Myanna Allen
FRE 2991
Dr. Abigail Heiniger
21 April 2014
Beauty & the Beast vs. Beastly: Parenting Norms
Analyzing several fairy tales within Maria Tatar’s “The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales”
the one story connected with my topic and could back up this research paper was Jeanne- Marie
Leprince de Beaumont’s “Beauty and The Beast”. An American version of this fairy tale that
was also used is a book that has the same plot by Alex Finn called “Beastly”. Within my research
from the French fairy tale as well as the American version of each story I’ve noticed a lot of
similarities yet differences that were just modern down into culture norms. The fairy tale Beauty
and the Beast consisted a lot of French norms from back in the late 1700’s which at that time
period it was perfectly normal for a father to just give his daughter away, and marry her off to a
man with wealth without getting approval or her consent about the situation. The father’s
basically owned their daughters lives and made that big decision for his daughter. While the
daughter would just have to go with the flow at a young age, and not be able to have a voice of
her own to speak up and say no. Contrasting on America’s cultural norms it is the total opposite
and is considered somewhat illegal for a father to just marry his daughter off to a random man of
wealth or not. A father cannot give his young aged daughter away this could cause both men
hard jail time. Creating this argument on whether or not the parenting in both stories were a total
difference or just represent differently once brought over to the United States. Leading us to the
evolutional changes within the fairy tales that has been effected by the United States modern
ways of parenting causing a slight change in the meaning of the norms in French fairy tale's in
order to fit the adaptations of its cultural norms.
Introducing the French fairy tale by Jeanne- Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s “Beauty and
the Beast” (p.58-78) which was written in 1757 causing it to incorporate a lot of their cultural
norms. One of the main characters was Beauty named after her perfection and modest, kind and
obedient behavior. Beauty was one out of six children that belonged to her wealthy father.
Beauty’s has two older sisters that were the exact opposite of her with an ugly heart, and treated
people that was beneath them as if they shouldn’t and doesn’t exist while her three brothers were
hardly spoken of. One day Beauty’s father lost all his riches and they were longer wealthy
causing them to move out into the country and live as poor people which were also known as
peasants. Beauty was the one adapting quickly and taking care of her siblings as well as her
father while her sister’s treated her as if she was “Cinderella”. Fast forwarding the story
eventually Beauty’s father was called and went on a trip to sort of some assets that were found
hoping it would get them out of poverty so they could become wealthy again. The father asked
his daughters what they wanted and the two older daughter asked for finer things while Beauty
requested for a simple rose. As their father went on his long journey he returned home empty
handed and he noticed a castle and once he awaken in this castle he was about to continue his
journey once again when he noticed a garden of roses and remembered his Beauty request a rose
in his return. As Beauty’s father stolen the rose form the garden a Beast appeared and wanted to
kill the father or an exchanged of one his daughters to die for him. (Fast Forwarding) The father
promised the beast to return to the castle and so he did but with Beauty by his side. By Beauty’s
father releasing her to the beast he was representing the norms of the French cultures of how it
was normal for them to give their daughters away. Though Beauty volunteered to go she also did
not really have a good choice because it was either let my father die or just honor the Beast’s
request and take his place. In the French culture this was a regular scenario within its fairy tales
and it was not represented as bad parenting if the father wanted to give his daughter away. They
did not have a voice and in a way Beauty represented all the girls of that time period.
