the Fortunate Island and their niece, the daughter of the Queen's
brother and the Fairy's sister. Shocked by this revelation, the Queen asks
Beauty to forgive her and gives the couple her blessing. The Queen and the
Fairy Aunt leave the happy couple alone to invite Beauty's true father, the King of the Fortunate Island.
When Beauty asks the Prince the events that had led to his curse, he tells her the story of his life.
🦁Chapter 7: The Beast's Story🌹
The
Prince's father died before he was born, leaving the Queen a widow. Mother and son's time together was cut short when an enemy invaded
the kingdom. The Queen decided to lead the royal army and reluctantly left the
Prince under the care of his Wicked Fairy Godmother. For fifteen years, the Queen battled with her enemy many times, hoping to see her son again. Meanwhile, the Wicked Fairy raised the Prince as if he
were her own son and even allowed him to call her Mother. For some years, though,
the Wicked Fairy left the Prince to be looked after by some of her kind and
returned soon after in a new light. She told the Prince that she wished to marry him, even though he was a child at that time. Nevertheless, the Wicked
Fairy resumed looking after the Prince
When he was all grown up, the Prince wished to help his mother save the
kingdom. The Wicked Fairy accompanied him to seek the Queen's blessing. At the
battlefield, the Queen was both overjoyed to see her son again after many years and distressed over the possibility of the enemy taking him hostage or killing
him. However, the Prince aided his mother in defeating the enemy and the royal
family returned home. At the summer palace, where he would meet Beauty, the
Wicked Fairy asked the Queen for permission to marry the Prince. But the Queen
proudly rejected the proposal as the Fairy was old and ugly. Agreeing with his mother, the Prince asked his godmother what she would like to have as a reward for raising him. Angered at being rejected, it was then that the
Wicked Fairy turned the Prince into a Beast and declared that only a maiden's
act of true love could make him human again. Before leaving the kingdom, the
Wicked Fairy warned the shocked Queen that should anyone else knew of the spell, it would never be broken.
Saddened by their situation, mother and son tried to kill themselves. However,
the Fairy Aunt appeared to help them break the curse. To ensure that only the
Queen knew of the spell, the Fairy Aunt turned all the servants into statues
and sent the Queen back to the battlefield, promising to look after her son. With the Fairy Aunt's help, mother and son were able to communicate with each other during the time of the curse. To lessen the Prince's loneliness in the palace, the Fairy Aunt summoned a troop of Genies to serve him and would visit him from time to time. On the day the merchant
planned to take the rose to Beauty, the Fairy Aunt appeared to the
accursed Prince to tell him of his guest's youngest daughter as the one
destined to break the spell. Following the Fairy's advice, the Beast made the deal with the merchant. When Beauty
arrived, the Beast fell in love with her immediately, but he had to act and to
speak stupidly and must not tell her about the curse. To break it, Beauty must
love him for his heart, rather than for his looks and brains. It was also the
Fairy Aunt who arranged for Beauty to see the Prince's true self in dreams and had built the enchanted rooms Beauty would explore. It is also
revealed that some of the Genies had gone on to become Beauty’s animal friends.
Throughout that time, the Beast was happy having Beauty around and missed her
when she left to visit her family for two months. When she failed to return on
time, the Beast was so heartbroken, he attempted to starve himself to death. He
became unconscious just before Beauty found him in the cave.
The Prince finishes his story by telling Beauty that he is happy to marry her
as she is graceful both on the outside and on the inside.
🤴Chapter 8: The Fairy Reveals All👸🏽
The King of the Fortunate Island arrives at the palace where he is greeted by
his sister, the Queen, and his nephew, the Prince. The Fairy Aunt then
introduces her brother-in-law to Beauty, his daughter whom he had believed to
be dead. The Fairy Aunt restores the statues to their living, breathing
selves and tells her family the story of Beauty's true identity.
Sixteen years prior, on
the Fortunate Island, the King had married the Fairy Aunt’s sister and they had a daughter. Two years after the Princess's birth, the Queen persuaded the King to go on a hunting trip.
