"Beauty and the Beast", authored by Charles Perrault, is known throughout the world. And not in vain! The most beautiful story of love, loyalty and devotion makes every reader dream that real feelings do exist. A fairy tale carries a very important meaning, which contains the basic principles of morality necessary for every person associated with someone with a tender feeling.
Plot of a fairy tale
In the center of the story “Beauty and the Beast” is a girl named Belle, who, by chance, got into an enchanted castle. She was distinguished by her kindness and soft heart. Belle was the youngest of the three sisters, but at the same time the most meek and affectionate. The older sisters of the girl measured everything with money, while not knowing the price. Father Belle had been involved in his business for a long time, and the family lived quite richly.
Once the enterprise of the old father crashed, and the family had to leave their house in the city, exchanging it for a small but cozy country. Father earned his living solely by physical labor. None of the daughters, except Belle, helped him. The youngest girl understood how difficult it was for her father to feed his family on his own, so she supported him on the farm.
Unexpected letter
The author of "Beauty and the Beast" continues his tale. Suddenly, the father of the main character receives a letter stating that perhaps the enterprise of the old businessman can still be saved. The old man goes to the city to find out if there really is a chance to improve all the financial affairs of the family. When leaving, he asks his children what they need to bring from the city. The eldest daughters, hoping that his father’s condition will nevertheless return, ask the old man for expensive jewelry. Belle says that she does not need any gifts, she will be glad if her father brings her a red rose, because roses do not grow in their edges.
False hope
Upon reaching the city, an elderly man discovers that part of his fortune, which could be saved, was seized for debts. Realizing that he will not be able to improve family affairs, he is extremely upset. In addition, his daughters are very saddened that he could not get jewelry.
As a result of all these troubles, the old man simply falls into longing and goes home. Having chosen the path through the dark forest, he returns in the dark, but strayes from the road and begins to wander through the forest. For a long time, not finding the right path, the old man suddenly sees in the distance a huge old castle. This is where he turns, hoping that they will offer him an overnight stay, and he will be able to go home at dawn with renewed vigor.
Mysterious castle in the forest
The author of Beauty and the Beast brings a little horror and mysticism to the tale. Having reached the huge doors of the castle, the old man tries to knock several times, but no one opens the door for him. With surprise, a tired traveler notices that she is not locked. He enters the castle and sees that from the inside his architecture is very old and beautiful. Moreover, the castle is very dark and damp, as if no one has been living in it for a long time. Having called the owner several times, the old man realized that the castle was probably abandoned. He decides to walk on it to see this. Entering one of the huge halls, he sees that he is completely lined with tables, and on the tables - an unprecedented amount of various treats. The old man is very surprised, but he is so hungry that he decides to seize the opportunity and dine. Having eaten tightly, the tired traveler remains at the castle for the night with the firm intention to continue on his way home in the morning.
Waking up at dawn, the man left the castle and saw that a huge bush was growing nearby, strewn with beautiful flowers. Walking closer, the old man saw that these were roses. He plucked one flower, the largest of all, thinking that at least his youngest daughter would receive the gift he requested. Just before departure, a huge and terrible beast suddenly attacks the traveler. The monster says that roses are the most valuable thing he has in the castle, and the old man will have to pay for his torn flower with his life. A frightened man explains to the beast that these flowers are very beautiful, and one of his daughters really wanted to see a rose. Then the beast makes its condition: after the old man gives his daughter a rose, he will be obliged to return to the castle himself or send to the monster the same girl who asked for the flower. The traveler has no choice but to agree to these conditions.
A promise made by father
Upon returning home, the old man hands Belle that beautiful rose that he plucked from a mysterious castle owned by a terrible beast. The father did not want to tell his daughter about what had happened, but the young girl nevertheless elicited everything from her father. Having learned what promise he made to the monster, Belle without hesitation sets off on his journey.
New life in a magic castle
The author of “Beauty and the Beast”, Charles Perrault, continues his tale with extraordinary, magical events that occur with the main character. Having reached the castle, Belle meets the same monster. He informs the girl that now she is the mistress in his castle, and he is her humble servant. The monster offers Belle a huge variety of beautiful rich dresses, every evening invites her to have dinner together, which the girl agrees to.
