Ma, Seymour
Ma 1
October 12, 2011
Writing 10, Section 13
Essay 2 Final Draft
Beauty’s Virtues
Written in 1756, Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont’s fairy tale Beauty and the
Beast perpetuates gender roles and stereotypes. It was written by a female French novelist
who may have incorporated a part of French culture and history into this fairy tale.
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast roughly follows this version with a couple of changes. In
Disney, the antagonist is the very manly Gaston who tries to kill the Beast and Beauty
has no sisters in this version. Instead, Gaston can be seen as a stereotypical character with
attributes such as a very large ego, well muscled, and an “I’m a super sexy man” attitude.
Certainly in Beaumont's Beauty and the Beast as well as Disney’s rendition, the male and
female characters encompass the typical gender roles and stereotypes such as
submissiveness in Beauty, masculinity in Beast, and the proud arrogance and jealousy
seen in Beauty's sisters.
Looking at the background of the text in Beauty and the Beast, we see that there is
a castle that houses the Beast. This castle could be one of the French castles that existed
(or still does) at the time and is famous for having a legend which once housed a beast.
The portrayal of the character Beauty can be seen as the ideal female that males sought
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during that period. In Beauty and the Beast, Beauty is seen as the prettier and the more
virtuous one compared to her two sisters. She is also obedient and submissive to her
sisters in doing their housework without complaint. These traits that are evident in Beauty
can give us an idea of the cultural background of women at that time.
In my opinion, Beauty is quite the feminine character. All throughout Beauty and
the Beast, Beauty was seen as the “better behaved” of the two sisters. Some of her
qualities that really stood out were her submissiveness to her sisters when they forced her
to do their household chores. Due to these traits, the stereotype of the typical housewife,
or in this case house girl, comes to mind. Beauty’s subservient personality stems her
obedience towards her father and the people around her (which could have been the ideal
female quality at that time period). While it could be argued that Beauty, instead of being
the female stereotype, is in fact a feminist because of her heroic actions in sacrificing
herself for her father, I would have to disagree. In the Disney version, Gaston and the
Beast fought over Belle (Beauty) and she had no choice. This is the stereotype where men
are the ones who fight over women and where women have no voice in whom they would
like to marry.
While taking note of the heroic, feminist actions of Beauty saving Beast in both
Disney’s and Beaumont’s version of Beauty and the Beast, I find it ironic that it is a
woman in this situation who saves the man. With the fairy tale stereotype, we imagine
that is it the Prince Charming who comes to save the woman. However, in this scene, it is
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completely reversed; it is the Beauty who saves the Beast. Even though this could be seen
as a feminist act, Beauty saves Beast in a very feminine way; she kisses and says that she
loves Beast. These actions can be seen as the female stereotype and not a feminist act
because if it were feminist, Beauty could have handled the situation in a more manly
fashion.
The Beast in Beaumont’s Beauty and the Beast is portrayed as a hulking,
monstrous figure. Originally a handsome prince, he became cursed by an evil fairy to
remain a Beast until a woman would consent to marry him because of his good character
and not his looks. On the outside, the Beast seems to be the stereotype of manly, beastly
dominance. Upon returning home from the castle after picking a rose for Beauty, her
merchant father despaired that “The beast's power is so great that I don't have the least
hope of killing him” (Tatar, 36) after Beauty’s three brothers proclaimed that they will
slay the Beast.
Beauty’s sisters in Beauty and the Beast would be the antagonists in this fairy
tale. Recalling phrases from years past, we have often heard terms like “rich snob” or
“arrogant” and “elitist.” Well here, these terms can be applied to Beauty’s sisters. In the
text, it is mentioned that “The two older sisters were vain and proud because the family
had money. They tried to act like ladies of the court and paid no attention at all to girls
from merchant families. They chose to spend time only with people of rank.” (Tatar, 32)
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This particular attitude including their jealousy of Beauty’s prettiness in Beauty’s sisters
seemed to encompass the wealthy stereotypical attitude that would come to mind in
Beauty and the Beast. All throughout the fairy tale, Beauty’s sisters were the real bad
guys. They insulted her and delayed her from going back to Beast which for some reason
made me raise my hackles and growl with displeasure at their attitude.
Because of the gender roles and stereotypical attitudes that the characters were
assigned to in Beauty and the Beast, I would argue that Beaumont is a sexist author and
not a feminist one. Beauty saving Beast is an unexpected twist for me because it usually
is the man who saves the damsel in distress. If Beauty had saved Beast in a more
decisive-like fashion and perhaps less in a more emotional way, Beauty could totally be a
proto-feminist figure. As seen in the plot, Beauty, Beast, and Beauty’s sisters portrayed
the stereotype that I would expect: subservience in Beauty, dominance in Beast, and
arrogance in Beauty’s sisters.
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Works Cited
Beaumont, Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de. “Beauty and the Beast.” [The Classic Fairy
Tales]. Ed. Maria Tatar. New York: Norton, 1999. Print.
“Beauty and the Beast.” Dir. Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise. Perf. Paige O’Hara, Robby
Benson, and Richard White. Disney. IMDb.com. The Internet Movie Database.
Nov. 22, 1991. DVD
Danielle. "Gender Stereotypes in Beauty and the Beast." Media Scrapbook. Media
Scrapbook, 25 Nov. 2007. Web. 04 Oct. 2011.
<http://mediascrapbook.blogspot.com/2007/11/gender-stereotypes-in-beauty-andbeast.html>.
Wynn, Earl S. "An Analysis of Stereotypes in Disney's Beauty and the Beast." Earl S.
Wynn on HubPages. HubPages. Web. 05 Oct. 2011.
<http://earlswynn.hubpages.com/hub/An-Analysis-of-Stereotypes-in-DisneysBeauty-and-the-Beast>.