While he was away, all the fairies, including Beauty's aunt and mother, were
summoned to one of their triannual assemblies wherein they must report to their Queen all the tasks they had
performed thus far. During the assembly, the Queen of the Fortunate
Island was tried for marrying a human and having a child with him. One of the
charges pressed against her was the fact that she was not yet an Elder, a Fairy aged 1000 and above. The laws of Fairyland forbid non-Elder Fairies from marrying humans and having children with them. Also,
the young fairy had neglected the duties she was supposed to perform. Among her prosecutors were two Elders: the Prince's Wicked Godmother and the Mother of
Seasons who declared that, as part of the young fairy's punishment, her daughter
would marry a Beast. The poor Fairy Queen of the Fortunate Island was then
stripped of her powers and locked away in a deep dungeon.
Back on the Fortunate Island, the Queen's servants became concerned
as she had not come out of her room for days. When they find her room empty, her subjects frantically looked everywhere for her for they loved her dearly and were worried how the King would react to her
disappearance. After hours of fruitless searching, the people decided to fake their Queen's death. They informed the King and a mock funeral was
held for the missing Queen. Despite his grief, the King was happy that he still
had his daughter to look after.
When the Princess turned three years old, the Wicked Fairy arrived at the kingdom
disguised as a widowed queen in exile and wished to form an alliance against her husband's murderer and
enemy. In exchange, she would marry the King and help him raise his daughter.
But even after the King helped the Wicked Fairy reclaim her kingdom and punish her enemy, he refused to marry her as he still loved his wife. However, he remained the Fairy's ally and hired her to be the Princess's governess. Believing the Princess to be the barrier to the
King's heart, the Wicked Fairy paid a greedy couple to kill the child.
Meanwhile, the Fairy Aunt wanted to stop the Wicked Fairy, but she was torn
between her duties to Fairyland and her love for her sister. Thinking it was
the only way to save her niece, the Fairy Aunt decided to undergo the Terrible
Act, a magic spell mastered by Elders and which enables a Fairy to
transform into any shape they desire. It is named so because even though all
Fairies can perform it, they must be Elders to do so, lest they become serpents. Even though she was only
990 years old at the time, the Fairy Aunt mastered the spell by
transforming herself into a bear. Wasting
no time, the Fairy Aunt went to the woods where the hired killers had taken the
Princess. Still in her furry disguise, the Fairy Aunt killed the
would-be murderers, saving her niece. She then drenched her niece's clothes in the hired killers'
blood before carrying her away to safety. When some shepherds reported the grisly discovery, the
Wicked Fairy was satisfied, believing that the Princess had indeed been killed.
The Fairy Aunt decided to leave her niece with a non-royal family to avoid attracting the Wicked Fairy's attention. In a countryside, she found a hut wherein
slept three women and a sick child. The Fairy Aunt took pity on the little one
and wanted to help it, but the child died soon after. Discovering that the dead
child was a girl the same age as her niece, the Fairy Aunt switched the
children. After burying the dead child, the Fairy then returned to the cottage
to find the three women waking up. Disguising herself as a beggar, she asked
the trio for food and shelter which they gave her. The women explained that they were nurses and that their charge was their
master's twelfth and youngest child who had been sick since birth. Believing
fresh air to be the cure, their master, the merchant, sent her to the
countryside with the nurses to look after her. For the past three years, the
nurses had tried in vain to make their charge better. After telling their
story, they went to look at their charge and were amazed to see a glowing
healthy little girl, not suspecting she was not their master's true child.
At sunrise, the nurses returned to the city with the hidden princess. Disguised
as a fortune teller, the Fairy Aunt followed them to the merchant's house
where she delivered the prophecy about the little girl bringing fortune to her
substitute family and insisted that she be named Beauty.
The Fairy Aunt then enlisted a good Elder Fairy to protect her heartbroken brother-in-law from the Wicked Fairy whom he had banished for failing to look after the Princess. Seeing that she would never have the King's love, the Wicked Fairy returned to the Prince with plans to marry him instead. Years later, the Fairy Aunt arrived at the moment the Prince turned into a Beast. His situation delighted her as she recognized the two problems-her niece's destiny to marry a Beast and the Prince's curse-as two halves of one solution. Eventually, the Fairy Aunt united the two, and exposed the Wicked Fairy's crimes in the Fairyland court. Just like the Queen of the Fortunate Island, the Wicked Fairy was then stripped of all her magic, never to harm the royal family ever again.
