Beauty And The Beast Character Analysis Essay

Giroux argues that in Beauty and the Beast, Belle teaches young women that they are responsible for controlling a man’s anger and violence, and that any woman can change an abusive man into a Prince. However many children are going to be focused on the dancing, singing furniture rather than analyzing the message Giroux interprets; that Belle is just a prop used to solve the beast’s dilemma. The age of children that will be most influenced by Disney films, are at a level of thinking where they have not begun to recognize and understand the images that Giroux describes are embedded in the Disney films.

Throughout Fairytale history, there has been numerous tellings and retellings of the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ story. The mediums used to portray this evolving narrative greatly influence and affect what aspects of the tale are emphasised and how this positions the audience. Beaumont’s La Belle et La Bête, the eighteenth century version of the tale greatly differs from the Disney modern retelling through film, Gary Trousdale’s Beauty and the Beast (1991). Although the narrative of both tales may be similar, a disparity exists between them. Aspects such as the portrayals of both Beauty and Beast, the emphasis on class and the way female characters are positioned in the story differs from literary tale to screen. Much emphasis is placed upon both

The Beast gives Belle her own room to stay in. “THE BEAST STOOD IN FRONT of the door to the bedroom that now, against his wishes, belonged to Belle.” (Rudnick 64). The Beast provided Belle with a bedroom where she could sleep. He did not deprive her of the needs in the physiological level. Now that she fulfilled this level, she can move on to the next level, The safety and security stage.

The 1946 version has two sisters and one brother. The father is a merchant and they have money. There is no mention of a motherly figure. The father is very keen to his Belle staying with him, and he does not want her to leave.

The Beauty and the Beast starts with a lively music in the castle which immediately set us into action. A castle full of expensive housewares and beautiful ladies wearing white gowns dancing to the music represent perfection. The ball is interrupted by a knock from an unexpected beggar who offered the insensitive prince a rose for shelter. The loud thunderclap and the way the chandelier lights were blown off by the wind intensified the scene. When he refuses, the beggar transformed into an enchantress and changed him into a hideous beast and his servants into housewares. The camera angle which showed the shadow figure of the prince turning to a beast was amazingly done. She casts a spell on the rose and it would only be broken if he could learn to love another and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell. On the other hand, Belle starts the film in a small lively village which implies peacefulness and security. Belle is a simple, creative girl wanting to leave her monotonous village life to explore new things and go to an adventure. This came true when her horse Philippe went home anxiously without Maurice, her father. The way the horse neighed repeatedly implied that something is wrong. Belle, without hesitation, stormed off to the castle where her father was imprisoned and took his place as

Seger states that in fairy tales "an old woman, a dwarf, a witch, or a wizard helps the hero . . . The hero achieves the goal because of this help, and because the hero is receptive to what this person has to give" (173). Conversely, Beast is helped by the very damsel he imprisons. Belle is a normal woman, not a witch or a wizard; she has no special powers and is not old or dwarfish in any way. Also, Beast is extremely reluctant to accept any help from her. In the Disney version of the story, Belle tries to teach Beast how to control his temper and be more compassionate and loving. Beast is not receptive at all to this help throughout the story, but still manages to defeat the curse left on him by a self revelation. He decides after Belle's departure from his castle to learn to love and be kindhearted. Although her help may have had an impact on his transformation, it was the mere presence of her and his own self conscience that ultimately helped him conquer his relentless curse. This is quite different from what Seger illustrates in her hero myth theory.

In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Belle is misunderstood, kind, and perceptive. Belle is shown to be misunderstood when she is walking through the streets, reading her book. The other townspeople remark, “that girl is strange, no question” (Beauty and the Beast). With the simple act of reading a book, the townspeople are quick to cast her out. At no point do any of the townspeople learn more about her to fully understand her. Even though she is misunderstood, Belle is also kind. After being taken prisoner at the castle, she helps the beast relearn several basic life skills, like how to use utensils and how to read. After reading him Romeo and Juliet, Beast makes the request that she read it again. She turns it back on him and asks him to read. When he hesitates, she realizes that he has forgotten how, and she says, “Here, let me help you” (Beauty and the Beast). Through helping him instead of questioning or taunting him, she shows the kind and

