The Beast And Beauty In Mary Carter's Beauty

Within the story, Carter’s use of tone highlights the emotions the characters feel as they begin to explore their love for each other, exposing their true identities. When Beauty takes notice of the Beast upon her first encounter with him, she observes that he has “an odd air of self-imposed restraint” (64) surrounding him. The words “odd” and “self-imposed restraint” have negative connotations associated with them, causing the audience to develop apprehension towards the Beast. The development of these feelings reflects onto the Beast as he uses “restraint” in efforts to be viewed as more humane. Later in the story, Beauty acknowledges that the Beast “bought solitude, not luxury, with his money” (68). By using two words with contrasting undertones …show more content…
In the beginning, Carter introduces the audience to Beauty who has autonomy, yet still complies to societal norms. When she encounters the Beast after she’s left in the castle alone, she decides that she “will not smile” (69) at him, simply because she does not want to. By choosing to not smile at the Beast, she defies the typical role of a female in a fairy tale. However, the influence of society still has an impact on her because when she looks at “the artificial masterpiece of his face [, it] appals [her]” (69). Rather than accepting the way he appears on the outside, she compares him to artwork, commenting on how his effort to be perfect disturbs her. Furthermore, when asked to reveal herself in the nude, she offers to reveal her lower half as long as she could have “a sheet over [her] face, to hide it” (71). By not allowing the Beast to see her face, she gains the ability to disassociate her body and who she is, as she objectifies her outer appearance. Nonetheless, the Beast forces her to accept who she is naturally by not allowing her “[to] wash or comb [her] hair” (73). Without having the ability to wash and comb her hair, the Beast pressures her to look within herself and not focus on superficial things. As she continues living with the Beast, she begins to feel “at liberty for the first time in [her] life” (78). Because she no longer abides by society’s rules, she feels less pressure to conform and hide pieces of her identity. Yet, she is still “so unused to [her] own skin” (79) as she’s just now discovering who she truly is inside and not what other people want her to be. By the end of the story, she “shrug[s] the drops off [her] beautiful fur” (81) because she finally accepts who she is with the help of the Beast. Without the Beast constantly putting pressure on her to expose her uniqueness, Beauty