The Fairy Aunt then enlisted a good Elder Fairy to protect her heartbroken brother-in-law from the Wicked Fairy whom he had banished for failing to look after the Princess. Seeing that she would never have the King's love, the Wicked Fairy returned to the Prince with plans to marry him instead. Years later, the Fairy Aunt arrived at the moment the Prince turned into a Beast. His situation delighted her as she recognized the two problems-her niece's destiny to marry a Beast and the Prince's curse-as two halves of one solution. Eventually, the Fairy Aunt united the two, and exposed the Wicked Fairy's crimes in the Fairyland court. Just like the Queen of the Fortunate Island, the Wicked Fairy was then stripped of all her magic, never to harm the royal family ever again.
Back in the present day, the Fairy Aunt reveals that she has been telling her sister all the recent news about the King, who still misses her and has never remarried, and about Beauty.
👰🏽Chapter 9: A Happy Ending🤵🏼
The King is grateful for all the Fairy Aunt has done and wishes to see his wife again. The Fairy Aunt says she cannot grant his request; because her sister had broken the rigid laws of Fairyland, there is a slim chance she would ever be set free. A great fanfare is then played for the unexpected arrival of Beauty's long-lost mother, the Queen of the Fortunate Island. The Fairy Aunt and the King are happy to see her. When asked how she is free, the Fairy Mother replies that she owes it to the Queen of Fairyland. The Fairy Queen has a daughter cursed to become a serpent on her 100th birthday. The monarch was desperate to alter her daughter's fate. Upon hearing this situation, Beauty's mother volunteered to undergo the transformation instead, thus earning her freedom and becoming an Elder. More than happy to see his beloved wife again, the King gives the Prince his blessing to marry Beauty.
With the whole royal family reunited, the Fairy Aunt summons Beauty's substitute family to the palace for the wedding. Seventeen guests arrive at the palace:
the merchant, his six sons, the five greedy sisters, and the five suitors. The
Fairy Aunt reveals to the merchant Beauty's true parentage and he is surprised
to meet the Prince who had been previously the Beast. With her bridegroom's and
their parents' permissions, Beauty is allowed to have the merchant and
his children as extended members of her family and make them members of her
court. Although the suitors are disappointed that they will never claim Beauty,
they nevertheless marry her sisters who remain jealous of the Princess.
Beauty and the Prince's wedding is soon celebrated with grand festivities.
After traveling around the world in a magic chariot given by their
Fairy Aunt, the royal couple move to the palace previously owned by the
Prince's father. From there, they rule the kingdom and pay occasional visits to
Beauty's parents on the Fortunate Island and to the summer palace where the
Genie animals are more than happy to serve them.
Beauty, her Prince, and their family live happily ever after. To ensure their
love story is never forgotten, the Prince's mother has it written down in books
so that the whole world will know the tale of Beauty and the Beast.
III. Themes
· Love
Beauty is beloved not because she is pretty, but also because she
is gentle and kind. The Beast is also kind, thus earning her affection as true
love is necessary in breaking the spell. In addition to romantic love, familial
love is also shown in the fairy tale. Beauty and her substitute father are
devoted to each other to the point where she trades places with him as
prisoner in the Beast's palace. Beauty's biological parents, the King and Queen
of the Fortunate Island, show their love for her by welcoming the merchant and
his children to the family as it is love and not blood that makes one. Sibling love is also shown in Beauty's care for her substitute brothers
and the two Fairy sisters' devotion to each other in times of trouble. Love
means seeing a person's inner being. The story shows that even though love
comes in many different forms, it always remains beautiful.
