You can see that even though this was written in 1745, many of the lessons and morals are still useful in today's society. First of all this shows that beauty is only skin deep. What is on the inside is what really counts. "You are very generous," said Beauty. "I am well pleased with your kind heart; when I think of that, you no longer seem so ugly to me" (221). Beauty is falling in love with the person on the inside. She also said, "There are many men more monstrous than you, and I prefer your form to those men who hide a false, corrupt and ungrateful heart" (221). This really cuts to the quick. People that are bad are just plain ugly on the inside and in turn you don't want to be around them. As a child I would really began looking at the insides of my friends to see if they are beauty or the beast.
Illustration by Warwick Goble to Beauty and the Be...
English: Old, Old Fairy Tales: "Beauty and the Bea...
Illustration for Beauty and the Beast by Walter Cr...In this version though, Beauty also has two sisters and they are constantly looking for wit and fortune and are very greedy. "The two eldest said they would never marry unless they could find a duke, or at least a count" (216). Now if that isn't greedy, I don't know what is. At the end of this they are both turned into statues and will remain that way until they learn their lesson. Greed will get you no where.
"The Lady and the Lion", was written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, it in 1812. The Grimm brothers had traveled around Germany and listened to the older women's tales. This was very different from the French version of Beauty and the Beast, as you will see. The Father takes a long journey. "The eldest sister wanted pearls, the second diamonds,