Beauty and the Beast

Oh, my beloved boar-man.

Hello again, reader. This week, I'd like to talk about a story where it is the beauty on the inside that matters...as long as there's also beauty on the outside. I'm talking about Beauty and the Beast, and you can read the version I'm looking at here.

One of the morals we pick up is from the Beast himself. After Beauty has begun to get used to him, he proposes to her. If you don't ask for something, you never get it. She did refuse him, timidly, but that put the thought in her mind, and, at the end, she does agree to marry him. So, even if someone says they don't love you, just keep them prisoner in your castle for a little longer. Eventually, the Stockholm syndrome will set in and she'll even come back if you let her leave!

The next moral is, of course, about looking pretty. This is a common theme in fairy tales. I keep waiting for the villain to twirl a handlebar- mustache while chortling, but I think I'll have to keep waiting for that. In any case, as is standard, our protagonist is both beautiful and virtuous. Because the two things always go hand in hand. Once she loves the Beast for who he is, the Beast also becomes beautiful. You see, if he'd stayed ugly then he would not have been a good reward for Beauty.

So, to wrap this up, if you're going to steal a rose from a magical castle, you'd better be prepared to sacrifice your daughter, but only if she's beautiful and virtuous. If she's not, this might turn into Bluebeard's story instead.