Courageous characters are shown protecting others instead of worrying about themselves, like when Belle takes her father’s place. In “Beauty and the Beast”, Beauty goes to Beast’s castle in place of her father when he is sentenced to death. She refuses to go home and leave him even when he tells her to, saying: “You can’t keep me from following you.” (de Beaumont 36). Even in less deadly situations, she thinks of others first. Her first wish when she sees her room is to see her father again. At the end of the story, she is even willing to leave her father, who we’ve just seen she is extremely devoted to, behind to save Beast’s life (de Beaumont 41). Throughout the story, she puts the needs of others before

Sometimes spending time alone, and away from the ordinary is the best form of emotional therapy. Moving onto Belle's costar, the Beast, viewers of the film cannot help but see the drastic character development which occurs. Right from the beginning, the Beast is spoken of very poorly, as a result of his self-righteous attitude toward the world. Due to his unkind behaviour, a witch casts a spell on him, which morphs him into his monstrous form. His human form would be his to hold again, as long as he could change his ways, and have someone fall in love with him. The Beast wastes no time in throwing a fit, and eventually disappears into despair; however, once Belle enters his life, the disgruntled prince makes an effort to change his ways, if only to earn her affections. Both Belle and the Beast learn from one another, which I think makes their relationship that much more meaningful. Not only do they fall in love, but they truly care for the development of one another, and are determined to change themselves for the better in order to be

Belle’s story of living with a beast is re-evaluated, claiming that she is not as sane as she was once perceived. When Belle enters the stage in a straight jacket and tied to a chair, there is a realization that she was dealing with a mental illness the whole time, something that is prevalent in our current society. In addition, her familiar radiant yellow ball gown was concealed by the straight jacket, blocking out her previous notion of nativity with the comprehension that it is not sensible to live and interact with a talking creature. The addition to Belle’s costume demonstrates

Belle is extremely important to original story, and the movie. Maybe you are asking yourself why? Well, she is for surely one of the two main characters, the other being the beast whom she is supposed to fall in love with to make him become a man again. Especially in the original book version, it is more focused on Belle because they leave out the “evil sisters”. She still has bitter

“Beauty and The Beast” is a classic well known romantic Disney movie that depicts the gender role of men and women in society. The film is based upon a smart young female protagonist named Belle who is imprisoned by a self-centered young prince after he has been turned into a beast. They both learn to love each other in the end and throughout the film there are several examples shown portraying the roles of gender. In the film the main characters Gaston and the Beast portray themselves as rude, conceited and more important than the woman even though the main character Belle is a woman whom is considered odd, yet smart, and unrelated to most women in society.

In the very beginning of the movie, the audience hears Belle discussing her passion for reading. She is in the book store, and is explaining to the owner of the store that she has already read most of the books in his collection. In fact, she has read most of the books multiple times. Yet, she wants another book to read. As the story progresses, we are introduced to Gaston. He is the strong, handsome man that every woman in the town is in love with. Gaston approaches Belle and tells her that women should not be reading because it causes them to think, and women should not think or have any ideas of their own. Right away, Disney has portrayed Belle as an educated woman. Disney was able to create a character that encourages the education of women. They were able to take the idea that women should not read nor think for themselves, and establish a character that defies the ideology of society. June Cummins, in her article, “Romancing the Plot: The Real Beast of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” states “Brian Johnson praised Disney for ‘break[ing]

Many encounters emerge in princess movies in which the women find solutions to themselves. For instance, throughout their adventures, Tiana is seen guiding her travels with Prince Naveen. She guides them through a swamp as well as catches food for them (at this time they are both frogs) (Whelan). Similarly, while traveling, Rapunzel saves Flynn and herself from a tavern full of ruffians, castle officials who were tracking Flynn, and also from drowning in a cave (Stephens). Tiana and Rapunzel’s intelligence or even cleverness was utilized to remove them from sticky situations which would have resulted in danger if not for their assisting actions. Other princesses went against common opinion in order to help others. In Beauty and the Beast, most people in the town think Belle’s father (Maurice) is crazy, but Belle still believes in her father’s abilities in invention making and supports him in the pursuit of his dreams (Whelan). By disagreeing with a widely accepted belief, Belle proves herself to be an accepting individual who does not let other’s opinions alter her perspective of a person. Jasmine also does something out of the ordinary in order to help her lover Aladdin. Jasmine “dares to kiss the sinister Jafar” hoping that this will distract him, and allow Aladdin to escape

Belle was kind to the Beast, and then she found her prince. It took courage to look into the eyes of someone that took away everything and see the good.