-Beauty and the Beast

https://www.lehigh.edu/~asj316/children/beast_002.jpg

Based on a tradition of folk tales dating back to the Roman story “Cupid and Psyche” written by Lucius Apuleius in the 2nd century, the now common “Beauty and the Beast” story derives from Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s 1757 publication. In this version, Beauty must live in Beast’s Castle after her father trespasses and picks a rose on its grounds. The castle, set in the French woods, is decorated with numerous lifelike statues and contains immense treasures. De Beaumont’s publication contains clear moral teachings about how young women should be raised, concluding with her agreement to marry the Beast thus transforming him back into a human prince. This work has been adapted numerous times, including the 1946 Jean Cocteau film and the 1991 and 2017 Walt Disney films.

Madame Leprince de Beaumont (1711-1780).
Beauty and the Beast. New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1949 [i.e. 1950].

Lehigh University Catalog Record: https://asa.lib.lehigh.edu/Record/313241

A version of this text has been digitized and is available through the Internet Archive.