Jordan Liesse

Kevin Jackson
English 120
15 March 2015
A Prettier Love Story
Beauty and the Beast is a story that teaches people to love another person despite
their appearance. Like most fairy tales, it includes royalty, love, enchantment, and the
happily ever after ending, but in its original form, La Belle et la Bte written by
Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, the fairy tale includes many traits of greed and
desire instead of morality and development as in Robin McKinleys version, Beauty: A
Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast. The following analysis will reveal
variations in the story that depict changes in society and differences in the morals and
desires of young women seeking marriage surrounding the time of the separate
publications.
The original version, published in 1756, Belle is the youngest of three daughters
to a wealthy merchant. The two elder sisters are wicked and treat Belle poorly, while
Belle is a pure hearted, kind woman. After the merchant looses his wealth in a storm at
sea, the four are forced to work for their living. When word comes that one of his ships
has returned from sea and possibly holds fortune, he sets off to retrieve his wealth.
Belles older sisters pleaded for lavish gifts, and Belle only wanted a rose, simply due to
the fact that they do not grow where they live. After finding that the ships cargo was

used to pay his debts, he had no money to buy his daughters gifts. He became lost in a
forest on his return home, but found a palace to use as shelter. The merchant is welcomed
in and stays one night, but before his departure, he finds the most beautiful rose in the
palaces garden that he could, and picked it to take home to Belle. A beast appeared and
told the merchant that he took his most prized possession, and he was to either die or
bring the daughter that the rose was meant for. The merchant agrees to the deal, and Belle
returns to the palace. In time, she finds attachment to the beast, but could not love him
for she wanted the handsome prince. When she returns to visit her family, the beast gave
her a mirror to see what is occurring at the castle, and a ring to return her to the castle
instantly. Belle is convinced by her sisters to stay another day, due to their envy, they had
hoped we would eat her alive. When guilt hits Belle, she looks into the mirror and sees
that the beast is half-dead from heartbreak, and she instantly returns. She weeps and
confesses her love for him, causing him to transform into the handsome prince he once
was. He informs her of a curse that was laid upon him, and how only true love could
reverse the spell. They are then married, and lived happily ever after. How cute.
In McKinleys rewritten version, the womans name is Honour, who later was
given the nickname Beauty. It was unfitting though, for she was plain in comparison to
her two older sisters who were beautiful. The two sisters were eventually married, but the
fathers ships were lost at sea, and one of the husbands was presumed dead. The family
moves, and within a year, one of the fathers ships had returned. He left to retrieve his

fortune, and returns with fortune and a rose for Beauty. She insisted to live with the
beast, as his demand stated, and grew close with the beast. When she returns to visit her
family, she finds that she does possess feelings for the beast, and returns after a dream
she had of him dying. She confesses her love, says she will marry him, and he returns to
human form. The curse was placed in his family lineage and could only be lifted by
someone loving him despite appearance. Beauty grows into a lovely woman, just as
pretty as her sisters, and she and the beast return to live with her family. She and the
beast live happily ever after.
Within each version, it is obvious that the central idea is to love despite physical
unattractiveness. In both stories, the woman falls in love with the beast without knowing
his true identity, and a relationship between the two is formed on friendship and
understanding. The variations come in the back-stories, and the supplemental characters,
aspects of the stories that are not obvious, creating a very discrete change in the effect on
readers. The original version contains more immorality, greed, and deceit, but the retold
version reveals more familial loyalty and unbiased love.
First, in the original version, the three sisters are equally as beautiful, yet have
differences in their character. Complete opposite of Belle, the older sisters are selfish and
very vain. They want their father to get them lavish gifts such as clothing jewels and fine
dresses. They older sisters are cruel and deceitful, hoping for the beast to eat Belle alive
because they are jealous of her being wined and dined at the castle. Just as many other

fairy tales written at the same time, it is common for female siblings to want to marry the
prince, hoping to save their family from poverty, and desiring to join the royal family.
The reality of the time was not the same, for royals did not often marry anyone that was
not also royalty. Many commoners surely hoped to do so, but since it was not a reality,
stories such as Beauty and the Beast were written. In the retold version, though, the
sisters were not as cruel to Honour. Though they were more beautiful than her, they were
not deceiving or hoping to marry royalty, for they both were already married and happy.
The difference in the marriage and jealousy aspects of these two stories reveals how
marriage itself has transformed over time. In the older version, it reveals how it was
mainly only the oldest, most beautiful daughter, who was married off. Typically, she was
the best candidate a family could offer. In the retold version, all three daughters being
married mirrors how common it is in current society that all children get married no
matter their physical appearance or perceived suitability. It is not as often that children
are offered or selected to be married off to someone. To young women hearing these
stories, depending on which one they are being told, the morals of marriage may be
skewed in their minds, establishing forms of self consciousness in themselves and what
the requirements are to get married.
Another variation on the story is the mirror given by the Beast. In de Beaumonts
version, when Belle leaves to visit her family, she is given a mirror upon her departure in
order to see what is occurring at the castle while she is gone. In McKinleys version,

when Beauty grows homesick, the Beast gives her a mirror to view what is occurring in
her family. The mirror only showing the Beast reveals the separation between a woman
and her family once she was married. The connection was usually lost as she became
closer to the male and his family. The mirror that shows her family is more contemporary
due to the fact that as people get married today, typically the two families grow closer.
For young women, this may not be easily seen, but scholars analyze the underlying
meaning and how that will subconsciously affect the readers. It is easy to over look small
changes, but the in terms of influence; the little changes are the most obvious because
they are the most pivotal parts of the story because they are the parts that readers apply to
their own lives.
Though the changes within the many variations of fairy tales may seem small, and
not extremely obvious, they have an effect on the underlying meaning within the story.
Since young children subconsciously observe these small changes, they can interpret
different lessons from the stories. Theses differences commonly arise based on the
changes in societal practices in order to assist young readers in adapting to experiences
they will face through their adolescence.