Fairy tales are ancient stories that entertain the masses and teach morals to children. They are considered oral traditions that are passed down through the centuries as a tool to teach children how to act and think. In today's society some of those moral messages are being questioned. Beauty and the Beast is an age old fairy tale that is not about the passive female role. Like most fairy tales of that time it is partially rooted in the negative female role, but is also the most feminist fairy tale that has come out of that age. The female characters are usually obedient, silent, and helpless. Yet Beauty is a much more developed and intelligent character that doesn't fit the basic mold. This helps give children a more positive female outlook at the most crucial time in their learning, they also begin to see the strength in many old world fictional characters. The Beast in this tale does not control Beauty he is in a sense more intimidated by her and her beauty. This explains the need for both the Beast and Beauty to learn to love past beauty. This more female centered route of Beauty and the Beast was also used by Disney.

Some current interpretations feel that women need to see the sexuality in the beast before they can handle normal heterosexuality in life. Since sexuality is not based in peoples physical appearance yet the attraction to someone emotionally and mentally this needs to be understood. In this day and age sexuality has defiantly begun to be defined minus the active male role and the passive female role. Beauty's goodness in this fairy tale inspired more idealistic forms of lessons that children should learn. Instead of a generic commitment to justice, she wants her own things in life not simply what the population wants for her.

The character Beauty is one of the most impressive main characters in any fairy tale, she is defiantly does not play the simple female role. Beauty is the heroine and she isn't even a passive heroine, she takes on an active part in the main plot of the story. Learning and accepting love through her struggles allows her to reach a better understanding of the love she finds. Beauty's willingness to take her fathers place in the Beast's castle proves her love to be so passionate that she would give up anything for him. This love she feels makes her character that much more respectable. Beauty was a intelligent, independent, and respectable young women which is a fit role model for any child. Beauty and the Beast portrays some of the most amazing testaments of women's struggles against arranged marriages and the definition of sexuality. Beauty is one example of the strong women characters in fairy tales.

The Beast in this fairy tale also is a symbol of prejudice, that people who are not as attractive as others have are looked a as different. Another lesson is that of undoing the prejudices surrounding the humans. Beauty needs to learn the main moral lesson of that learning to be accepting of people wither or not they are beautiful, and trying to see the inside instead of simply touching the outside. The fact that she was forced to live with the Beast and the only reason she feels frightened is because of his reputation. Fairy tales often set limits with fear in Beauty and the Beast, Beauty has a limit when it concerns dealing with the Beast. That limit is set because it is the unknown, the Beast is simply rumored and no one knows what the Beast is about for sure. Overcoming her terrors is part of the moral or lesson in this story. In one story Beauty really contradicts herself wondering how women could marry rich brutes when they are evil instead of s

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