I'm currently looking at sources that analyze feminism in Disney for a paper I have to write and I stumbled across this really cool book called "The Princess Story: Modeling the Feminine in Twentieth-Century American Fiction and Film." Author Sarah Rothschild analyzes a princess's story and discuss the dialogue of Disney films on feminism and cultural anxieties and stereotypes surrounding girls and women. For my paper, I'm analyzing feminism and gender stereotypes within Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and was looking for a source that examine's Belle's role in the film.
In a segment titled "The Precedence of Romance," Rothschild offers a really unique and interesting perspective on Belle in relation to the Beast. Discussing how Belle spends the majority of her time "civilizing and gentling" the Beast, she sets the stage for the view of Belle as domestic. She takes this argument even further and extracts a quote from Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y Stemple that I feel is a cool perspective on Belle and the Beast. The quote reads, "this story teaches our daughters exactly how to become battered wives. Its message...states clearly that no matter how beastly and cruel the monster you live with is, somewhere there is a prince hide, and that if you just love him enough during his 'nice' periods, that prince will appear" (247).
I had never considered the relationship between Belle and the Beast through this lens. While I did suggest a submissive role played by Belle and assert that she functions to "fix" the Beast, I never considered that Beauty and the Beast advocates a message of "nurturing men until their 'true' goodness arises," as Susan Jeffords puts it. That women should endure abuse and deal with the ugliness of relationships until they see a soft side of men that is tolerable and capable of love. I really like this argument because not only does it depict a patriarchal domination but it looks past the illusions of animation and can pinpoint the segments of Beauty and the Beast that encourage female's putting up with the male's struggles and abuse because deep down all men have lovable sides.
Another cool point that Rothschild poses is that Belle is given no reasonable man to love. Gaston is a narcissistic and selfish man that views Belle as no more than a submissive, pleasing wife while the Beast is barely human and harsh-tempered. The absence of a "normal" or "reasonable" option for Belle to love and the presence of men on extreme ends of the romantic spectrum suggests that Belle is forced to settle. I thought this was really interesting because we often view Belle as overcoming the superficiality of love and finding her happily ever after with the love of her life, but it is often easy to overlook the work that Belle had to do on the Beast before loving him. She had to teach him manners and first endure his emotional abuse and dictatorial mannerisms (i.e. ordering her to dinner, making Belle stay in the castle in exchange for her father leaving, not being able to explore the West Wing). The Belle seems so appealing because he is literally contrasted by the worst possible man on the planet, Gaston, however, I feel it is valid to assert, that "the Beast could only have been made reasonable and effective by visualizing a worse man [Belle] could have chosen" (Jeffords 170).
Furthermore, Rothschild offers a refreshing and new perspective on Belle's character in Beauty and the Beast and draws on various insightful sources that work to enhance her argument. Definitely recommend this book if you can get your hands on it!
Peace Love Disney :)
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