Fairy Tale Journal for FRE/GER2991
Storified by JacquelynSmith ·
Mon, May 29 2017 00:01:23
Beauty and The Beast (wk.3)
Reaction Post (1) Before reading the unit, what is my relationship to Beauty and The Beast? Beauty and The Beast may easily be one of my favorite fairy tales. A young woman not looking for love finds it in one of the most unlikely of places. A man who has all but given up on love finds it when he believed himself unlovable. I am excited to read this classic tale along with all of the variants we will encounter.
Reaction Post(2) After reading "Cupid and Psyche" and "The Green Serpent", I was shocked to see how The Green Serpent took directly from Cupid and Psyche and also incorporated them into their story. I am falling more in love with this story!
Reaction post (3) After reading Brennan's "Waiting for Beauty"...WOOOOOW.... That poor Beauty. That poor Beast. So much despair!
Close Reading Post (1) Quote:“Some of them stayed even after he drew her from the pond at the base of the garden—but not for long. Their hopes died with her.” (Brennan, 2014, p.2 )Response:
This was one of the most pivotal lines in the story to me. It revealed the truth behind the story. I began to see the agony of the beast unfold as he refused to come to grips with the reality that Beauty had passed away. Even some of the servants tried to keep hope alive, but left when they realized that hope was futile. I believe this story speaks about any things, and leaves many questions. Did Beauty kill herself from despair? How long has she been dead? How long has Beast been living in this state of desperation? At what point will Beast notice she is rotting and decide that all hope is lost? No matter how many unknowns there are, what is certain is that this is not a usual Beauty and The Beast. There is no broken spell, no allure of enchantment, and no happily ever after.
Web link post: I shared this web link because in one month’s time, Beauty and The Beast grossed over $1billion in sales worldwide. That number is astonishing considering the short amount of time that it took to achieve that amount of sales. I think that it speaks to a couple things. Beauty and The Beast was also one of the highest grossing animated films of the 90s. Many people who were children then, including myself, could not wait to go see it for nostalgia’s sake. The second reason it may be such a big hit is because of the fact that this classic tale is relatable to so many relationships. A beast changed by the love of a woman, while a woman falls in love with the potential she begins to see and bring out of a man. A tale as old as time.
http://screenrant.com/beauty-beast-box-office-top-10-all-time/ Reaction post(4) Just saw the film by Coteau, "La Belle et la Bete"! #plottwist I was not expecting the beast to be transformed by someone taking his place. The movie seemed like a mix of both variants we read by the Grimm brothers this week. He was a lion-like creature as in the "singing, springing lark", and there were elements of the variant that reminded me of "the summer garden" as well such as her viewing the beast through the mirror. I guess they were trying to portray magic, but I was wondering at first where all the smoke was coming from!
Reaction Post (5) Thestory "The Tigers Bride" took me by surprise. Unlike the rest of the variants, this variant had Beauty being lost in a card game to a Tiger beast. There was no glitz or glamour in the castle, but this was the first variant that introduced animated objects as servants instead of invisible servants. What shocked me was the request to see Beauty naked and the insistence that she see the Beast naked. Lastly, I was shocked that she decided to give herself to him and his coupling with her turned her into a tiger as well.
Close Reading Post (2) Quote: "It is neither wit, nor a fine person, in a husband, that makes a woman happy, but virtue, sweetness of temper, and omplaisance, and the Beast has all of these valuable qualifications". Response: I chose this quote because I believe that this is the point where Beauty realized that she had a much better life with the Beast than her sisters had with their husbands. She realized that although she thought of the Beast as a friend, that he did indeed possess the qualities that a woman desires in a suitable husband. Beauty was able to see the true character of the Beast beyond his rough exterior, and was able to appreciate him for it. I also think that this actualization served to soften her heart, and when she came to the Beast's castle and found him nearly dead, she was then able to realize how rare it is to find those traits in people and knew he was someone she did not want to live without. In the end, and even though she did not know it at first, Beauty was rewarded for her kindness and generosity to her family with quite literally, a blessing in disguise.
Close Reading (3) Quote: "My master says : if you are so careless of your treasures, you should expect them to be taken from you". Response: I chose this quote because I feel that Beauty’s father was irresponsible and selfish for betting her in a card game. Beauty’s father was unlike any of the father’s in other variants of this tale type. In other variants, he was a kind and caring man who was self-less and thought of his family before he thought of himself. He was saddened by the thought of Beauty having to take his place in servitude to the Beast. This variant differs because the father seems almost unbothered by Beauty’s having to go with the beast. Surprisingly, this did not even seem to surprise Beauty. When the Beast’s servant said this, it meant to me that beast saw some virtue in Beauty that her father overlooked. He also acknowledged the irresponsibility Beauty’s father had in betting her away in the first place. To me, this sets the tone of the variant because Beauty did not seem to come from a loving home like the other variants. This could also account for the somewhat snotty attitude she seemed to have toward the Beast.
Character Dating Profile(1):
The Beast (Gans Beauty and the Beast 2014)
Location: Castle in the magical forest
About Beast: I am a softie with a rough exterior. I enjoy taking long walks through my gardens. My favorite flowers to grow are roses. I want to give my all to someone, but I am holding back a huge secret. It is going to take a really special lady to unleash the change in me that will turn me into the man of her dreams.
Flash Fiction Post: Once upon a time, there was a rich merchant whose wife had passed away. They had a lovely daughter, and called her Beauty. One day, Beauty’s father was going to go into town in order to sell his merchandise. Beauty asked him to bring her a rose on his return. Her father left and was lost in the woods. He found a small rose garden and picked one rose. Immediately, a beast jumped out and told the man he had to give his daughter’s hand to him in marriage to spare his life for the theft. Beauty agreed to go to the Beast’s castle. She began to fall in love with him. Her love broke his spell. They lived happily ever after.
Dating Profile (2):