Beauty and the Beast: As it Should Have Been

Once upon a time there was a beautiful young woman named Belle. Belle was so beautiful, in fact, that she was considered by some to be “the hottest Disney heroine.” One stormy night, Belle’s eccentric inventor father got lost on his way home from the fair and stumbled on an old enchanted castle. He went inside for warmth and shelter, and was cared for by the castle’s staff-turned-appliances. Unfortunately, he was discovered by the master of the castle: a huge, savage beast. For trespassing, the beast locked him up in a dungeon.

When her father failed to come home, Belle went looking for him, and in her search found the beast’s castle. She discovered her father there and arranged a deal with the beast whereby he would set her father free and take her prisoner instead. Belle was allowed to roam free in the castle and given tasty food and gorgeous clothing; in return, the beast asked only that she not venture into the castle’s west wing.

Well, one day Belle’s curiosity got the better of her, and she broke the only rule she had been given: she went into the west wing. There, she discovered the magical rose that, unknown to her, held the secret to the beast returning to his original human form. Unless he learned to love and be loved in return before the last petal fell, he would remain a beast forever. Belle reached out to touch the rose—but just then, the beast came back and caught her there. He was very angry.

Belle gasped, and tried to use her apparent sweetness to escape the consequences of her actions. She even tried to place blame on the beast, scolding, “You should learn to control your temper!”

Although he’d hoped that perhaps Belle might be the one to break his spell, the beast realized he could never love someone so dishonest, manipulative, and lacking in responsibility. So he reached down and gobbled her up.

A few months later, another young woman named Honnete, who was perhaps not quite as pretty as Belle but certainly had more integrity, came across the castle while performing charitable landscaping and gardening in the area. She offered her services to the beast, and over time he learned from her example not to act so beastly, and they became friends and eventually fell in love. Since there were still plenty of petals on the rose, the beast turned back into a human, and he and Honnete got married and lived happily, honestly, and responsibly ever after.