Beauty and the Beast Research Paper

Beauty and the Beast is one of the most popular fairy tale stories. This story has been told in many different ways from countries all over the world, one of the most well known versions being the Disney animation movie. Although all of the different types of stories have the same theme behind it, each one brings a certain charm to make it a bit more interesting.

The different versions of Beauty and the Beast had their origins in mythology. The earliest version of The Beauty and the Beast was in the second century C.E. Roman writer Apuleius called it The Golden Ass. It was about Psyche putting Cupid under this spell turning Cupid into a hideous serpent. Psyche weds Cupid to a woman, and she is not allowed to look at him. When she does, she loses her husband. The one version that most people would know is La Jeune Ameriquaine et les Contes Maring by French writer Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve. According to sources, “De Villeneuve was part of the ‘second wave’ of French fairy tale writers.” (http://www.endicottstudio.com/rdrm/forbewty.html)

It was a series of tales that were written for her friends and not children. One of her tales became the Beauty and the Beast that is known today.

There are many similar stories to Beauty and the Beast from all over the world. For example, there is this Korean story called Shimchong, the Blindman’s Daughter. It is about this girl named Shimchong who has to sacrifice her life to the Dragon King for her blinded father. She likes her life, but starts to miss her father. So the Dragon King lets her go, and later she eventually comes back. They get married, and when Shimchong wants to see her father, they invite all the blind men to their wedding party, and that is when her father receives his sight.

Another similar story is The Bear Prince and it is from Switzerland. It is about a merchant goes to the market and before he leaves, he asks his three daughters what they want. The first two ask for jewels and dresses, but the youngest daughter asks for a grape. The merchant finds the jewels and dresses but cannot find a grape. A person tells him that there is a forest that has plenty of grapes, so the merchant goes to the forest, but suddenly runs into a scary beast. The beast allows the merchant to take one grape, but only if a year from that day the merchant gives him the first person that comes out to greet him when he returns home. The merchant returns home and the youngest daughter runs to him and asks about his trip. The beast then returns and takes her away where they lived together. A year later they visit her father where he tries to give his daughter a box of matches. The beast does not allow it and they return back home. Another year later, they visit her father and everything happens as last time. But the third year when she visits, the father gives her the box of matches. The daughter and beast return home, and that night