Belle of the Ball

(Image From Wikipedia.org)

            Released in 1991, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast has received a mixed bag of criticism and praise for its heroine: Belle. Yet another motherless beauty, Belle appears to live in a small town in the French countryside, with her eccentric but brilliant father, an inventor. She is an intelligent woman, who immerses herself in books to escape her simple life and doesn’t accept the first man who tries to court her because it’s expected. She also serves as the first Disney Princess to have a male enemy: her would be suitor who could only see her as a trophy to be won, a skilled hunter named Gaston.

            She lives in a society that expects her to conform, settle down, and make children. However she dares to dream of adventures and romance, and more then there is. She is brave, and was the first Disney Princess to have a functional relationship with her father. Her adventure began not because of an evil stepmother or a quest for love, but because she was scared for her father’s well being.

While she was a village girl, she was far from ordinary. As I mentioned, she was intelligent, clever and well read. Despite the fact that Gaston is considered the greatest catch in town, certainly able to take care of her, Belle refuses his advances on account of his ignorance and arrogance. She is even clever in how she refuses him, attempting to be polite despite clear annoyance. And of course, she seeks more then a “provincial life”, as her song in the film points out. She does not hold herself to the standards of others.

(Image via Disney.wikia.com)

Her enemy, Gaston, is proud, devious, and has an unexpected edge. He repeatedly ignores Belle’s attempts to turn him away, and criticizes her for being different. Even though he could have anyone in town, she is the one he wants. When she won’t willingly marry him, he attempts to blackmail her into doing so in order to save her father. Key, when Gaston discovers Belle loves another, he organizes a mob to kill his rival! While in contrast to previous villains he has no magic, he is arrogant, deceptive, and will do anything to get what he wants.

Admittedly, Belle and the Beast’s courtship is the first in a Disney Princess feature to get so much screen time. Which also mean it’s one of the healthiest depicted. Often, given the nature of their meeting, it’s criticized as being a result of Stockholm Syndrome-when a captive falls in love with their captor. I’m no expert on the matter, but it seemed a bit more complicated then that. Beast observed Belle’s devotion to her father, and how she was a good person, and how she cared about people. She makes no attempts to change him, though she initially dislikes him; not because he is scary looking, but because she dislikes how he acts: his attitude, anger, and actions. However, the Beast wants to win her affections, and so he decides to change himself in order to do so. This is a healthy change from the instant connections, and it displays that a young woman should not settle; if a man wants to earn their love, he must actually be willing to note what she likes. Now the Beast’s case was extreme, but that does not change the fact that he changed in order to earn her love. He also paid attention to who she was; upon realizing she enjoyed reading, he presented the library to her.

In my humble opinion, what cemented their romance was when she fled at one point, scared of his temper. He could have left her to die at the jaws and claws of the wolves, but he didn’t. Instead he saved her, though he was injured in the process. In Belle’s favor, she could have fled at that point, but she realized he was injured saving her and would not leave him to die.

But the best moment was when Belle discovered her father was once again in danger. The Beast allows her the option to go to him, and despite the blooming romance, she does. This makes Belle superior to Ariel, who picked a potential romance over her entire family. She prioritizes family despite the fact that she is by then in love with the Beast, and runs off to save him. But when she learns he is in danger, she returns to save him if she can. In fact, in quite a switch, it is Belle who saves him: from the curse and from becoming the monster he appears to be.

My final verdict is that Belle is an excellent role model. Her romance is not as suspect as others, as she and the Beast had to learn more about each other before they fell in love, and so they understand each other. Both have saved each other, which forged the romance in steel. Of the pairs previously who appeared in Disney Princesses feature, their pairing has the strongest foundation. She is intelligent, clever, quick to the take, loyal to those she loves, and braves. She does not abandon, and she did the rescuing at the end of the movie. She is able to win the adventure and romance she has always dreamed of, but she got there by being herself and a good, just person. She was high born like her predecessors, but a commoner’s daughter, and she was still the hero of her story.