>Oh! I'd forgotten the bit about _Beauty_ that did annoy me: Beauty's
>transformation. The Beast's restoration was both kind to all concerned
>and a logical end to the curse. Her facelift was more random, or
>perhaps "we can't end a fairy tale with plain people! Tranfigure her!"
I never thought she had been "transfigured" -- I always thought she got it in
her head when young that "Beauty" was an ironic nickname, and never perceived
herself as beautiful until confronted with her image again in the mirror. Think
of her words upon meeting the Beast: "Oh no, I assure you, I am quite plain."
And the Beast says, "I do not think I have been out of the world as long as
that" (or words to that effect). Point being, she was probably beautiful
already on the outside and didn't realize it; and the story is about the Beast
being beautiful on the inside, and her coming to realize it.
This raises another interesting question about Robin's works -- how little her
heroines value themselves. Lissar is pushed away in a corner; Aerin lets
herself be patronized by Perlith; Beauty is awkward and shy. The conventionally
beautiful people (Galanna, Trivelda & Lissar's parents) are not to be trusted,
while the less lovely (Aerin, Beauty, Tor, Ossin) become the heroes.
Cheryl K
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Received on Wed Feb 11 21:21:40 1998
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