"Beauty and the Beast:" The Need for Beauty

A rich merchant with three sons and three daughters– the eldest daughters hold out on marriage to a Duke or Earl, but the youngest, aptly-named Beauty, does so to stay with her father a few more years. The merchant falls in his fortunes, and they have to move to the country. The men apply themselves to husbandry and tillage, and Beauty to housework, but the eldest stay lazy.

One day, the merchant gets a letter about a ship arriving with effects of his and he sets off, asking his daughters what they would like. The eldest ask for goods of luxury, but Beauty only for a simple rose. When the merchant arrived at port, they went to law with him about the goods, and he left poor as before.

Glad, however, to return to his family, the merchant got lost in the woods as a storm brewed. He spied a castle lit from top to bottom in the distance and took shelter there. Strangely, the beautiful manor was unoccupied, although a large meal was set out. He ate and eventually began to explore the house and its luxurious apartments. Sleep overtook him in one of them.

In the morning he was delighted to see arbours outside, and went to them, dining on chocolate mysteriously set out for him on the way. Remembering Beauty’s gift request, he took a rose, but then a ferocious beast appeared and set on him. For his abuse of hospitality, he would die, but the merchant pleaded with the Beast, mentioning his daughters. The Beast said to return with the daughter, who must willingly enter into marriage with him. He was allowed to leave with a gold-laden chest.

Despondent, the merchant returned home. The sisters blamed Beauty for her gift, and the brothers wanted to kill the beast. However, the merchant knew they did not stand a chance, and Beauty would not hear of her father’s going back without her.

Beauty, despairing, was visited by a fine lady in her dreams the first night. The lady said she was pleased with Beauty’s reasons for staying there, and that she would be rewarded. Beauty lived at the castle, dining alone with beautiful music and books, and not seeing her suitor until he appeared at nine every night. She was horrified by his appearance, but over time she began to have affection for him, and to look forward to his visits. She would not consent to his nuptial offer, however, and when she saw in a magic mirror that her father was sick with longing for her, she asked to return home for a week’s visit. Beast consented, but warned her he might die of grief should she not return in time. He gave her a ring to lay on her bedside before sleep.

Beauty woke up back at home, finding her sisters have been married off and her brothers gone to the army. She is surprised at the trunk of clothes near her bed. Her sisters came for a visit, but when the week was up they conspired and feigned tears to make her stay longer, thinking the beast would devour her in rage at her tardiness. She consented, but worried after the Beast and one day dreamed of him sprawled out on the lawn. After an additional week, she lay the ring at her bedside and was joyful to wake up in the palace.

She could not find the beast, however, and was despondent when she found him outside as in her dream. She consented to marry him, and he became a handsome prince. He’d been transformed by a fairy and was not allowed to tell the conditions of his liberation. Beauty was overjoyed to find her family living in the castle, but her sisters were turned into stone for their envy and malice by the same lady who’d appeared to Beauty in her dreams.

Please join us as we read and discuss this English translation of Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast,” a story about virtue and vice, just desserts, and judgment, and the transformative power of beauty.

Lumsden’s “Beauty and the Beast:” https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast_(Lumsden_and_Son)

00:00 Introduction

00:43 Brief Meditation

05:43 Reading of Lumsden’s 1820 version

39:28 Ideal Feminine Virtue

41:15 Class in this Story

42:30 The Youngest is Prettiest

44:18 Beauty is the Only Complete Person

46:15 Difference between this story and “Cupid and Psyche”

49:20 The Empty, Ugly Palace

57:14 Why are Beauty’s Sisters Transformed into Statues?

58:45 The Beast Lacks Wit

59:45 The Significance of the Rose

1:03:31 The Power of not Being Deceived by Appearances

The full video episode:

https://youtu.be/G3AhWHN4Gyc?si=kJxXDtlQT7Q3rv0c

Audio episode:

https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/a-fairy-tale-of-a-good-but-endangered-boy/

The Podcast Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T

The Episode Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn

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I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.