Beauty and the Beast - Structuralism, Reader Response, and Post Colonialism - Essay Example

Beauty and the Beast - Structuralism, Reader Response, and Post Colonialism Structuralism Structuralism as analyzed by different scholars is a theory of humankind in which all elements concerning human culture, which includes literature, are part of a system of signs. This means that this theory is as a reaction to alienation, despair, and modernist. This theory is influential on the linguistic perspective this means it attempts to develop semiotics. In Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast” she provides an ample application of the structuralism theory. “Beauty and the Beast” shift our ground in the sense of normalcy by manufacturing reality through most pronounced highly mediated and postmodern environments. By so doing, application of structuralism theory comes in. In this fairy tale, the main characters Beauty and the Beast show uniqueness and change of attributes although their functions and actions do not change. Beauty throughout the story shows respect to everyone despite her beauty. Her choice to die instead of her father shows how she is sacrificial. In the palace, the Beast lives alone and does not want to be left alone by the Beauty. This shows how the members of the society have alienated the Beast. The Beast goes to an extent of telling Beauty that, if she leaves him alone he will die. Because of her human character and nature, Beauty decides to marry Beast despite of his ugly looks. This is because the Beast shows desperation and his kind heart attracts Beauty. The beast is desperate because of the alienation of the members of the society. To show his desperation because of alienation, Beast goes to an extent of starving himself when Beauty fails to show up, so that he may die because he feels that, the members of the society have disregarded him. Beauty’s sisters are affected by modern culture; this is shown by how they wore expensive clothes and only focused on becoming rich. They associated themselves with the rich and neglected the poor. In the beginning of the story, the rich merchant spared no cost for the education of his children. This showed that, modernism had affected the people of the society. Beauty’s sisters lived the modern way. They spent most of their time in parties of pleasure, plays, balls, and concerts. This showed how they had adopted the modern way of living. The parties and the balls, which Beauty's sister held, showed that they had adapted to the modern way of life. Beauty’s sisters focused on living in towns rather than living in the village. In one of the scenarios, their father decided not to inform them that he had received gold because they would insist on living in town. This showed that, they had been influenced by the modern culture hence modernism. Reader’s Response “Beauty and the Beast” portrays one important theme, which is a person's inner self is more important the outer part. This is clearly shown by the Beauty’s words to the Beast, she tells him that, he does not deserve that name Beast because of his generosity and how he cares for humanity. She further tells the Beast that, she prefers him than other people who are under the human form but hide corrupt and ungrateful hearts. In this fairy tale, the writer tries to convey a message to the young girls that they should aim at becoming a virtuous woman just like Beauty. Madame Leprince de Beaumont in her fairytale emphases that, one will be rewarded for his or her good or bad deeds for instance, Beauty decides to give up her life in order to save her father’s life. Although her sisters are happy about this move, Beauty does not die. Her good deeds are rewarded in the Beast's palace. The fairy tale clearly shows the ideals that young men are supposed to present according to their culture. The character, which the main character Beauty portrays, is the acceptable character in the society. She is a sweet tempered creature, charming and showed respect to everyone even the poor although at first she came from a rich family. Madame Leprince de Beaumont stresses the pursuit of servitude, selflessness, compassion, and respect to parents. This is because being a virtuous young woman was something of great importance especially to Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s culture. Therefore, by portraying this in “Beauty and the Beast” she conveyed a certain message to the young woman in her society. In addition, this story is dedicated to pure enjoyment to the audience. The writer of the story does not only show the reward for good deeds but also for the bad deeds. For instance, Beauty’s sisters are selfish, evil, and arrogant to people especially the poor. They were only interested with the rich people and people with good looks. The writer explains how Beauty’s eldest sister was married to a handsome young man but he neglected her. Additionally Beauty’s second sister was married to a man of wit but he tormented everybody including his own wife. This showed how they were rewarded for their bad deeds and their bad attitude towards the poor. They only concentrated on the outer being of a person instead of appreciating everybody regardless of his or her outer looks. Because of their envy, they decided to detain their sister Beauty so that she may not go back the Beast contrary their efforts did not succeed. The writer Madame