By discussing the theme of "beauty and beast" in fairy tales, Jack Zipes, a scholar of comparative literature and children's literature, lamented the "self-denial" of female authors, claiming that "the dark side and sadness of classical fairy tales are that female writers are often forced to present more male hegemony and needs in the story than their own needs."
He used the two earliest versions of the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast, published by Mme de Villeneuve and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1740 and 1756 respectively - as "two most classic examples" to illustrate his arguments, and proposed these fairy tales to show that the beauty of women is her "obedience, humility, hard work, patience" and most importantly, self-sacrifice.
Although Zijia quotes Zips in almost every article in the "General Course of Children's Literature", this time she does not completely agree with Zips' point of view. In the following, she compared the similarities and differences between the three versions of "Beauty and the Beast", believing that disciplined women is not the message that the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" wants to convey first, and the female author has no intention of self-denial, but rather explains the women's desire to take the initiative in a romantic relationship and be on an equal footing with men through the story - essentially, she believes that the fairy tale of "Beauty and the Beast" is a story created by women for women.
1756 text version:
Beauty gained respect from the beast
After the launch of the "Metoo movement" (the American anti-sexual harassment movement), people began to emphasize that in a relationship, before starting to move, to obtain the other party's "consent (license), that is, to obtain the other party's consent. This is a manifestation of women's struggle for autonomy in their physical and sexual behavior. Even in a determined intimacy, if you engage in sexual or marginalized sexual behavior without the other party’s consent, these actions can be considered offensive and harassment. The beast in the 1756 version of Mrs. Debemont's "Beauty and the Beast" can be called the "consent model".
Jenny-Madame Mary LePlanes DeBomont (1711-1780) is a French novelist. She cuts and retells the story based on "Beauty and the Beast" created by Mrs. Villeneuve and published it.
In this story, the first complete dialogue between Belle (Belle, meaning "beautiful" in French) and the beast begins with the question of Belle, "Will you allow me to see you eat?" to obtain approval to Belle for dinner. Afterwards, when Bell answers "Then let it go" because of fear, the beast rejects the answer and comforts Bell and encourages her to make decisions as she wishes.
The beast said: "No, you are the only mistress here; if my existence is troublesome, you just need to ask me to leave and I will leave immediately." In this way, the beast not only cares whether it can obtain Bell's consent, but also cares whether such "consent" is her voice. Even in today's society, the insincere words behind "consent" are often ignored. In the story, it is the beast's courtesy and his respectful attitude that gradually dispels Bell's fear and hatred of the beast.
At the end of this conversation, after lamenting his ugliness and stupidity, the beast asks Bell if he wants to be his wife. When Bell answered "No, the beast", the beast retreated sadly. Although this proposal scene looks abrupt, it is of great significance to this fairy tale.
It creates two strong contrasts that run through the story: the contrast between the human nature of the beast and its appearance, and the contrast between his inferiority and obedience as a man with overwhelming power (even magical blessings) and his inferiority and obedience in front of Bell.
In the first conversation between the Beast and Bell, the power relationship between these two characters was reversed, and the decision of the relationship was transferred to Bell. Next, for a full three months, the beast patiently asked Bell's consent every day to ask her to marry him.
not only did not use external pressure to oppress, but also eventually gave up the constraints of leaving Bell to stay in the castle, fulfilling Bell's wish and let her go home to take care of her father. This is also the charm of the story set by the female author: the heroine must sincerely and voluntarily develop feelings for the beast before the curse will be broken. A coercive marriage is useless.
1874 illustrations created by British illustrator Walter Crane for Beauty and the Beast.
Although from the current perspective, the story of "Beauty and the Beast" is somewhat of a bit like Stockholm syndrome , in the 18th century, the behavior of the beast in the story not only touched Bell, but probably also touched the hearts of countless female readers.
As fantasy literary writer Terri Windling once commented, this story solves the main concern of women of that era, that is, in the marriage system, women have almost no legal rights: "There is no right to choose their husbands, no right to refuse a marriage bed, no right to control their own property, and no right to divorce."
