Beauty and the Beast

Once upon a time there was a young girl named Belle who lived with her father in a little village.   One day, Belle’s father left to go to the market as he did a few times each year, but this time would be different.  On the way home, he encountered a bad storm and was lost in the woods.   He happened upon a castle.   How odd that he had never noticed it before!   Much to his dismay, the castle was inhabited by a ferocious beast who took him as a prisoner.

The next morning, Belle was startled to see her father’s horse return without him.  Worried, she sped off to find her father, and the horse led her to the castle.   She called, but no one answered.  As she wandered the castle, she soon found her father in the dungeon.   As quickly as she found him, the Beast found her and was enraged at her intrusion.

She begged the Beast to let her take her father’s place.  The Beast complied.

The servants in the castle felt sorry for Belle, so they released her from the dungeon and showed her to a very comfortable room.  They cleaned her up, gave her some new clothes and a hot meal.   Though nice, it was not at all what Belle wanted.  She was an independent woman capable of taking care of herself.  She wanted to be free.  It was not fair that she was being held hostage in the castle of a beast.

When the Beast learned what the servants had done, he was again outraged, but he soon realized that Belle could be a good companion for him, so he attempted to be kind.   The problem was that he was not good at being kind.  All his attempts were meager at best, and with every effort, Belle chose to focus on how much he fell short.  He gave her a library fulfilling her greatest passion, but he didn’t even smile when she accepted it!  What a jerk!

She could never love someone who was so unkind and self-centered.  After all, she was known for her kindness and humility.  Her virtue deserved better than his small gestures.   She could never forgive him for holding her hostage.  Sure, she chose to take her father’s place, but this is not what she expected.  She was sure that she would escape and every day she dreamed of her freedom.  But the days became months and the months became years, and Belle lived out her life comfortable, but trapped.  Her trap was not simply the walls of the castle, but the unrelenting bitterness of her own heart.

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This VERY abridged and modified version of Beauty and the Beast certainly does not end with “happily ever after.”   If the recent release of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast read like this, it would not be a box office hit.

My daughter and I went to see the new movie this past weekend.  I must admit that I was a bit nervous going to see the movie because of all the media hype about Gaston and LaFou.   This blog will not address that issue, but I will say that the hype was worse than the final cut.   Another topic for another time.

This is the thought that came to me in the middle of the movie.  “If only our marriage relationships could reflect that of Belle and Beast.”   What?!   Let me explain by starting with some of the lyrics from “Tale as Old as Time” by Howard Elliott Ashman and Alan Menken.  The emphases are mine.

Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly

Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared

…

Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bitter sweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong
…

Now hold that thought as I continue…

Belle chose to stay with the Beast.  She did not have to.  Her father even pleaded with her to leave and live her life.  She was young, and he was old.  She had so much to do with her life.   But Belle chose to stay.

The Beast is harsh and cruel.  Yet, he allows her to be comfortable.   She has a nice room.  She has nice clothes.  She has food to eat.  Like most husbands, he is meeting her basic needs to survive.  But like some husbands, he offers no emotional support and no love.   At one point Belle says, “I am not a princess.”  Why should she not think this?  The Beast certainly does not treat her like one.

Note that she only sees him as a beast, and rightfully so!  Yet despite his rudeness to her, she never returns anything but kindness.  (“the somebody bends”)

She is NOT a doormat.  But she is kind.  She accepts his attempts at kindness (“small to say the least”) and forgives his inability to show her the love her heart longs for.  Soon, the Beast’s heart softens and he becomes more and more attractive to Belle (“learning you were wrong”).  She tenderly and subtly helps him to learn how to love, and by the movie’s end, he has been transformed into her Prince Charming.  (“finding you can change”)

What would our culture look like if wives followed Belle’s example?  Accepting and loving the men they chose to marry.  Forgiving their feeble attempts, “small to say the least,” at lovingkindness and seeing directly to a heart that also longs to be loved.

Too often, this is not what women do.  The feminist ideals of the last fifty years have conditioned women, even Christian women, to stand up for their rights.  We should expect to be treated with love and respect.  After all, husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church, right?!  While our independence kicks against being rescued by Prince Charming, we all grow up with this unrealistic ideal for the men we marry.

It’s no wonder our husbands can look like the Beast.  We have unrealistic expectations.  We yearn for a love that man is not capable of giving.

What is the solution?  Do we just lie down and take the cruel, selfish actions that our husbands can give in the name of loving kindness?

Of course not!

We find our true Prince Charming, Jesus Christ.  We bask in His loving kindness.  We focus our attention on Him, and then we love our earthly Prince Charming as He does.

Belle’s story is all about choices.  She chose to do the loving thing and take her father’s place.  Then she chose to be kind to the Beast.  She chose to get rid of all bitterness and to be tenderhearted.  Only then would she receive the true love of a prince.

As we do what is right, regardless of how we feel, eventually good feelings will catch up.  When we rid ourselves of bitterness, to our husband or anyone else who has hurt us, and choose Christ, we, too, can rest in the love of our Prince and see the “beasts” among us transform.