MovieChat Forums > Beauty and the Beast (1991) Discussion > Given how cut off and inaccessible and c...

Given how cut off and inaccessible and creepy the castle was made out to be by the curse...

posted 7 months ago by TheMan18 (13016)
13 replies | jump to latest

... how EXACTLY was the Beast, for instance, supposed to find true love and in a human form as portrayed in this movie? Was the Fairy really hoping that someone would get lost in the woods, whilst also putting themselves through very possible dangers via those wolves and stuff, and stumble upon the place by accident and have the chain of events set as here?

And if they all couldn't even leave the castle, as was proven later by when Gaston and the crowd decided to storm him, as who would accept a Beast much less a talking object like that, and there was no guarantee whatsoever under those circumstances that this was supposed to or could happen... How were and how was for instance the Beast and all, if nobody say showed up in over 10 years, find someone, fall in love and have the curse broken?

Like if Belle and the father did not show up after having dad coincidentally get lost in the woods, what were Beast's other options for having that curse broken, cheers.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14411) 7 months ago

Two reasons these things would happen:

1.) Any time fairies put some hapless human through a morality test, they like to provide a challenge for the human, otherwise the lesson won't mean much, particularly the reward. It's up to the human whether they truly want to meet up to the challenge or not, and if they are willing to get creative in the process.

2.) I noticed an unwritten rule of fairy tales is, sometimes fairies play a quieter, more subtle role in engineering things to happen. Dad and I discussed this when watching "Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella," where I noticed one of her glass slippers changed back into her normal work shoe, but the other didn't, and stayed on the palace steps for the prince to find. That could have only happened if the fairy wanted events to play out as they did after the ball. That idea could also apply to what happened with Belle finding the Beast. I guess the fairy got bored and annoyed when she didn't see the Beast do anything, so it's possible she engineered steering Maurice the wrong way into the dark woods to move things along, and the rest is history.

I've also considered alternate versions of this fairy tale, where one wonders what would have happened if the Beast character had the luck of actually having multiple girls sent his way over the years, and the others didn't work out for some reason or another, but it worked out with Beauty because she was the only one who saw past his ugly exterior and found a kindred soul.

[–] Stratego (30510) 7 months ago

He was supposed to go out in the world and charm a girl with his pleasant personality. His appearance and that of the castle were obstacles he had to overcome.

[–] TheMan18 (13016) 7 months ago

I also wonder... Given how he was forbidden to reveal the secret, what, err, "alternative information" could he offer to any of those girls etc who stumbled upon him but asked what the deal was, as in, why is he in a Beastly form, what's up with castle being dark and all the talking objects etc, and what if he say even did succeed and did try to be charming but it didn't work at all and at best they were like "No thank you"?

[–] Stratego (30510) 7 months ago

Tough luck.

[–] Sapphirelight (392) 7 months ago

When and where was it stated he was forbidden to say he was cursed?

[–] TheMan18 (13016) 7 months ago

It was kind of not too difficult to make out, besides, in the original tale, and the Soviet "Scarlet Flower" version, he was not allowed to state the truth about a witch curding him otherwise it would remain permanent.

[–] strntz (12254) 7 months ago

I never heard of the origin tale, but in any case, was not part of this story.

[–] strntz (12254) 7 months ago

Was the Fairy really hoping that someone would get lost in the woods, whilst also putting themselves through very possible dangers via those wolves and stuff, and stumble upon the place by accident and have the chain of events set as here?

Since that it indeed happened that way, it worked out as planned... LOL

Fun aside, I don't think the enchantress was "hoping" that anyone would find their way to the castle and fall in love with the beast to break the curse. If nothing else, giving him that long shot to break the curse only increased his torture by his watching his chance and hope slip away with every fallen pedal of the dying rose. The torment of hope would last much much longer this way as opposed to if she just turned him into a beast right away.

Face it, she not only cursed the prince, but the innocent minions looking to eke out a living. She wasn't very nice at all.

[–] Sapphirelight (392) 7 months ago

I don't think it was because she wasn't very nice, she just wanted to teach the Beast a lesson.

[–] strntz (12254) 7 months ago

And smote everyone else including the kindly mother and her child to teach that lesson??

Who was she to teach him a lesson anyway? What's wrong with just letting him be a dick - the world is full of them. It's not like he was a kiddie fiddler. Many jerks become better people on their own. If the witch/enchantress didn't intervene, he might have become a better person on his own, but more importantly, the others in the castle would have had their own lives to live. Even if the prince needed a lesson to be taught, why the collateral damage?

She wasn't very nice..

[–] Sapphirelight (392) 7 months ago

I admit you have good points but he still needed to be taught a lesson. It may be just be following the source material.

[–] strntz (12254) 7 months ago

I think he needed to be taught a lesson so we would have an interesting and fun story to watch.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7699) 7 months ago

I read a version of this story once a long time ago where Belle lives with lazy step sisters and ends up going to try and see her father who was a sailor but instead ends up at the Beast's castle. The beast and her end up falling in love and the beast still has magic after he turns human which he uses to turn Belle's sister into Statues. They stand in his garden forever. And yeah. There is no Gaston in this version. But it's more random how a woman ends up falling in love with him there.