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A review by mssgiinny
Beauty and the Beast Tales From Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
I've only read some versions recollected in here, but Im planning on coming back to this book for more of the stories that are compilled.
I found Villeneuve's original story very interesting, even though I have to agree that the last part --the Faerie world explanation-- is quite slow and repetitive. But I understand that this was written in another time, and the language shows it. In any case, it's the version I most enjoyed among the ones I read, especially because it shows a really active heroine who has sexual desires; very feminist for the time, definetely.
Beaumont's version, which Im sure I've already read before in class and which I approached wary of its didactic tone and how it reduced Villeneuve's feminist message, I actually found it very nice. It's true it's not feminist in the same way, but I still think it discusses the female need to be with an equal partner, if only in more reductive ways and erasing the desire for sexual intercourse.
I read more stories, and I find that I like most of them. The ones I don't like that much, I think it has to do with cultural shock or time shock, since these are, after all, stories from many centuries ago in many cases. But that's the fun part of folklore: they ar every different and they are all enjoyable in some way.
I found Villeneuve's original story very interesting, even though I have to agree that the last part --the Faerie world explanation-- is quite slow and repetitive. But I understand that this was written in another time, and the language shows it. In any case, it's the version I most enjoyed among the ones I read, especially because it shows a really active heroine who has sexual desires; very feminist for the time, definetely.
Beaumont's version, which Im sure I've already read before in class and which I approached wary of its didactic tone and how it reduced Villeneuve's feminist message, I actually found it very nice. It's true it's not feminist in the same way, but I still think it discusses the female need to be with an equal partner, if only in more reductive ways and erasing the desire for sexual intercourse.
I read more stories, and I find that I like most of them. The ones I don't like that much, I think it has to do with cultural shock or time shock, since these are, after all, stories from many centuries ago in many cases. But that's the fun part of folklore: they ar every different and they are all enjoyable in some way.