I am doing an essay on it and just wondered how others would interpret it, I'm finding it difficult to find much about this particular fairy tale. Any links would be helpful or the reference where the idea has come from.... Thanks xCan anyone offer a psychoanalytical study of Beauty and the Beast (not the film)?
do your own homework!Can anyone offer a psychoanalytical study of Beauty and the Beast (not the film)?
On the surface the tale says men are beasts and women have the potential power to civilize them.
Beauty and The Beast is a relatively modern story that comes from the once radical idea of romantic love. Keep in mind even in Europe up until the 19th century most marriages were arranged and the majority of women were seen as wards or dependents of their fathers or husbands (which is two steps above property and one step above the status of children)
If you look at earlier Medieval folktales the woman in the story is usually temptress or the unobtainable sexless saint. Women usually stop men from reaching their goal or prevent them from finding things like the Holy Grail.
Just check out the Canterbury Tales (probably one of the most modern and best written collection Medieval stories) where most the women range from vengeful nuns to the Widow of Bath -a woman who buried 3 or 4 husbands and on the pilgrimage is looking for another.
Beauty and The Beast reflects a more enlighten view of women in western civilization. It also hints that love and pleasure can be part of the relationship between men and women; and that marriage is not just the business of setting up a household.
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