Belle's journey with the Beast
Schmidt's Heroine’s journey template describes female characters' transformation, and Beauty and the Beast traditionally isn’t considered a Heroine’s journey. The movie starts out with the Beast being transformed from man to beast by an Enchantress. The movie’s most obvious character journey is argued to be the Beast, but I think that throughout the movie, Belle also has her own journey, which Schmidt's template describes very well.
Belle lives in a small village with her father, but she’s always wanted to go out and have an adventure. Schmidt’s template helps understand Belle’s start to her journey through the “illusion of the perfect world step”. Achieving her wish, Belle gets her “realisation” when she finds out that her father has been captured and is locked up in a castle by the beast, and that she has to go and rescue him. These two steps are very important in Belle’s heroine Journey because those two scenes represent the official start to her journey.
When Belle gets to the Beast's castle, she finds her father stuck in a cell. To make sure that her father stays alive, she makes a deal with the beast that she will take her father's place and become the beast's prisoner. This part of the film is represented well by "the descent-passing the gates of judgement" step in Schmidt's model because it shows her going to an unknown place even though she is scared. Belle starts to live with the beast, which was a little awkward for her. The beast was very distant and alone. Belle one day decides to look around the castle, and she finds the rose in the beast's room. When the beast finds her there, he gets really upset because he thought that Belle did something to the Rose. This makes Belle want to leave the castle. When she sees that the Beast is hurt after he tries to save her from wolves, she decides to stay. This part of the film is best represented as the "eye of the storm" because Belle realizes that the Beast isn't the horrible person that everyone thinks he is and decides to stay in the castle with him.
Throughout the film, the Beast and Belle start to get along. They're starting to warm up to each other and enjoy life together. Back at the village, Belle's father tells Gaston, who wants to marry Belle, that she has been captured by the Beast. Gaston is mad and decides to rally everyone together and kill the Beast. At this point in the movie, the rose has only a few petals left, and the Beast could stay a Beast forever. When Gaston arrives at the Castle, he starts to battle the Beast. When Belle finds them both battling and sees the Beast hurt, it makes her realize her feelings towards the Beast. This part of the movie is shown as the "Death-all is lost step" because, during the battle, Belle's hope for having a relationship with the Beast was almost ruined, but when he wakes up, she realizes that she wants to be with him. When she goes back to the castle, her "Perfect world" was finally achieved. She's happy living with the Beast in his castle.
Great post Antje! I feel like Beauty and the Beast is a movie where there is both a hero's journey and a heroine's journey. It would be interesting to see how similar or how different the Beast's and Belle's journeys are because I feel like they both go through very different journeys throughout the movie. I really liked your interpretation of the "eye of the storm" step because at first I felt like there wouldn't necessarily be an "eye of the storm" step in this movie because she doesn't really gain anything from her journey until the end. After reading your blog, it makes sense why the sense you chose is the "eye of the storm" because becoming friends with the Beast is like a temporary win.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is very interesting that you stated in the beginning of your blog post that critics often discuss how the Beast relates to the hero's journey, but that Belle follows a heroine's journey of her own that is often overlooked. I think that all Disney princesses follow the heroine's journey to some extent, and Belle is no exception. I think that your interpretation of how Gaston's fight with the Beast is Belle's "death" was thoughtful. Overall great post, Antje!
ReplyDeleteSeeing the Beauty and the Beast portrayed as a heroine's journey is an interesting and new way to look at the classic film. Your interpretation of the film is one I've never seen before, but it puts a lot of things into perspective and helps to understand it better. Drawing connections for certain steps, like the death and eye of the storm steps, were unexpected when I first read it but actually make a lot of sense. The connections you made are a lot clearer and I think they strengthen the understanding of both the Journey and the film. Overall a great and interesting post, Antje!
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ReplyDeleteHello Antje, I never really critically thought about the film Beauty and the Beast so critically. Before reading this blog, I would have not thought about the Eye of the Storm being when the Beast and Belle get along, but it makes sense. Belle and the Beast get along before the other sad parts of the film meaning it is a middle "calm phase" of story. You analyzed the story well, good job!
ReplyDeleteHi Antje! I love Beauty and the Beast, and up until now I hadn't really thought about the heroine's journey aspect of it. I think you do a great job of associating parts of the movie with Schmidt's model, and you explain your examples really well! I especially like where you highlight the eye of the storm step, I believe that scene does really show itself as being that step. Overall, this is a great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Antje! Beauty and the Beast is a classic, and I'm happy to see a blog post about this "tale as old as time". I'm intrigued at your observations at the beginning of the Beast having his own hero's journey - that would be an interesting blog post to read as well. I enjoyed reading your analysis of Belle's journey to becoming a hero through Smidt's model, and I think your explanations and evidence towards each step are quite well established. NIce post!
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ReplyDeleteHi Antje, while not necessarily a Heroine's Journey step, I feel like Belle embodies the "Master of Two Worlds" step from Campbell's Monomyth nicely. She quickly takes to her environment whether it is as a village maiden or the head of a gothic castle. By the end of the movie, she and her newly human husband both enjoy the clout from being royals while also having the experience and humility of being peasants. Keep up the good work.
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