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Author
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Comment
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johnnymuscle60185
Registered User
(2/21/04 6:25 pm)
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Any 'Twists' on this Theme?
Beauty sees beyond the ugly external and loves the Beast. Are there any good twists on this Beauty/Beast theme for adults? Novels, stories, books, etc. wherein the heroine cannot see beyond the ugly external to love (or even feel compassion for) The Beast. "The Phantom of the Opera" (as a novel) and "King Kong" (as a film) come to mind for me. Any more tales wherein an ugly male pines for the love of a beautiful female and his dreams are dashed? Thanks!
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(2/21/04 7:39 pm)
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Re: Any 'Twists' on this Theme?
Most of the books listed on this page are aimed at an adult audience:
www.surlalunefairytales.c...hemes.html
Especially look at Angela Carter's short stories, including her Bluebeard story titled "The Bloody Chamber" since you are also interested in Bluebeard.
Heidi
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gormghlaith
Registered User
(2/22/04 12:55 pm)
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Re: Any 'Twists' on this Theme?
For some reason, when I read your post the first thing that came to mind was the movie The Purple Rose of Cairo. The plot is adult fanciful- it's been awhile since I've seen it- but as i remember, a woman finds happiness and escapism by constantly going to the movies, and sees the same movie so often that the male lead falls in love with her, and steps off the silver screen to be with her. In the end, she makes what appears to be the 'sensible' choice- she chooses the real-life actor over the come-to-life character- and ends up abandoned.
Her reasoning for this choice- he is "the perfect man. Of course,
he's fictional." -is beauty and the beast reversed. The heroine
cannot see past the perfection, which is as frightening as a beastly
appearance, (and doesn't love for unhuman beings- monster or celluloid-
have taboo written all over it? can you really blame a 'superficial'
heroine? ). Anyway, if you're looking for a movie on a rainy day,
I do recommend the Purple Rose of Cairo.
Just rambling. Have a lovely day!
www.amazon.com/exec/obido...65-7931811
Oh, as for stories, I just thought of one: the Swineherd by Hans Christian Anderson. In it, a princess scorns the gift of a prince: he gave her a real bird instead of a mechanical one ("Fie, Papa," said she, "it is not made at all, it is natural!") But she accepts the advances of the same prince when, disguised as a swineherd, he offers her 'artificial' gifts. In the end, after proving how vain and heartless the princess is, the prince reveals himself, exposes her pettiness to all, and returns "to his own little kingdom, and shut the door of his palace in her face"
www.kellscraft.com/swineherd.html
hmm, maybe the topic I'm on is 'the real vs the natural' in tales. or heroines confused by convention. or how you miss out on the prince. again, rambling.
Edited by: gormghlaith at: 2/22/04 1:06 pm
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Nalo
Registered User
(2/23/04 8:39 am)
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Re: Any 'Twists' on this Theme?
There's also Suzy McKee Charnas's (novella? novelette?) "Beauty
and the Opera or, the Phantom Beast:" www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook807.htm
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Jess
Unregistered User
(2/23/04 10:15 am)
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There are those "real" stories
Hollywood loves this theme, but you rarely see it as a "true" beauty and the beast story. I see the "theme" in things like "A Beautiful Mind"; "Shine", "Forrest Gump". Maybe these are a stretch, but each one of the main characters has a "beast" aspect to him, and each has a "beauty" that helps it all come together for the beast and make him more human. I believe all three of these movies were based upon books.
Jess
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JoanneMerriam
Registered User
(2/26/04 1:11 pm)
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Re: There are those "real" stories
There's a wonderful poem in In The Palm Of Your Hand: The Poet's
Portable Workshop by Steve Kowit which this discussion calls
to mind. I don't remember the author or title, but it's in the section
of the book which is named after one of the lines from the poem,
"lonely as a leftover thumb." It's about a guy who goes
to the movies hoping that someday the pretty heroine will see how
much the Ogre or Frankenstein or Blob or whoever loves her, and
choose him instead of the dashing hero, who will give her a boring
life in the suburbs. At the end of the poem the narrator cries while
watching the cheerleaders leaving with the jocks. I can't do it
justice with this description...
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