Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Ending
I thought that the difference in the endings of the two versions was very interesting. I guess as with all movies, this one somewhat simplified the original story considering the sisters faced no consequences as the did in the book ending. In the De Beaumont version the sisters are turned into stone while in Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast they receive no punishment. Perhaps this was due to an edit for the time however I believe that the fact that the fairy states that the sisters can free themselves if they realize their mistake is very important. This clearly makes their plight their own fault and absolves anyone else of responsibility. Good is offering evil a chance to free itself.
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I also found the lack of punishment for the sisters in the film interesting. It seemed to me that in the film the sisters are depicted as much less evil than they are in the de Beaumont version of the tale, and play a much smaller role in general in the film. I think this allows Belle to take the spotlight and be portrayed as a much more active female protagonist. In other fairy tales we have read, such as Snow White and Cinderella, the female protagonists are much more passive and receive much less attention than does Belle.
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