I just wanted to also mention that altogether, this is very different than the version of Beauty and the Beast which I grew up with. Belle (Beauty) was an only child, and there were no mention of sisters of any kind. It was definitely a different view reading the stories in which the Disney movie originated from.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Beauty and the Beast Ending
The ending having to do with the sisters in the movie and de beaumont's version of Beauty and the Beast were different. The sisters, in both, were such a taunting, crucial part of the tale. They treated Beauty horribly out of jealousy and spite. In the ending of debeaumont's they got their "just desserts". The fairy turned them into statues to sit outside the Beast and Beauty's palace, and could only be turned back once they got over their evil, jealous minds. For the movie, they weren't even mentioned at the end. I found that odd because they were such a big part of the story in general. It just doesn't transfer. Including the sisters in the ending adds more to the plot, and gives it more of a conclusion, since they were such a part of the story.
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I agree. The sisters played a crucial part in both versions of "Beauty and the Beast." They are especially important in reflecting the values of virtue, in the way that they demonstrate exactly the opposite of virtue: gluttony, malice, envy, pride, anger, and laziness. de Beaumont uses the sisters as an instructive tool to show what women should not be, and should strive to avoid being. In Cocteau's film, they could still be argued to serve as an instructive tool to convey values, but they have the additional functioning of being a tool for comic effect. What makes them comical is their outrageous personalities: such as their shrill voices and animated facial expressions that make them seem foolish.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is because I have seen the Disney Beauty and the Beast version, and prefer the love story that is central to it than the story relating to the sisters, and because Cinderella, to me, is more about the evil stepsisters, I do not feel like the sisters are all that necessary in the Beauty and the Beast story, and I am glad the Disney version cut them out.
Good point. I agree that the film would definitely have been more entertaining had the sisters been turned into statues, but the ending of Cocteau's film was more "happily ever after" - very Disney... I feel that if Cocteau had included some sort of punishment for the sisters, it would have taken away from Belle's happy ending (since she's super nice and good and probably would not want her sisters to suffer)...
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