Beauty and the Beast and the Concept of Beauty

The Tale “Beauty and the Beast”

The tale “Beauty and the Beast” exposes the development of a fairy tale involving a beautiful woman who fell in love with a beast. The fairy tale focuses on the diverse developments that occurred between the beautiful woman and the beast that she fell in love with (Bottigheimer, 355). In the development of the fairy tale, it is identifiable that the fairy tale explains the different episode of the life that the two underwent. Consequently, in the development of the story, a relation of the version of the Beauty and the Beast was done comparatively to the modern life that people live.

Illustration

Regarding the development of the version by the Disney, the Beast is characterized to be selfish and a whiny prince. The beast had refused to shelter an old woman because she was an enchanter. In the context of his refusal to shelter the old woman, she turned him into a beast. In this context, the version illustrated that if the beast would not be able to love a person honestly, than he would remain a beast forever (Bottigheimer 344). Relative to the version by Disney, the modern rendition of the beauty an the beast is that, it is impossible for an individual to develop better sense of love for people around them if they are not genuinely in love with themselves. According to the development by the Disney, the old woman had given the beast a period to find and love someone or he would remain a beast after the twenty first years is past (Von Franz 12). The story is relative to the modern time in that people develop diverse perspective about how they feel when it relates to other people. In this relation, it is important to consider the aspect of loving an individual in their time of need than to focus on self-worth in comparison to the love that should be shown to other people.

The Old Woman and the Beast’s Transformation

The old woman who had turned the prince into a beast was wise and lenient with the condition that the prince would be in. In his situation of being a beast, he was allowed enough time for him find a person who could love him. In this context, the beast was supposed to show love to a person who would show the same love to him. Failure to meet the deadline to twenty-one years, the prince would remain a beast forever (Bottigheimer 354). In the context of the modern rendition, people live in different societies that have different social classes. According to the society that the prince had lived, they had a monarchy that enabled them to rule. In the event of his leadership, the prince had acquired the characteristics of being whiney and looking down upon other people in the society (Cummins 22). This characteristic made the old woman turn him into a beast not that she wanted to but because of the prince’s pride. It important to understand that in the modern society people are sometimes compelled to make certain decisions that they do not really want to make. The circumstances and the need to teach people a lesson influence the decision-making.

The Old Woman’s Motive

About the time given to the beast to change and experience transformation in his life again, it is identifiable that the old woman had been considerate with his condition. It would not be the old woman’s wish to see him suffer in the beastly condition. The purpose of him being in the condition was characterized by the fact that there was need to have transformation in his character (Von Franz 10). The beast had a period of twenty years to seek a beautiful woman who would like him in his beastly look and he was obliged to show the same love to the woman. By this understanding, it is related to the modern aspect of interpretation in the sense that the old woman’s motive was to embrace love among people.

The Importance of Inner Beauty

It would be unfair to love accept people based on the physical characteristics that are seen outwardly (Cummins 25). The beast was given the grace period to enable him find a true love that would make him realize that love does not need to be based on what can only be seen. The beast had judged the woman because he thought that the woman was not only ugly but also an enchanter. It is appropriate to give people a period for them to realize the mistakes that they have done and enable them to change (Cummins 24). In the period of transformation, an individual would be able to understand the point to which they made inappropriate decision and try to fix them. Development of new strategies in an individual’s life in the modern society could help in repairing the faults that were made in the past.

Disney’s Development of the Story

The Disney’s development of the story about the beauty and the beast depicts the beast as being selfish and whiny from the start. In they context, the development initiate the understanding of the beast’s character trait from the beginning of the development of the story. Relative to the understanding in the modern times, the development of the personality shown by the beast would help in developing deeper understanding about the current society. The society is founded on different personalities. In the context of the different personalities, it is important to understand that people might not make decision because they want to. The difference in the personality trait is a contributing factor (Cummins, 28). Therefore, understanding the people in the society helps giving them time to change in case they made the decisions when they did not want to. The aspect of Disneyfication facilitates better understanding of the occurrences in the fairy tale. The fairy tale is founded based on moral understanding (Cummins 23). The interpretation of the book would be related to the social development in the current societies as people make mistakes but later learn from them. In this regard, Disneyfication aspect facilities the element of ensuing the society learns a moral lesson from the fairy tale of the beauty and the beast.

Conclusion

The beauty and the beast is a fairy tale that focused on the development of new societal understanding of divergent personalities. People in the society possess different personalities and it is important to accept that an individual may be able to change from the state at which they have always been and acquire a new characteristic. In the context of Disneyfication, the elaboration of the personality of the beast enabled the understanding of the need to have people accommodate other regardless of the physical observations (Cummins 28). The prince could not have turned into a beast if he did not perceive the old woman as ugly and an enchanter.

Works Cited

Bottigheimer, Ruth B. “Fairy tales, folk narrative research and history.” Social history 14.3 (1989): 343-357.

Cummins, June. ”Romancing the Plot: The Real Beast of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 20.1 (1995): 22-28.

Von Franz, Marie-Luise. An introduction to the interpretation of fairy tales. Vol. 1. Spring Publications, 1971.