Bell, who was locked up in the Castle of the Beast, is like all women who have been married into their husband's house, are forced to take the strange place as home and live with unfamiliar men. It is difficult to find a husband who is willing to get the consent of a woman and respect her wishes wholeheartedly, so as a half-human and half-beast, the beast ironically becomes the ideal gentle male lover (especially the reader will soon find his ugly appearance is just a disguise). Female writers and readers who are hard to earn a say in the real world project their desire for marriage autonomy on the fairy tale character Wild Beast.
1946 movie version:
Women gain independence and autonomy
1946, French transboundary pioneer artist Jean Cocto brought Mrs. De Beaumont's "Beauty and the Beast" to the big screen. In this movie, Bell is a perfect good girl at home, doing housework for her sisters every day. The awakening of Bell's self-awareness seems to have begun when, as a good girl, she violated her father's decision for the first time and left home to enter the beast's castle instead of her father. It was from the moment she left her family that her independent personality began to reveal and grow—from riding a horse to exploring the castle alone, finally confronting the beast, and even scolding him when it was unable to control his beast’s nature.
Although in the beast's castle, Bell should be a so-called prisoner, she is obviously more free than in her own home. When she went home to visit her father, she was almost trapped by her family again, but for the second time she went against her father's wishes, she explained her feelings for the beast, and finally insisted on fulfilling her wishes and returned to the beast.
video tries to fit the original work as much as possible in the plot, and further provides psychological depth for the relationship between beauty and beast. One of the most eye-catching scenes in the film is that Bell scooped up a handful of water and asked the beast to drink it from her. This scene is based on human understanding of eating etiquette, which is one of the basic cultural symbols that distinguish humans from animals.
1946 stills of "Beauty and the Beast" directed by Jean Coctor. Putting aside the plot, this movie is also worth watching from the perspective of visual effects, allowing the audience to feel the dream-making art of early movies.
In this scene, the audience first saw that the beauty was peeking at the beast, and he was drinking water directly from the pond, his head half buried in the water. Although this behavior is perfectly reasonable as an animal, the beast notices the existence of the beauty and immediately feels ashamed of his own behavior. Then, the scene of the beauty scooping water and feeding the beasts is revealed, which is a comfort to the beasts’ wounded self-esteem and also shows Bell’s gentle attitude of acceptance, which further strengthens their connection.
Immediately afterwards, Bell caressed the hair of the beast with his head down, as if the beast was not a terrible creature, but a kitten - this also directly reflects Bell's power in the relationship with the beast.
It can be said that in this scene, what we see is exactly how the beauty successfully tamed the beast.Although obedience and obedience are regarded as women's virtues throughout the millennium history, this scene shows that taming men is also an attractive thing for women. Some scholars also believe that this movie, released in the second year of " World War II ", shows how the gentle power of women is stronger than the brute force of beasts, and can also be regarded as a reflection on the war damage caused by uncontrollable violence.
1991 Disney animation version:
The intrinsic value of women is recognized
1991 Disney animation version "Beauty and the Beast" is a great help to make this fairy tale a household name worldwide. In this film, the beast has been struggling to express its feelings. Thanks to the adoption of animation technology, the beast's facial expressions have made a huge contribution to shaping his character, frequently showing his vulnerability and regret after losing his temper, thus reflecting his harmlessness and kindness.
With the progress of the times, Bell is also the most active, brave and independent beauty in the three versions, gradually helping the beast open his heart. In fact, in this version, Bell never seems to be at a disadvantage in his relationship with the beast—when they first met, it was her asking the beast in the dark to "get under the light!" to see its face clearly. And at the end of the story, at their romantic dance, she was the first to hug the shy beast and lead him to dance.
Disney animation "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) poster.
