Transcript
A homely old woman in patched clothing is at the door of a manor. The young and beautiful nobleman at the door points for her to leave.
Old woman: You would treat me poorly because of my homely visage?
The old woman has transformed into a glowing maiden in a fancy gown. She waves a wand.
Woman: Well, surprise! I’m really a beautiful enchantress. To punish you for your discourtesy, you shall appear ugly until someone loves you!
Nobleman: Thereby teaching me not to judge others by their appearance?
A beast sits in place of the nobleman.
Woman: What? No! You were supposed to guess that I’m secretly hot, so now you’ll appear ugly until someone guesses you’re secretly hot.
Nobleman: Oh, right.
P.S. Our bills are paid by our wonderful patrons. Could you chip in?
Fairy tale characters have it rough. Refuse a stranger shelter in your home? Bam! They were secretly a spiteful witch who will curse you for your ill manners! Invite them in? Bam! They were secretly a vampire who couldn’t harm you unless you invited them into your home!
It’s a real catch 22 situation.
For every moral, there is an equal and opposite moral.
Therefore, the true moral of all fairy tales is “you can’t win ever and sucks to be you.”
But what if I think the nobleman looks BETTER as a beast?
As you guys’ve said, this is a frequent problem w/ Beauty and the Beast stories
https://mythcreants.com/blog/five-stories-afraid-of-their-own-premise/
That’s the actual curse. Attract a furry, then immensely disappoint them when they fall in love. :P
Always has been, judging by audience reactions to the Beauty and the Beast movie.
It seems weird to fall in love with a monster and get a hunk instead.
Of course, as far as the original tale is concerned, the beast was supposed to be scary and young women were going to be taught that this horrible beast could turn into a prince, so they wouldn’t be so set against an arranged marriage to a possibly older and not that desirable man. See, that guy can turn into a prince for you!
Which in of itself is teaching women “I can change him” is a valid thing, which it never is. And THAT is an unhealthy message if ever there was one.
But of course, the people who wanted women to accept arranged marriages didn’t actually care about women’s well-being.
Well, it’s more a ‘he’s not as bad as he looks’ thing with the Beast, but, yes, it’s not a good message.
True, but then you have stories like Bluebeard that tell women to get the hell away.
Plus, the oldest Beauty and Beast tale is the myth of Cupid and Psyche. But the theme of a heavenly gorgeous woman falling in love with a wild man began with Shamhat and Enkidu from the Epic of Gilgamesh.
What’s the real lesson we were supposed to learn from that? Darn simplistic fairy tales, I gotta tell you.
Might makes Right is always the lesson
It’s amazing how so many times humans are expected to have psychic powers like telepathy and the ability to see through illusions rather than people fully communicating what is going on.
Well, the idea of fairy tales is ‘be nice to everyone.’ The message is ‘be nice to everyone or you’ll be turned into a furry.’
Well, Red Ridding Hood was nice to someone and almost ended up bad, and the three little lambs didn’t get so lucky.
In Sapkowski’s version Beast was a raubritter and rapist- hovever he refuses to seek any help because it gave him a bit of magic, super strenght, perfect health and a string of the ladies willing to stay with them (they came on their own, especially when the first one left after a year with handsome dowry