Gender Roles In Beauty And The Beast

“Beauty and the Beast” is an original fairy tale and over time have incorporated social, religious and cultural themes. An analysis of the Disney version of “Beauty and the Beast” exemplifies the stereotypes of the more subtle forms of social manipulation that fairytales undergo to employ. The question of whether these stories are made for entertainment or send a much larger picture, depicting to children their gender roles within a society. In this paper gender roles will be represented showing the typical female and male character within a society. Historian Sylvia D. Hoffert defines a gender ideal as “the cluster of characteristics, behavior patterns, and values that members of a group think a man or a woman should have, a set of cultural expectations.” It refers to what society think is appropriate for men and woman. In many fairytales, the female character is seen as beautiful kind and compassionate. She is one who obeys her father and seeks true love from a handsome prince and live happily ever after. As scholar Kay Stone notes “heroines are not allowed any defects, nor are they required to develop, since they are already perfect.” At the end the female considered the heroine is in love and happy with the prince. Perhaps ironically, the villain is also generally female. Like in Cinderella the step mother and

The heroine is seen as perfect in every way. However she also is depicted as helpless and naïve considering her role is to be found by a prince and be married happily ever after. It may be a tad bit irrational to call a heroine ignorant but the adjectives description seem to fit idealistically. However in “Beauty and the Beast” this fairytale takes a further turn suggesting that beauty is not only found physically but mentally and emotionally as well. Rather it still indicates that woman should be submissive and obedient to male