· Appearances
Love is not about appearances in the fairy tale. In fact,
appearances can indeed be deceiving. Beauty's sisters, though pretty, are selfish. The Beast, though ugly, has a heart of gold. Even Beauty,
charming inside and outside, is more than she appears since she is not a
merchant's daughter, but a princess. Beauty also needs to see the connection
between the Beast's ugly looks and his kindness to lift the curse.
· Sacrifice
Beauty sacrifices her freedom to save her substitute father. The
Beast has to learn how to sacrifice-to set her free even though he loves
her-before the curse can be lifted. His mother, the Queen, has sacrificed her
chance to be with him to protect the kingdom. The act, in the story, is a pure
and clear expression of love: giving one's self for another's sake. It is also
the best way for the couple to break the Wicked Fairy’s spell.
· Identity
The Beast's struggles to regain a human identity is what drives
the plot. People form their identities in their relationships. It is their
interactions with others that shows their true colors. Identity is also largely
determined by external factors, and the characters can only adapt to what has
been imposed on them by others like the Wicked Fairy's curse on the Prince and
Beauty having to deal with her sisters' jealousy and the Queen's pride.
· Exile
The Beast, at first, lives completely apart from civilization; stuck in his palace with only the Fairy Aunt and the Genies for company. He has
been separated from the rest of humanity by the Wicked Fairy and has isolated himself. In the end, the Beast overcomes his exile when
Beauty comes along.
IV. Symbols
· Cottage 🏠
The cottage represents the simple and carefree country life or a
humble life (Olderr 1986). This is the type of life the merchant and
his children are least accustomed to living for the cottage represents their fall
from a grand estate to a simple farm.
· Roses 🥀
Roses not only symbolize, completion, perfection, beauty, female sex
organs, the heart, and love (Olderr 1986), they also represent three elements in the fairy tale. First, Beauty's request for a rose
is among the best-known scenes in the story. Ironically, it will be the most
dangerous and costly gift her father tries to produce. Second, roses also stand in for death which is how the
Beast feels when Beauty fails to return from her visit to her family: if she
cannot break the curse, then he might as well be dead. Mintz (1969-70) says that the rose's thorns represent the Beast's masculinity, while the seeds represent Beauty's femininity. Third, roses also
symbolize mystery: blossoming slowly to reveal their beauty. While it keeps up
with the fairy tale's theme of love, it represents a different sort of mystery:
the mystery surrounding the Beast and how he came to be that way. Even after
the mystery gets solved with the breaking of the spell, it represents until the
end Beauty and the Beast's love for each other.
· Woods 🌳
According to Jungian psychology, the woods represent the feminine
principle and is identified with unconsciousness. The tree branches block the
sun's rays; the sun representing in turn the male principle. The woods also
symbolize the dangerous side of unconsciousness: its ability to destroy reason
(Cirlot and Matthews) and is a recurring image in fairy tales.
· Snow ❄️
Snow represents death, blindness, nothingness, purity, chastity,
frigidity, and virginity (Olderr 1986).
· Orange
trees 🍊
The orange trees symbolize the Beast's generosity (Olderr 1986).
· Gold 🥇
Gold represents virtue, intelligence, superiority, Heaven, riches,
idolatry, truth, marriage, and fruitfulness (Olderr 1986).
· Canal 🌊
A canal can symbolize deceit, spiritual guidance, and the morning
(Olderr 1986).
· Mirrors
Mirrors symbolize
truth and represent the heart.
· Garden 💐
A garden symbolizes the consciousness, the soul, nature subdued,
feminine fertility, happiness, Paradise, salvation, purity, the world, and the
place of mystic ecstasy (Olderr 1986).
· Birds 🐦🦜
The parrots and the songbirds represent amorous yearning, air, wind, time, immortality, the female principle, aspiration,
prophecy, love, and freedom (Olderr 1986).
· Ring 💍
A ring represents continuity, wholeness, marriage, an endless
cycle, a contract, unity, power, bond, fertility, love, eternity, justice, and
authority (Olderr 1986).
· Cave
A cave represents secrets, security, impregnability,
unconsciousness, the womb, mother, Hell, resurrection, burial, fertility, the
human mind, the heart, refuge, and shelter (Olderr 1986).