On the other hand, once “Beauty and the Beast” was brought over to the United States
they thought it was not the story that would sell or fit within its culture so they used the same
plot and recreated the story to adapt to its cultural norms. Alex Finn’s version of this story
“Beastly” represented the norms of American cultures that people in the United States could
relate to. In this version of the story the characters that represented the Beauty as well as the
Beast were both victims of abandonment and bad parenting. A popular high school student
named Kyle Kingsbury was all about beauty on the outside with and ugly heart. Kyle treated
people that were not as wealthy or as equally handsome as him the same way Beaumont’s
“Beauty” was treated by her older sisters. He picked on the wrong person one day that actually
was later on said to be a magical witch that casted a spell on him which made him into “The
Beast”. The only way the spell would lift is if he changed his way and made someone fall in love
with him as an ugly beast. “Beauty” on the other hand was portrayed differently in this book, and
she was not the perfect girl with the perfect looks she was the total opposite of Beaumont’s
representation of “Beauty”. Her name was Lindy she was not popular nor wealthy and was
ignored by many in the book of Beastly. Lindy was also given away by her father but in different
circumstances, and neglecting herself while was taking care of her abusive drugged addicted
father. Lindy had a caring heart and had other traits that made her perfect “Beauty” for the
American culture with her brains, outspoken voice as well a caring heart that would always put
her father’s needs before her own which eventually lead her into a very dangerous situation.
Adrian (no longer Kyle once he was turned into a monstrous looking beast) was fascinated in her
and made a deal with her father in order to get her to become his prisoner claiming it was to keep
Lindy safe, but really his intensions were for her to fall in love with him. In which she eventually
did as the story progressed and the Beastly looking creature Adrian learned the opposite of his
ugly ways and his spell lifted and they lived a happy life together after a few bumps in the road.
Research within the French fairy tale and the American version of the story the
significance from both were findings of parental neglect and abandonment issues that were
culturally formed to fit the norms within its people that could be relatable. In Both stories the
main male characters suffered some kind of abandonment issues that caused them to react the
way they did towards the woman figure known as Beauty or Lindy. Neither the Beast nor Adrian
actually had someone to show that they loved them leading back to the abandonment issue which
I believe caused them to have such an ugly heart. The background of the “Beast” was never
spoken of family wise and usually in French fairy tales the male character never does. While in
Kyle/Adrian situation there was a father to be spoken of but the neglect and abandonment was
definitely there and neither was the love he needed. While reading Hearne analytical paper an
author named Mercer Mayer expressed a version of The Beast’s background of how he became
such a physically ugly beast with a lonesome heart and an empty castle. Mercer Mayer version
explained how beast encountered his enhancement: “When I was a boy I was very vain and quite
proud. My palace was filled with servants and everyone honored me and did my bidding. One
day an old hag came begging at my palace gate. I showed her no pity, she was so ugly. The sight
of her did not move me and I sent her away without food or money. As she left she warned that I
would spend the rest of my life wandering in my fine palace without a friend till someone could
find beauty in me. I laughed at her; but when I returned to my palace, I found it empty. I have
been alone ever since”. (Hearne, p.85)
Though Mercer Meyer’s version expressed how he became enchanted the lack of family
was still presented. In Beaumont’s “Beauty and The Beast” the Beast kept Beauty locked in his
castle as his prisoner until one day she asked looked into a magical mirror to check on her father
and noticed how ill he was becoming because he thought he daughter was eaten by the Beast in
his place. Once Beauty asked the Beast for “permission”, he let he leave to attend to her sickly
father’s needs. Beast replied under one condition making Beauty promise to return within a
week, and once she broke that promise due to her cruel sister’s the Beast became sickly and
nearly starved himself to death.
Harry Golding, ed. Fairy Tales. Illustrator: Margaret Tarrant. London: Ward, Lock & Co.,
1936.
Unlike most French fairy tale routine of a woman needing a man, the abandonment issues
within “The Beast” and “The Merchant” go so deep as in issue that it is the opposite.
Significantly both male characters needs the woman “Beauty” in order to fulfil their missing
piece so that could stay alive. Same as Alex Finn’s “Beastly” if it was not for Lindy her drug
addicted father would have over-dosed on drugs or have been killed by the men he owes money
to. In which once he gave Lindy over to Kyle/ Adrian he had no one to hide drug from him and
nearly killed himself as Beaumont’s “Beast”. Lindy was also split between both male characters
needing her while she did not need them either of them to survive. This being in my opinion
erupts Jack Zipes statement from the book: “Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion” pointed out
by Laurence Talairach-Vielmas scholarship paper as I quote: “Throughout the centuries,
competition, and wealth became keywords and patriarchal interest increasingly orchestrate the
tales, stressing male domination and feminine subjection. The male characters in both stories had
were dominate until the point where they needed Beauty causing an opposite turn in the usual
fairy tale routine making the woman dominant once they felt alone and abandoned by her
presents.
