Fairy tales have been around for ages and continue to grow and change with the times. Starting with those infamous words “Once upon a time” and ending with the ever so optimistic “and they lived happily ever after”, fairy tales are intended to do something, whether it’s teaching a moral or manners, helping a child ease into sleep, or just simply entertaining. As a child I grew up watching, what are now Disney classics, and familiarized myself with princesses, magic, and villains who always lost. I didn’t think much about the basis for the stories that I was being told or shown at the time. However, now I have the opportunity to read and look more closely at the tales that helped Walt and his team make instant movie magic. One such tale is “Beauty and the Beast”.
After reading six different versions of “Beauty and the Beast” it’s easy to see how the story changed and evolved from culture to culture. The earliest version is “Cupid and Psyche” in which Psyche (Beauty) is a heroine of great action who lacks what is infamous with the versions we are familiar with today…compassion. Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s version of the tale is most closely linked to the versions we have today. This version is meant to be a teaching tool of good manners and good behavior. Beauty sacrifices herself to the Beast to protect her father. This version also introduces that Beauty had two sisters and three brothers, which was a completely new concept to me. I never knew she had any siblings, let alone that her sisters were stuck up snobs only concerned with their societal status. Beaumont’s version also alludes to the fact that it is Beauty’s fault that she ended up as a guest in the Beast’s castle. Because of her thoughtfulness of her sisters, she asked simply for a rose, which is what ultimately caused the Beast to threaten the father.
“The Pig King” by Giovanni Francesco Strapola turns more toward the story of the beast rather than Beauty’s development and growing affection toward him, evident in Beaumont’s version. It is in Strapola’s version that we see how the Pig King (Beast) is a violent animal that kills his first two brides and only reveals his true self to Melinda after she accepts him as a pig. The thing I find most interesting is that Melinda agreed to marry the Pig King after him killing both her sisters. Was she naïve in thinking that he wouldn’t do that to her or were her sisters deserving of such a fate?
The Brothers Grimm’s “The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich” resembles the previous mentioned tales in that the youngest daughter is the most beautiful. However, in this version the compassionate daughter is a selfish girl who doesn’t readily face the promise she made to a frog in the forest. It is only after her father forces her to accept the promise she made and be kind to the frog that helped her. Beauty in this tale is not compassionate, so much so that she violently threw the frog against the wall, only to see afterwards that he transformed into a handsome prince.
“Urashima the Fisherman”, “The Frog Princess”, and “The Swan Maiden” all reverse the male and female roles, making the women the creatures to transform. In “Urashima the Fisherman”, a multicolored turtle transforms into an immortal girl who brought Urashima, the simple fisherman, to a land of wonders. However, after time passes he becomes homesick and in an attempt to get back he opened a magic box that brought about an end to the paradise and love he once knew. “The Frog Princess” is similar to “The Pig King” in that in both tales the main character hides behind animal skins only to reveal the truth at the opportune moment. “The Frog Princess” also focuses a great deal on testing women, in that the father wants to see how talented his daughter- in -laws are and they are responsible for womanly tasks like sewing and baking. “The Swan Maiden” like “The Pig King” and “The Frog Princess” relies on animal costumes to hide the truth. However, unlike the other two in “The Swan Maiden” the ending is not so bright. After nearly a decade of being a young lady the maiden was given her swan feathers and transformed, quickly leaving her husband alone.
These versions taught lessons on good behavior and keeping promises to those who helped you, but also showed the wickedness and vanity of people. Those are all ideas that I feel shape most fairy tales of folk tales. The varying creatures represented and the swapping of gender roles, along with the lack of a true villain brought about new ideas and thoughts that never crossed my mind when I thought of “Beauty and the Beast”.
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