Discussion: when did the Beast fall in love with Belle?

[norringtons]

Hoping to get lots of opinions on this!

I was on a Disney forum recently, and a discussion was being held on when the Beast actually fell for Belle. One person asserted that he fell in love with her as soon as she came to the castle, and that's why he saved her from the wolves (if that's your opinion that is fine, but I don't think so)A

Comments

[vikingprincess]

I often felt that the montage scene (snowball fight, feeding the birds, sitting by the fire, etc.) was where the Beast did his falling. I'm not sure that Belle knew she loved him until she thought she'd lost him, though I do believe she had become fond of him --he's her first and only friend, too, excepting her father-- earlier.

[newmoonstar]

I always though it was pretty clear that during "Something There" was when they started to develop feelings; that turned to love for Beast pretty quickly, but it was just friendship for Belle, and she didn't actually realize how much she loved him till she thought he would die.

I don't see how anyone could think Beast fell in love with Belle at first sight, since it wasn't until after he'd rescued her from the wolves and she gave him a good talking to that they managed to establish actual communication between them; she was just the means to an end for him before that, and he'd only cared about her as far as her potential to break the spell, rather than as a person he liked.

[pikapika217]

yeah, I agree - 'something there' is where I feel that romantic feelings started to develop.

MY TIME HAS COME.

[akichan]

Oh boy, how did I miss this until now? Beast is my jam. Essay incoming.

The process of falling in love is often so gradual you can't really pin it down to one specific moment, but...

In regards to the Beast saving Belle from the wolves, well...He's a complicated monster and there are a lot of grey areas in this movie. I like to believe that the sweetheart he becomes by the end of the movie was always in there somewhere, albeit extremely underdeveloped. For all that the Beast is spoiled and selfish, he's also very insecure and awkward. You can see him trip all over himself when he first interacts with Belle ("Oh...uhhhh....the castle is your home now so you can go anywhere you like. EXCEPT THE WEST WING." and "You will join me for dinner. ...THAT'S NOT A REQUEST.") Obviously that's not how you treat someone you love and absolutely I agree he was not in love with her at first. Attracted to her is another matter entirely, because I think absolutely he was attracted to her. If you go with the idea that this poor kid was Beasted at age

Re: MY TIME HAS COME part 2

[akichan]

And now, too, Belle maybe has an inkling of what lies underneath all the fur and fangs. I don't think she's physically attracted to him, but I think the beginnings of an emotional attraction are starting to develop. I don't think it's friendship either. The lyrics of Something There are pretty telling

Re: MY TIME HAS COME part 2

[norringtons]

LOVED reading your posts and thoughts.

Never noticed the way Belle cups the Beast's face is mirrored in how he cups her face as he dies. OMG.

Re: MY TIME HAS COME part 2

[akichan]

Thank you. I could write SO MANY WORDS about this movie. SO MANY.

And yes, they both seem to like doing that.

[tcoll813]

I agree that Belle fell in love with the Beast at 'something there'. As for the Beast, I don't think he cared about her until they started to get to know each other better, but I believe it's clear that he fell for her first.