Of beasts, monsters and charming princes: A cultural look into the cinematographic adaptation of the tale of Beauty and the Beast
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Abstract
This research offers a reflection on the use of fairy tales as a source for historians, showing thus the approach to the tale of Beauty and the Beast with the concepts of beauty/ugliness and civilization/barbarism.
Thus, the analysis is based on the relation between the cinematographic adaptations and the original tale. It also presents the cinematographic language dichotomy in which Beauty, a civilized character, tries to tame the monster (Beast).
The study is based on the tale written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and it is focused on identifying the characteristics of the aforementioned dualities. After identifying the characteristics, the article presents an analysis of the transformations suffered by the story in the cinematographic adaptations produced in the United States between 1960 and 1991 in order to understand the way in which the society highlights the virtues or the defects in the representations of the characters.