· Transformations
People's true selves sometimes disappear beneath the surface. The
greedy sisters, for example, are courted by young men because they are pretty
even though they are nasty underneath. The Beast's former handsomeness vanishes
beneath the curse. The Queen’s pride makes her partially responsible for the
spell her son goes under and nearly ends his engagement to Beauty. In
all cases, one must learn to recognize the hearts of those they meet and look
past their faces. Beauty serves as the antidote for the Beast's transformation.
She is the only character who is graceful both inside and out and she does not
show any difference between her inner self and her outer self. That is the
harmony she brings to the palace, and which enables her to see that the Beast is as charming as she is. The Beast's
transformation lasts only as long as it needs to; long enough for him and
Beauty to fall in love.
· Fairies 🧚🏼♀️
Fairies represent the supra-normal powers of the human soul;
latent possibilities; the personification of stages in spiritual development;
and the lesser spiritual moods of the universal spirit (Olderr 1986).
V. Background of the
Fairy Tale
Madame de Villeneuve had written La Belle et la Bête or Beauty and the Beast in
1740. She was said to had drawn inspiration from the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche. Beauty and the Beast was first published in French in "La jeune américaine, et les contes
marins", and contains over a hundred pages and many subplots. de Villeneuve's
story did not remain hers for long. In 1756, Madame Jeanne-Marie Leprince de
Beaumont had abridged and rewritten the original novella-length text to publish the
version most commonly retold. While de Villeneuve's primary audience is adults, de Beaumont's is children, so she added minor alterations to the text:
In de Villeneuve’s original version, the Beast asks Beauty, "May I sleep with you
tonight?" The question, while risqué, is neither suggestive nor erotic; rather
it implies Beauty's control and choice over her own body and sexuality,
something that was not legally hers or that of any woman in an arranged
marriage. So in her version, de Beaumont changed the Beast's question to "Will you
marry me?" - a familiar refrain in retellings of the story.
The Beast in de Villeneuve’s story is depicted
as stupid as "Bête" is a French slang term for a silly or foolish person.
In de Beaumont's version, he is depicted as being wise.
de Beaumont had also left
out Beauty's dreams and true parentage, and the Beast's side of the story.
Both versions were translated into English. de Villeneuve's variant was
translated into English twice: first by J. R. Planché in 1858, and again by
Ernest Dowson in 1908. While Dowson's translation is faithful to de Villeneuve’s
original text, Planché's is more entertaining; although it borrows elements
from de Beaumont's version, it is the one analyzed in this blog post. On the other
hand, de Beaumont's version is the best known and is the one
adapted into a number of plays, comics, and films, one of the most well-known being Disney's 1991 Oscar winner. de Villeneuve's version would have been lost had it
not been reprinted for free online reading, adapted into a faithful graphic novel, and illustrated by MinaLima to commemorate 2017 live action remake of Disney's version.
In the end, Beauty and the Beast is a tale as old as time: a story that continues to be told and retold to every generation.
VI. References
- Condon B. (Director). (2017). Beauty and the Beast [Film]. Walt Disney Pictures.
- de Villeneuve, G. S. B. (2017). Beauty and the Beast, The. HarperCollins.
- Hahn, D. (Producer), Trousdale, G., & Wise, K.
(Directors). (1991). Beauty and the Beast [Film]. Walt Disney Pictures.
- Heiner, H. A. (2013, October 8). Annotations for Beauty and the Beast. SurLaLune Fairy Tales. http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/beautybeast/notes.html
- Heiner, H. A. (2013, October 8). History of Beauty and the Beast. SurLaLune Fairy Tales. http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/beautybeast/history.html
- Kearney, M. (2012). Megan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast. http://www.batb.thecomicseries.com/comics/2/
- Richert, W. (2015). My Beauty, My Beast: A Graphic Novel with the Original Beauty and Beast. The Invisible Kingdom.
- Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Beauty and the Beast Symbols and Tropes. Shmoop. http://www.shmoop.com/beauty-and-the-beast/symbols-tropes.html
- Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Beauty and the Beast Themes. Shmoop. http://www.shmoop.com/beauty-and-the-beast/themes.html
