Beauty is the beast

[sartorias]

A look at one of the many recent iterations of Beauty and the Beast caused me to mull the persistence of this myth/fairy tale, how it's been interpreted, and what's going on in today's literary conversation over it

Comments

[asakiyume]

I definitely read them, though I only know to look for them if you post a link here.

It seems to me, though, that it's fine to take a break if life stuff is making you busy.

[sartorias]

Thanks!

[ironymaiden]

i love your Book View Cafe pieces, and i also enjoy the ones that you have linked to by other authors. i read just about everything you link to - which is rare for me, but the quality is so consistent :)

i'm not crazy about the comment system on the site, so that's a barrier to me commenting.

so glad to encounter another fan of Till We Have Faces. i'm interested in reading the book in the review now. (and maybe rereading Till We Have Faces because i'm overdue.)

[sartorias]

Thank you!

The comment section gets improved every so often--it's all volunteer labor maintaining these things, and there is a steep learning curve at the design end.

Till We Have Faces repays revisits, I believe.

[houseboatonstyx]

Likely contrary to Lewis's intent, seeing TWHF mentioned here made me think of Orual AS the Beast who (as in some versions of Animal Bridegroom) turns out to be not bad after all.

In those interpretations, the scary or ugly bridegroom is an elderly and/or ugly man in an arranged marriage -- who is all along kind and gentle to her, especially in bed. Which she can believe and relate to, as long as she doesn't look at him!

[sartorias]

Oh, Lewis met that one head on.

[c_bibliophagist]

I always read and always enjoy your posts at Bookview Cafe. Your posts are thoughtful, interesting, and reflect the wide range of your reading and experience. And they usually make me wish I were better educated! :-)

I don't often comment at Bookview Cafe, but that's more from my lack of anything substantive to say than any lack in your blog posts.

However, it is beastly hot -- and I am sure we would not think the less of you for taking a blogging break during what sounds like a very busy period. But I'm sure your other readers join me in hoping that you would resume posting when things ease up a little.

--C.B.

[sartorias]

Thanks! Yeah, summer is at its fiercest, isn't it? Whew!

::waves::

[mojave_wolf]

I pretty much never have time for thoughtful comment, but am still reading my f-list semi-regularly and am certainly not indifferent to your posts, from book news to horses to general musings.

Re: ::waves::

[sartorias]

Hey, good to see you. I was thinking about you a week or two ago, hoping all was okay.

[rachelmanija]

I enjoy your posts, but don't stress yourself out writing them if you're too busy.

"Beauty and the Beast" becomes a horror story if you see it as a woman trying to tame a violent man through love. In a fantasy context, the unwritten coda is that he turns back into a beast and eats her. In the non-metaphoric version, he beats her until she flees or he murders her.

I prefer the idea that it's about "Can we ever really know another person?" "Who is this person I've married, really?" People are complex enough to be mysteries to ourselves. We all have things inside us that scare us, even the least violent of us. How much more mysterious we must be to others...

[sartorias]

I think the othering aspect is something we've also been having literary conversations with, perhaps more consciously in recent generations?

I agree about the mystery.