Beuaty & The Beast Essay, Research Paper

Megan Hull

Jerry Coats

English 1301

16 October 00

Madame Le Prince De Beaumont wrote, ?A merchant was extremely rich, and since he was a sensible man, he spared no expense upon their education, but gave them all kinds of tutors.? The father cares about his daughters, but he too still has to have his own life. What is the role of the father?

In Madame Le Prince De Beaumont?s version of Beauty and the Beast, the role of the father is to prepare his daughters for the future, and eventually he had to lose his daughter because of a present for Beauty. Since Beauty did not have a mother figure, her father took the place. When he left for the ship that people said he had merchandice, Beauty only asked for a rose. Bruno Bettlelheim stated in his article, ?The story suggests that Beauty?s oedipal attachment to her father not only by her asking him for a rose, but also by our being told in detail how her sisters went out enjoying themselves at parties and having lovers while Beauty always stayed home and told those who courted her that she was too young to marry and wanted to ?stay with her father a few years longer.? ? (P.228) The rose symbolizes her father?s willingness love for her.

The Disney?s Beauty and the Beast shows that the role of the father is to give his daughter over to the beast like an arranged marriage. Marina Warner wrote in an article, ?The most significant plot change to the traditional story in the Disney film concerns the role of Beauty?s father, and it continues the film?s trends towards granting Beauty freedom of movement and responsibility for the rescue of the Beast and for his restoration to fundamental inner goodness.