While on the other hand the character’s Beauty and Lindy expressed traits from each of the
cultural norms of bad parenting and abandonment similarities. Reading through different
scholar’s analytical papers I found interesting sections from Betsy Hearne: “Beauty and the
Beast Visions and Revisions of an Old Tale 1950-1985” that could be used as evidence on
parenting issues of neglect and abandonment. Philippa Pearce is presented in this paper, she is a
United Kingdom children’s book author that retold Beaumont’s version of “Beauty and The
Beast” in 1973. The one thing that stood out as a major change within Pearce’s revised story was
the way she portrayed Beauty’s father (the merchant). In Beaumont’s 1757 version of the fairy
tale Beauty’s father returned home to his child and gave them the bad news that he encountered a
Beasty that would kill him or return with one of his daughters to fulfil his place and Beauty
suggested herself and they both left out to the Beast’s castle together while the father did not
make a big effort to urge his daughter not to do so. Philippa Pearce did not want to demeanor a
reputation of someone known to be a “father” so instead she changed the whole event. She
revised it to the following version: “The Merchant does not return with Beauty to the castle, she
sneaks off alone one night, Thereby dispersing any doubts as to the merchant’s strength of
character”. (Hearne, p.82-83)
Pearce wrote: “Fathers do not give away their daughters, but sometimes let them slip
away when they are truly determined”. (Hearne, p.83)
In the Pearce’s quote above she wanted to savage and clear up the misconceptions that
the French fairy tale authors were telling their audience. Not all cultures believe in giving their
daughters away as a norm, and that is not a fatherly role to just give their daughter away. It’s the
choice of the daughter and the only way she will be given a way is if she go on her own free-will
with determination that the father cannot stop nor try to resist her in any way because it’s her
choice. I believe Betsy Hearne included this into her scholarship because she believed each new
version of “Beauty and The Beast” that was retold reflected on the “newer variations of and its
cultures and creativity”. (Vielmas, p 274) Yet Jack Zipes would reply that exploration of the
changes made to the fairy tales only brought out the light to a bigger issue such as social
pressures and norms, which in time will weigh on each fairy tale.
In Laurence Talairach- Vielmas article “Beautiful Maiden, Hideous Suitors: Victorian
Fairy tales and the Process of Civilization” researching evidence to and other scholars
stand on their opinion of rather there were any similarities on parental behaviors from the
fairy tale “Beauty and The Beast” that I could connect to the way American norms
caused a change once brought over to the United States. There was a quote stating:
“Hearne’s version borrows the matriarchal tradition and from the more classical literary
version of the fairy tales, conflicting antagonist discourses to expose gender roles and
denounce male oppression.” (Beautiful Maidens, p. 274)
Whether or not the parenting norms in both stories were a total difference or just
represent differently once brought over to the United States. Led us to the evolutional
changes within the fairy tales that were proven to have been effected by the United States
modern ways of parenting caused a slight change in the meaning of the norms in French
fairy tale's in order to fit the adaptations of its cultural norms. Finishing with the wonders
of gender roles playing a big part on whether parental neglecting and abandonment was
just a cultural norm or just the way the masculine characters are represented.
Images from “Beauty and the Beast” and “Beastly”.
References
Finn, A. (2012). Happily Ever After. Beastly. New York: Harper Teen. Deluxe Ed.
Tatar, M. (2002). Beauty and the Beast. The Annotated Classical Fairy Tales (). New
York / London: W.W. Norton & Company.
Zipes, J. (1983). Fairy tales and the art of subversion: the classical genre for children
and the process of civilization. New York: Wildman Press.
Scholarship sources:
Hearne: Beauty and the Beast Visions and Revision of an Old Tale.
Talairach- Vielmas article: Beautiful Maiden, Hideous Suitors: Victorian Fairy tales and
the Process of Civilization.