Hi! I've recently read your meta Bride of the Monstrous, and noticed that you reference lots of fairy tales, folklore, and myths. That's why I am wondering if you know of any really good online essays, or analyses for the original version of Beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve; specifically ones that cover the theme of redemption. I need this for a school research paper, and nothing I've found is good enough. Thank you!
Hey–so sorry I didn’t get this sooner as I was on vacation, hopefully you still need this but if not my apologies.
@starwarsnonsense clued me into Marina Warner’s From the Beast to the Blonde which is a really deep, rich, and meandering dive into the history of storytelling and folklore/fairy tales with an emphasis on women’s roles as both storytellers and protagonists. The chapter on Beauty and the Beast can be previewed here, but the book is only available in hard copy.
@lomesasfannishthings has credit for showing me the The Beauty in the Beast Project, which while specifically constructed for ASOIAF analysis has some excellent excerpts and analyses of the ATU 425 mythos
Also see the sources for this paper, and this paper, which were in my pile of links from last year. Best of luck!