In the cartoon, although Bell knew that he was banned from entering the west wing, he deliberately violated the rules of the beast. The plot of entering the secret room of a male partner is similar to the famous dark fairy tale "Bluebeard", but unlike the heroine who is almost killed by her husband in "Bluebeard", Bell's unruly behavior did not receive severe punishment for her uncontrollable curiosity, but instead won her the opportunity to understand the kind nature of the beast. [Of course, in the live-action version of Emma Watson (Emma Watson) in 2017, Bell's self-awareness was further strengthened, but because the movie does not have much innovation in the plot and expression techniques, I won't talk about it for now. ]
Therefore, this animation that places beauty on a nearly equal position with the beast from the beginning does not focus on describing Bell's growing independent personality or power dynamics between male and female protagonists like the two versions mentioned above. Instead, it raises a new demand for a new generation of women, that is, not to be defined by appearance.
Although Bell is the beauty of the town, her suitor Gaston is only concerned with her beauty and is portrayed as a villain in the story. Bell also showed dissatisfaction with the old town in the province where she lived, where people only focus on daily trivial matters and it was difficult to appreciate her cultural literacy - it was the beast who recognized her hobbies and not only gave her the library as a gift, but also was willing to accept Bell's teachings and read stories with her. The creation of Bale, who refuses to be a vase, was a major breakthrough for Disney Princess movies in the early 1990s, setting an example for Disney female characters who are becoming more and more courageous in the next thirty years.
Stills from Disney animation "Beauty and the Beast" (1991).
However, it is worth noting that Bell's love for books is not Disney's creation, but it is already reflected in the story of Mrs. Beaumont.
In the story of 1756, when Bell first entered her room, "the thing that attracted her most attention was a large library." It was also a book in this library that told her that magic can fulfill her wishes. (However, it is almost a sad thought that in the era of Disney animation more than 200 years later, a heroine who loves to read is still so rare that this hobby becomes the easiest feature she recognizes, marking her wisdom and uniqueness...)
At the same time, the love for reading may be that the female author projects her interests on the heroine she wrote, reflecting her expectations for ideal love. This hobby would further resonate with the female readers of the time, who could easily take themselves into Bell’s role when reading the story, fantasizing about having a kind, gentle animal groom who truly respects them in their love and marriage.
Compared to real men, wild beasts may be more worthy of love
With the development of the times, the image of wild beasts has also changed. The early illustrations depict the image of the beast is even weirder, completely animal-like, while the beasts in several movie versions not only look more human-like, but also have long limbs and beautiful hair, almost cute and nice-looking, so often that when the beast turns back to the prince of humans, the heroine even admits this a bit vaguely. The increasingly beautiful image of the beast will undoubtedly help the beast gradually become a more perfect fantasy object.
It is worth thinking about whether the meaning of "Beauty and the Beast" is to illustrate that women's desire to be asked for consent and respected in love relationships and marriages (1756 version), desire to have independence and autonomy (1946 version), and desire to be recognized for inherent value (1991 version), is it still important for wild beasts to transform into human form?
As early in the story written by Mrs. Beaumont, the beauty said to the animal-like beast: "I prefer you to be with you now, rather than those humans who use human forms to cover up their treacherous, depraved and ungrateful hearts."
Disney movies directly tell us that living with a beast that truly respects you, loves you, but looks terrible is much better than a man who is like Gaston. Although restoring the beast to human form makes women's fantasy more beautiful - who doesn't like handsome guys - this plot may not be that important to the story itself and to the female readers.
Children's literature writer and fairy tale scholar Jane Yolen wrote a poem in 1989 with the title of Beauty and the Wild Beast. It adopts the perspective of Beauty. Many years after the story takes place, it looks back on her years with the Wild Beasts and their secluded and peaceful, childless life. In this version, the beast maintains its form. However, as a beast's wife, the beauty asserted that "I never regretted it, never."
Stills from Disney animation "Beauty and the Beast" (1991).
——
Reference:
1.Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beauty. “Beauty and the Beast.”
2.Windling, Terri. “JoMA Archives: Nonfiction : Beauty and the Beast, Old And New,” July 26, 2014.
3.Yolen. “Poetry: ‘Beauty and the Beast: An Anniversary,’” October 27, 2014.
4.Zipes, Jack. Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: The Classical Genre for Children and the Process of Civilization. London, UNITED KINGDOM: Routledge, 2006.
Author/Zijia
Editing/Shen Chan
Proofreading/Liu Baoqing