In addition, the monster every day offers Belle to marry him, and every night the girl refuses. At night she dreams of a handsome prince who asks her why she does not marry the beast, and the girl meekly replies that she loves him only as a friend. Belle does not see the connection between that terrible monster and the prince. Only one thought comes to the girl: the beast is somewhere locked up that prince. She repeatedly tried to search for the main character of her dreams in the castle, but each time the searches were unsuccessful.
The mutual agreement of the beast and the girl
For several months, Belle lives in the castle. She misses her father very much, her sisters. The yearning girl asks the monster to let her go home for a while, so that she can see her loved ones. The beast understands her sadness and gives her permission. But at the same time it sets a condition: the girl must return to the castle exactly one week later. In addition, Belle receives from the beast a magic mirror and a ring. With the help of a mirror, she will be able to see what happens in the castle in her absence, and with the help of a ring, she can return to the castle at any time if she twists it on her finger three times. Belle agrees to all conditions and happily goes home.
A trip home and return to your beloved
Belle arrives home in a very beautiful and rich dress. She tells her father and sisters, who are burned with envy, that the beast is actually very kind. Therefore, the day before her departure, the older sisters suddenly begin to ask Belle to stay one more day, explaining that they would be very bored without her. Believing and moved by the words of the sisters, Belle decides to stay for another day. In fact, envy pushed the sisters to such words. They very much hoped that if their younger sister, who had managed to arrange her life so well, was late for the monster, then upon his return he would eat her alive.
Waking up in the morning, Belle felt very guilty in front of the beast. She decided to look in the mirror to see how he reacted to the fact that she had not returned to the appointed time. The girl saw that the monster was barely alive near the rose bushes. Belle immediately went to the beast with the help of the ring.
Seeing that the beast was barely breathing, Belle bent over him, began to cry heavily and asked him not to die, saying that she loved him and would not suffer such a loss. At that moment, the monster turned into a handsome prince, who so often dreamed of a girl. The prince told Belle that once an old witch had cast a spell on him, and only true love could remove this witchcraft. Since then, Prince and Belle have lived a long and very happy life.
Fairytale Analysis
“Beauty and the Beast” is a fairy tale, which is one of many other similar works. To date, a lot of variations of this story are known. Who wrote Beauty and the Beast? As mentioned above, the author of this masterpiece is Charles Perrault. Despite this, there are more ancient works that convey the same idea. For example, one of the first versions of this story was a fairy tale published in 1740, authored by Madame Villeneuve. The most important thing to note when analyzing this work is how the urban population is represented in a fairy tale. The townspeople act as the main characters of Beauty and the Beast. It usually happens that the main characters are representatives of the nobility and the peasantry.
Despite the fact that, as already mentioned above, the fairy tale has a huge number of variations, we still answer the question of who wrote "Beauty and the Beast", we will answer that, of course, Charles Perrault. After all, it is precisely his version that is considered the most interesting and famous today.
Screen adaptation of a fairy tale
“Beauty and the Beast” is a story that has been repeatedly filmed under the direction of various directors. You can find adaptations as films, cartoons, musicals and even theatrical productions. The very first adaptation of the tale was the film "Beauty and the Beast", which appeared on the screens in 1946. The director of this project was the French master Jean Cocteau. Perhaps the most famous adaptation of the tale was the eponymous cartoon film company Walt Disney, which was released in 1991. A well-drawn cartoon has become popular not only among children, but also among adult viewers. Many review it several times.
Reviews
As the audience and readers say in their reviews, “Beauty and the Beast” is a wonderful tale of love, loyalty and devotion to a beloved creature, even if at first glance it seems that this creature is simply incapable of being human. This story is able to teach each of us to see in people not only the appearance, but also the inner world, which can be very rich. This became the main theme of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast", the morality that it carries in itself.
The devotion with which Belle went to save the beast, not knowing that he is that beautiful prince, shows that the girl was absolutely indifferent to the appearance of the monster. After all, he was a very scary and cruel creature. In fact, because of its appearance, the beast became embittered: when you are scary, lonely and not loved by anyone, you begin to resemble that same monster. But it’s worthwhile to appear at least one creature that will fall in love and accept you for who you are, and you will turn into a kind, gentle and grateful person. This is very important to understand. This is exactly what Charles Perrault's fairy tale Beauty and the Beast teaches us.