The Charms Of Beauty And The Beast-Investigating A Traditional Fairy Tale And Its Modern Responses

Beauty and the Beast is one of the more famous fairy tales, nearly as well known as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. As a child, it was always my favorite, because it seemed the most realistic. Odd thinking perhaps, considering it contains an enchanted prince, invisible servants, and various other magical elements. Consider this, though: Beauty and the Beast is one of the few fairy tales Unlike Cinderella, who falls in love in an evening, or Sleeping Beauty, who falls in love with a kiss, Beauty spends weeks, possibly months with the Beast before falling in love with him. In addition, the message given by the story, besides that main staple that true love will prevail, is that of true beauty is within. Admirable, and rare, it seems these days. Beauty and the Beast is often interpreted as a young woman's coming-of-age story. Content with a pure love for her father, she finds sexuality bestial, and so a man who feels sexual desire for her is a beast. Only when she is capable of regarding the desire of sexual relationship as human is she capable of achieving happiness.The tale has also interpreted as a commentary on arranged marriages; the first known versions stem from upper-class ancient regime France, where such marriages were the norm. An arranged marriage, particularly to a much older man, could easily seem like marriage to a beast to a young daughter; the fairy tale argued that such marriages could be happy, and their "bestial" husbands could indeed prove to be good men.And, of course, the obvious "messages" of the story are there as well: appearances may be deceiving and the love of a woman can civilize and "transform" a man. Beauty and the beast is the most symbolic and classical fairy story after Cinderella. Although time is flying, some basic motifs the stories embody still keep alive and continue touching readers of different generations. It must bear something valuable in these works. In the year of 2006, movie goers turn their focuses on the hit film Kingkong, along with another animated one Tarzan, both of which, as modern versions of Beauty and the Beast , have proved once again the enchantment of fairy stories. By figuring out the underlying reasons why these films are so popular among modern audiences, the author of this thesis tries to further interpret the psychological characteristics of modern people and make a better understanding of the significant meaning and value of fairy stories.This paper aims at exploring the fairytale elements or features in the popular movie .Kingkong in the year of 2006 through Tolkein's theory about the four characteristics of true fairy stories. As a modern version of Beauty and the Beast, along with other kind of animal groom (bride) stories, such stories have one feature in common --- metamorphosis. With the perspectives concerning the necessity of metamorphosis, the differences between east and west and the kinds of metamorphosis, the paper approaches the features of tradition and modernity in animal groom (bride) stories.