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| Beauty and the Beast. |
To Whom It May Concern,
Do any of you have favourite stories from childhood? I certainly remember all my old favourites. Being an escapist meant that I spent more time in the fantasy world than in the real one. The real world's a great place to visit, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to live there!
When you spend your early years feeling like an outcast, not just out in the world, but at home too, you tend to seek comfort from the stories in books and on T.V. Think of any stories, be they folk tales or fairy tales or even myths and legends, the ones you love most are the ones that had a great impact on your life and remain with you to this day. I know one young lady who has a penchant for Red Riding Hood and whilst wearing that little, red, cable cardigan with the hood up, she looks just like her too! Ever so cute! Although, I suspect that she and her boyfriend, The Big, Bad Wolf are in on it together, robbing little old ladies blind a la Roald Dahl! Cheeky sods!
The story that I carry with me is Beauty and the Beast. Not the sappy Disney version as such, although the colours are pretty, but the original, slightly more disturbing, french version by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot De Villeneuve (1740). This story always fascinated me because I could relate on so many levels. She's a strange girl, who nobody understands; she spends a lot of time in her own company, nose in book and she refuses to conform to society. Never mind falling in love with a dangerous thing that could potentially kill her! How wonderfully self-destructive!
Years later, I investigated the underlying psychological implications of this story and it made even more sense. The 'enchantment' bit rings true, about how we are all cursed to suffer our fate and not all of us get to be Beauty, not on the outside anyway. Plus the discrimination we face for being loners. God forbid we should be different, they always try to kill the ones who don't fit in. And the Beast is not just some poor guy turned into a monster, but instead Beauty and the Beast are one in the same. To me it's about coming to terms with your demons and learning to make peace with your dark side. It's about accepting the things about yourself that you cannot change and being brave enough to love your monsters, for if we don't love them, who will? All creatures need love, even and most especially the terrifying ones!
Cinnamon Brown.
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