Beaty and the Beast

Perhaps the greatest contrast between the two versions, the De Beamont one and the movie, is the opening depicition of the Beast's mansion. I found the way they depicted the mansion in the movie to be far different in the movie. When the father stumbles into the inside of the mansion, instead of it being described as magnificiant as De Beamont would have it, the movie sets up a far different image. The mansion is creepy and far more mysterious in nature. The greatness of the hall, is flooded in darkness in the movie which lends for a different feel.

Apart from setting up a different setting for the father to scamper about, it also has its implications of the hidden 'evil' laden in the walls. This notion leaves the viewer in suspence while at the same time making the viewer form biased judgements on the plave within. Thus, the movie has made a more active attempt at forming and attributing negative connotations to this area. Without chandaliers and a fireplace, the place would ahve been dark. This suggests a certain primativeness to the area, as fire serves as the only guiding light. It is no surprise that the father in the movie falls asleep right next to the warm fire as undoubltedly was done in barbaric periods of the past. Thus, the darker, more mysterious setting of the mansion forces a negative, primative gut response from the viewer, rather than a more passive presentation of the place, as depicted by De Beamont.