Of Beasts and Men

Cocteau's portrayal of magic was quite intriguing in comparison to de Beaumont's bland version of fantasy, and I found that through his particular use of magic, Cocteau was able to characterize the human nature much more so than did de Beaumont. The majority of insight that he provided to examine humanness occurred at his conclusion of the story. After thinking about the question posed in class about where the border of distinction between humans and beasts exists, I thought this movie did a much better job at examining what makes us human and how our actions define whether or not we deserve our human essence.

Cocteau achieves this insight by manipulating some of de Beaumont's character and plot portrayals so that by the end, the goodness of the beast and the beastliness of Avontue (I forgot his name, but Belle's other "human" suiter) earn each character their just reward. Interestingly, Cocteau adds this other suiter to the storyline to contrast the nature of the beast. de Beaumont's version makes very vague references to prior suiters for Belle, and none of them hold any grudges against Belle- at least de Beaumont makes no mention of it- that would drive them to go hunt down the beast to kill him and take all his wealth. In reference to the Beast's wealth, Cocteau creates this "sacred domain" where the Beast's true wealth is stored where both the Beast and Belle are forbidden to enter. Inside is where the magical statue of Diana keeps guard of the Beast's treasure and protect's it from any intruders. This statue is also very interesting because it incorporates two of de Beaumont's story elements into one: the good fairy and turning the older sisters into statues for their cruelty. Instead of the statue symbolizing the punishment for ill will and greed, the statue is the dictator of punishments for the same characteristics and acts as the fairy to protect the happiness and virtue of the deserving characters.

The combination of these changes to the de Beaumont version acts in synchrony to show that to be human requires that a person be able not only to recognize his or her own faults, but also be able to convey the true worth of his character. Beast is fully aware of his shortcomings, and he patiently accepts his "beastliness" until some woman is able to recognize the true merit of his character. The human suiter, on the other hand, is lazy, gambles all day, and is way too confident in his good looks to realize that Belle needs more than just a handsome face. Not only that, but he also doesn't stop and consider what he is doing when he attempts to steal the beast's treasure. Because of the Beast's and the suitor's character (flaws), each character earns their true appearance.