The fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast": author, main characters, plot, reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

"Beauty and the Beast", authored by Charles Perrault, is known throughout the world. And not in vain! A beautiful story about love, loy alty and devotion makes every reader dream that real feelings do exist. The tale carries a very important meaning, which contains the basic principles of morality necessary for every person associated with someone with a tender feeling.

The plot of the fairy tale

In the center of the plot of "Beauty and the Beast" is a girl named Belle, who, by chance, ended up in an enchanted castle. She was distinguished by her kindness and soft heart. Belle was the youngest of three sisters, but at the same time the most meek and affectionate. The older sisters of the girl measured everything in money, while not knowing their price. Belle's father was in business for a long time, and the family lived quite richly.

Once the old father's business failed and the family had to leavehis house in the city, exchanging it for a small but cozy country house. My father earned his living exclusively by physical labor. None of the daughters, except for 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 in the household.

An unexpected letter

The author of "Beauty and the Beast" continues his tale. Suddenly, the father of the main character receives a letter saying that perhaps the old businessman's enterprise 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. As he leaves, he asks his children what they need to bring from the city. The eldest daughters, hoping that the father's fortune will still 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 area.

False hope

After reaching the city, an elderly man learns that part of his fortune, which could be saved, was seized for debt. Realizing that he will not be able to fix family affairs, he is extremely upset. In addition, his daughters will be very sad that he was unable to purchase jewelry.

As a result of all these troubles, the old man simply falls into depression and heads home. Choosing a path through the dark forest, he returns through the darkness, but loses his way 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 oldlock. That is where he turns, hoping that there he will be offered 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 fairy 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, the tired traveler notices that it is not locked. He enters the castle and sees that from the inside its architecture is very old and beautiful. At the same time, the castle is very dark and damp, as if no one has lived 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 make sure of it. Entering one of the huge halls, he sees that it is completely filled with tables, and on the tables there is an unprecedented number of various treats. The old man is very surprised, but he is so hungry that he decides to take the opportunity and have dinner. After a hearty meal, the weary traveler stays overnight in the castle with the firm intention of continuing the journey home in the morning.

Waking up at dawn, the man came out of the castle and saw that a huge bush was growing nearby, strewn with beautiful flowers. Coming closer, the old man saw that they were roses. He plucked one flower, the largest of all, thinking that at least his youngest daughter would receive the gift she asked for. Just before leaving, the traveler is suddenly attacked by a huge and terrible beast. The monster says that roses are the most valuable thing he has in the castle, and the old man will have to pay for the plucked flowerwith your life. The 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 sets its own condition: after the old man gives his daughter a rose, he will be obliged to return to the castle himself or send the very girl who asked for the flower to the monster. The traveler has no choice but to agree to these conditions.

Father kept promise

Upon returning home, the old man gives Belle the beautiful rose 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 still elicits everything from her father. After learning what promise he made to the monster, Belle sets off without hesitation.

New life in the magic castle

The author of "Beauty and the Beast", Charles Perrault, continues his fairy tale with extraordinary, magical events that happen to the main character. Having reached the castle, Belle meets the same monster. He informs the girl that now she is the mistress of his castle, and he is her obedient servant. Beast offers Belle a huge variety of beautiful rich dresses, invites her to dinner every night, to which the girl agrees.

Besides, every day the monster asks 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 sees no connection between the terriblemonster and prince. The girl has only one thought: the beast somewhere keeps that prince locked up. She repeatedly tried to look for the main character of her dreams in the castle, but each time the search was unsuccessful.

Mutual agreement between the beast and the girl

Belle has been living in the castle for several months. She misses her father and sisters very much. A 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, he sets a condition: the girl must return to the castle exactly in a week. In addition, Belle receives a magical mirror and a ring from the beast. With the help of a mirror, she will be able to see what is happening in the castle in her absence, and with the help of the ring, she can return to the castle at any time if she twists it on her finger three times. Belle agrees to all terms and happily heads home.

Trip home and return to loved one

Belle comes home in a very beautiful and rich dress. She tells her father and sisters, who burn 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 will miss her very much. Believing and moved by the words of the sisters, Belle decides to stay another day. In fact, envy pushed the sisters to such words. They really hoped that if their little sister, who managed to arrange her life so well, was late for the monster, then when he returned, he would eat her alive.

Waking up in the morning, Belle felt very guilty before the beast. She decided to take a look in the mirror to see how he reacted to her not returning by the due date. The girl saw that the monster was lying barely alive near the rose bushes. Belle immediately went to the beast with the ring.

Seeing that the beast was barely breathing, Belle leaned over him, began to cry and beg him not to die, saying that she loved him and could not bear such a loss. At the same moment, the monster turned into a handsome prince, who so often dreamed of a girl. The prince told Belle that once he was bewitched by an old witch, and only true love could remove this witchcraft. Since then, the prince and Belle have lived happily ever after.

Fairy tale analysis

"Beauty and the Beast" - a fairy tale, which is one of many other similar works. To date, many 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 older works that convey the same idea. For example, one of the first versions of this story was a fairy tale published in 1740 by Madame Villeneuve. The most important thing to note when analyzing this work is how the urban population is represented in the fairy tale. The townspeople act as the protagonists 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 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 his version that is considered the most interesting and famous today.

Fairy tale adaptation

"Beauty and the Beast" is a story that has been filmed many times under the direction of various directors. You can find adaptations as films, cartoons, musicals and even theatrical productions. The very first film adaptation of the fairy 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 fairy tale was the cartoon of the same name by the W alt Disney film company, which was released in 1991. A well-drawn cartoon began to be a success not only among children, but also among adult viewers. Many watch it several times.

Reviews

As viewers and readers say in their reviews, "Beauty and the Beast" is a wonderful tale of love, loy alty and devotion to a beloved creature, even if at first glance it seems that this creature is simply unable to be 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 dedication with whichBelle went to save the beast, not knowing that he is that handsome 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 as soon as at least one creature appears that loves and accepts you the way you are, and you will turn into a kind, affectionate and grateful person. This is very important to understand. This is what Charles Perrault's fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" teaches us.