When Beauty is the Beast
June 15th, 2006, 9:28 pm
There are many interpretations of one story, and a big part of that judgement is based on the era. Take “Beauty and the Beast”, for example. Some of the more popular interpretations include teaching values like what to look for in a husband and raising issues like an abusive spouse. The former would be more relevant when women were dependent on their husband whereas the latter would be more appropriate during the women’s rights movement.
In this piece, I took the idea of vanity and ran with it. In time, although the issue has disguised itself in many different forms–from Neolithic’s Medusa to today’s Ugly Duckling–the social importance of being beautiful has not been eroded. The concept is rehashed into “Beauty and the Beast”.
“When Beauty is the Beast” is a little clever, but straight forward way of saying that this very concept of beauty is the ultimate villain in the story that divides Belle from her sisters and the prince from Belle.
One of things that Disney neglected the making of their version of Beauty and the Beast is Belle’s transformation. The beast was a selfish, barbaric animal that learns to love. Those who read Beaumont’s version of the story will tell us that the prince was a kind and gentle man who was turned into a beast by a wicked fairy. It is Belle who undergoes a transformation in that she learns to see past the Beast’s appearance and love him for all he’s worth. This is the idea that I’m going to translated into this painting. Recall Shrek; when the spell was broken Princess Fiona’s reveals herself to be an ogre.
Filed under Art, Art Gallery