Leprince de Beaumont brings in the Beast who interacts with the people to the extent of being transformed into a lovely person. In the story, he is a secluded creature who lives in a world of magic. In the beginning of the story, Beast is portrayed as rude and unsociable creature. This is clearly seen when Beauty’s father plagues a flower from the Beast's garden. The Beast tells him that, he will punish him because of his ingratitude. Later when Beauty meets the Beast, they show compassion for each other. This shows that the Beast had an inner personality for love and compassion. The uniqueness of the beast is shown by how he gradually transforms his character. By the writer using the Beast in her story she adds intensity to the story. The reader clearly gets the ugly picture that the writer wanted to portray. By using the Beast in the story, the writer shows that one should not judge a person by his or her looks. Because although the Beast outwardly he was ugly he was loving and compassionate. Beauty tells him that, he does not deserve the name Beast. This work of art clearly contrasts the literature of the past and literature today. Post colonialism Different scholars have defined the post colonialism using different definitions. Primarily, post colonialism refers to the era immediately after independence. Post colonialism exists in the middle of the 20th century. It is referred to as an era or the post-colonial theory. This means that the postcolonial period came in after colonialism. The aspects of the colonial periods, which were carried forward by different colonies, clearly define the aspects of colonialism. That means that post colonialism clearly shows how the colonialists especially in the way of life affected the colonial countries. That means that post colonialism is not only found in sciences concerning history literature and politics but also approaches regarding culture and identity. Post colonialism is as a result of how the minds were affected that is the perception and attitudes of power and oppression that were adopted by most of the people are evident in today’s society. In Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast” she provides an ample application of the post colonialism theory. The aspects of colonialism have been carried forward into the today’s society. The writer of the story shows how some of the characters in the story were colonized by the magic of the beast. For instance, where Beauty’s father had to yield to the will of the Beast if he did not want to die this is seen when he plugged a flower from the Beast's garden the Beast told him that he only gives him a quarter of an hour to prepare himself to die by saying the last prayer. Beauty’s father goes to an extent of referring the Beast as “My Lord” so that he may be forgiven. In return, the Beast tells Beauty’s father that he is not moved by his flattering speeches. The Beast tells Beauty’s father that, one of his daughters will have to die or suffer because of his actions. Beauty’s father yields to the demand of the Beast because he has no choice. In the same way the colonialists had to yield to the will of their master no matter the condition or the situation they were in. When Beauty goes to live with the Beast, she yields to his wishes because of fear of being killed by the Beast. She decides to do all that the Beast demands her to do. This shows aspects of colonialism. As stated earlier, post colonialism also affects the culture of the society in question. For instance, in most of the communities women are supposed to be respectful to the men especially their husbands and fathers, Beauty’s sisters do not show any form of respect to the members of the community even their father. On one of the occasions, their father fails to disclose that he had gold because his daughters would disobey him and go to the city. This showed that Beauty’s sisters were disobedient. This showed how colonialism affected the aspects of the culture. On the other hand, Beauty upheld the traditions in her society. She was not affected by colonialism. This is because her attitudes and submissive nature did not change. She was kind to the poor and submissive to his father and the Beast who later became his husband. The writer here clearly showed that, not all people were affected by colonialism most of them upheld their cultural values and traditions. In the “Beauty and the Beast” the nature of the economy also shows a form of post colonialism. This is because in the beginning of the story, Beauty’s father is portrayed as a rich merchant who owns a lot of property while other people in the society suffer. The daughters of the rich merchant do not show respect to the poor because of the property ownership. This clearly showed how during the colonial periods the colonists did not show any regard to the poor but enslaved them. Despite the condition in which Beauty’s father was in, Beauty’s sisters wanted to maintain the luxurious life that they lived in. For instance, when their father set out to go they begged him to buy them new ribbons and gowns. They were selfish and merciless; all that they wanted was to maintain the high standard of life despite the condition of their father. The people also changed their culture by their way of dressing they wore gowns covered with gold and diamonds. This showed the effects of colonialism, which is post colonialism. Read More