Summary:
A synopsis of Robin McKinley's novel Beauty, including a comparison with the earlier version of this story, Madame Beaumont's Beauty and the Beast. McKinley wrote this novel from Beauty's point of view, which gives the reader a glimpse of how strong she truly was to go live with the Beast.
Synopsis of Beauty
In the novel, Beauty by Robin Mc Kinley, the family of a wealthy merchant looses their wealth when the shipment boats get lost at sea. There are three daughters named Hope, Grace, and Honour, whom is nicknamed Beauty, and a father. The family is forced to move to the country and start a life more modest than accustomed. After the family adapts to country life, one of the older sisters gets married to an iron worker who used to work at the shipyard owned by the father. They have babies. Life goes on in the country.
Three years after their arrival in the country the families receive notice that one of the lost boats has returned to port. The father leaves to the city to see if anything could be rescued and before leaving asks his daughters if there was anything they wished from the city for him to bring back. The older daughters make silly request but Beauty asks for rose seeds to plant a rose garden around the house. Upon returning home, the father is caught in a blizzard and stumbles upon a welcoming enchanted castle.
The next morning, as he leaves the castle he breaks a rose of its stem and the Beast appears. Beast is angry with this intruder's thanklessness and tells the man that he will spare the man's life if he returns in a month to give him one of the daughters. The man returns home and tells the whole family of the enchanted castle and the promise made to the Beast. Beauty steps up as the daughter that will give up her freedom for her father. When the month is up, Beauty enters the castle to await her fate.
The castle is as inviting to her as it had been to her father. The Beast is welcoming and not the ogre that she had originally thought he would be. Slowly as time goes by, they develop a bond of companionship. Belle starts to look forward to seeing him everyday.
One evening after almost of year of living together, she observes in a looking glass that her unmarried sister's fiancée is alive and desires to tell her of the news before she gets engaged to someone else. The Beast grants her the wish on the condition that she must return within a week. She agrees and goes home. Everybody in town goes to see her upon her return. The week passes quickly and after telling her sister the reason why she had come back she decides to stay a couple of extra days. In the middle of the 10th night back home she has a dream of the Beast dead in the garden. Without saying goodbye, she gets on her horse and sets out to the castle.
After getting lost in the forest for a couple of nights, she finally gets to the castle but everything is strange. The gates don't open to invite her in, the lights in the garden are dim and the stable would not open. She runs in to the castle and desperately tries to find her Beast. Upon finding him, she realizes that she loves him and the enchantment is broken. Her beast becomes the handsome man, whose portrait she had seen in the gallery. They agree to marry and her whole family is sent for, including the sister's fiancée and a lady neighbor. The new couple descends down the stairs to the awaiting and excited crowd.
Writer's Point of View
The author, Robin Mc Kinley wrote this novel in Beauty's point of view. She is the one character that leads the reader through the tale. We see the Beast through her eyes and see her grow from young girl to woman.
Comparisons to Original Tale
The original version of this novel, that I compared it to, was Madame Beaumont's Beauty and the Beast. In this tale, the family of three sons and three daughters are rich and turned into rags when the father, who is a merchant, looses all of the family fortune except the country cottage. The family is obliged to work for themselves. Beauty, who is well tempered, takes to the new life as well as the brothers but the older sisters refuse to do hard labor and despised the younger one for being so content with the family's shabby new life and because everyone loved her.
The father in this tale also hears of the homecoming of one of his boats and sets out to rescue anything on it and also ask his children if there was anything from the city that they wished for. The older sisters insist on the fineries but Beauty only asks for a rose. On his return home, the father gets caught in a blizzard and ends up in an enchanted castle and only meets the Beast when he cuts a rose from the garden.
The Beast in this tale, wants the man to come back with one of his daughters in three months. Beauty steps in as the daughter to live with the Beast. Both father and daughter return to the castle and after her father leaves, Beauty explores her new surroundings. She finds her room and the library. When she speaks to the Beast, she speaks without lies. They have a friendship for more than three months when she sees her father in the magic glass and sees him dying alone of grief. Beast sends her to see her father but for a visit of a week. The sisters who are now unhappily married despise their younger sister for being better off than them and decide to keep her for more than the week Beauty promised the Beast so to upset him and maybe get her killed.
On the tenth night of her visit she dreams of the Beast dying on the grass plot. She placed the magic ring on her finger and falls asleep. When she awoke the next morning she was back at the castle. When the Beast doesn't appear for their regular meeting, Beauty looks for him and finds him where her dream had said. She pleads with him not to die and reveals that she loves him. The enchantment is broken and the Beast turns into a prince. He explains the evil curse put upon him and walks her back to the castle where her family is waiting for her. Along with her family is the fairy she had seen in her dreams on the first night in the castle. The fairy turns her sisters into statues until they repent their evil doings.
Expansion of Original Tale
In the original the author doesn't describe the hardship of living in the country as does the author in the novel. Mc Kinley adds more romance to the whole tale and a love between the sisters. She also adds magic to the castle and a secret that Beauty has to find out on her own. The ending where all the sisters are in loving relationships fosters hope that even in grim times one must wait for that special someone.
Psychology
Transformation of Main Characters: At the beginning of the novel, Beauty has no need for hard labor but as they move to the country, Beauty has to learn to work alongside her future brother-in-law and do heavy work. She also moves away from her studies and turns to helping her family progress. After her year away from her family, she physically grows into a woman. She also finds herself dependant of the Beast rather than of her family as would a child.
Inner Psyche of Beauty: Beauty is a bookworm who prides in her studies. She is strong mentally because she bares the absence of her family but finds her new situation more accommodating. She is thoughtful of her family especially of her father whom she gives up her freedom for.
Point of View of Beauty: Beauty's point of view gives the reader a glimpse of how strong she truly was to go live with the Beast. Her view point draws the reader in the story deeper than the narrator's view point.
This is the complete article, containing 1,341 words
(approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page).
