The core of the story is not progressive or feminist. It does not place the Beauty as the equal of the Beast. It is a story about holding your head high and looking for the good in a person whose real world equivalent believes that it is his legal right to beat and rape you. It is the story equivalent of ‘lay back and think of England’ and existed because of gender divides that meant women could not voice their discontent, let alone change their circumstances. The Beauty of BATB is not the heroine because she loves the beast. She is the heroine because she accepts her female duties and brings no shame to her family. She is the heroine because she serves the function society dictates she should. She is the heroine because she is perfectly formed to save the two men who need her most.
Guess which blog I got this "lovely" excerpt from, everyone?
And guess who fundamentally does not understand the folktales that ONCE and other media is primarily based upon?
I just really want to throttle someone. Seriously, how? Do you really, really not understand how this is a feminist fairy tale?
The first literary version of the Beauty and the Beast folktale type was entirely about women's power struggles. Literally, the Beast was a pawn piece for women.
