Appearing first as La Belle et la Bete (1756) , this French fairy tale was transalated into English in 1757. In 1946, Jean Cocteau adapted it into a great film classic.
In order to save her father's life, Beauty, the youngest of his three daughters, agrees to live in an isloated place inhabited only by a frightful Beast. Although she refuses to marry the Beast, she gradually finds herself looking forward to his daily visits. After three months, the Beast allows her to go home to her father, provided she returns within a week. Detained by her selfish sisters, she finally returns to the castle to find the Beast dying of heartbreak. She realizes the she has fallen in love with the ugly but gentle Beast. She tells him that she can no longer live without him. Immediately, he turns into a handsome prince; the spell that had imprisoned him within the Beast's body is broken. They marry and live happily ever after.
The phrase "Beauty and the Beast" is generally applied------sometimes seriously sometimes jokingly to a seemingly ill-matched couple: a beautiful woman and an ugly man. |
