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Sydney Dippel
Professor Kendra Parker
English 113-03 The Wonderful World of Disney?
20 April 2015
The Beast Behind The Beauty
These days, the term relationship goals is constantly thrown around on various social
media outlets. The idea of a perfect relationship consists of a fairytale love story, complete with
all the trimmings straight out of a Disney princess movie. While most princesses get their
happily ever after in the end, the road to get there may be speckled with emotional, and
sometimes physical, abuse. The inadvertent influence that this type of relationship role model
can have on American youth today could prove detrimental to the health of their future
relationships. The relationship between Belle and the Beast in Disneys Beauty and the Beast
examines the issue of relationship violence and its implications in American culture.
In Disneys Beauty and the Beast, relationship violence is represented through various
controlling behaviors by the Beast toward Belle, which examines authority in a relationship
within American culture. At the beginning of the film, Belle sacrifices her own freedom so the
Beast would let her father go. The Beast throws her father out and banishes him from the castle
very suddenly. Belle and her father do not even get to say goodbye to each other before the Beast
tears them apart, separating the family forever presumably. In many abusive relationships, one
partner completely isolates the other from his/her family and friends. By kicking Belles father
out and holding her captive, the Beast exemplifies a characteristic of an abusive partner.
Furthermore, the Beast secludes Belle and prevents her from talking to anyone outside the castle,
which signifies that he has control over Belle. Children watching the film pick up on the power

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differences in the relationship between Belle and the Beast, and may apply this perception to
their own relationships in the future. If American children are taught through the media that it is
acceptable for their partner to isolate them from all their loved ones, it could lead to many
unhealthy relationships in the future. The effects of a role model like this could be especially
detrimental for children who lack an example of a more healthy relationship in their lives.
Belle and the Beasts relationship illustrates that a certain amount of secrecy is acceptable
if the secret seems to be protecting the other person, which examines the overall basis of
relationships in American culture. One of the first rules that the Beast makes clear to Belle is that
she is not to go into the West Wing. When she tries to question this restriction, the Beast blows
up on her, forbidding her from going there. Later in the movie, when Belle explores the castle
and stumbles upon the Enchanted Rose in the West Wing, the Beast is infuriated. He gets very
angry and almost hurts her while throwing furniture around the room in fury. Just like the Beast,
one person in an unhealthy relationship may prohibit the other from entering a certain area or
doing certain things they deem unacceptable. This abuse of power could be detrimental to the
other person in the relationship because it could put them in danger if they violate the rules. This
small example of the Beast restricting Belle to a certain area of the castle points to a bigger issue
within American culture and relationships specifically. If American children are presented with
this type of relationship as their model for the future, many of them may not end up with a
fairytale ending like in the movies. Many aspects of Belle and the Beasts relationship remain
under criticism because it portrays an unhealthy relationship by American culture standards.
With components like the Beast forbidding Belle to enter the West Wing, this example may
cause many violent relationships in the future generations.

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Belle is portrayed as a victim of domestic violence who overlooks the abuse toward her
from the Beast and believes he can change, which exposes the concept in American culture that
one can somehow change an abusive partner by staying with him/her. Throughout the movie,
Belle stands up for the Beast time and time again, relentlessly defending him. Belle begins to
interpret his abuse and rage toward her as his temper acting up, and uses this explanation as
justification for the acts he commits against her. Because of her rationalizations, Belle stays with
the Beast, hoping that someday he will change. Some even argue that the characters consider it
Belles responsibility to change the Beast. According to Kathryn Olson, when bystanders ignore
abuse within a relationship and let the couple work the issues out on their own, this puts special
emphasis on the victims responsibility to foster the violent partners change (Olson 465). The
bewitched household servants could be considered the bystanders in this situation because they
are counting on Belle to not only change the Beasts violent ways but also to transform him back
into a prince. To many people, all the violent acts by the Beast as well as Belles behavior of
rationalizing these acts are red flags of an abusive relationship. However, the children watching
this movie may not be aware of the impact it is having on them. Disney may not realize it, but
Belles actions in this situation are proving to young people that they should stay with an abusive
partner in a relationship because he/she might change someday. Because Belle deals with the
many abuses coming from the Beast and they live happily ever after in the end, young people all
over America may take this concept to heart and stay in a dangerous situation because of it.
While not all children who watch this movie will end up in an abusive relationship, some of them
very well might, and many people argue the media can help equip children with tools to deal
with such adversity.

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However, the relationship violence in Disneys Beauty and the Beast also shows a
woman who notices something worthy in a man that many people have overlooked, which
highlights the importance in American culture of not judging someone without getting to know
them first. As Belle and the Beast grow closer throughout the movie, she begins to see something
in him that she did not see before: something special. In the song, Something There, Belle
realizes there is more to the Beast than meets the eye at first, Theres something sweet and
almost kind, But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined; And now hes dear and so
unsure, I wonder why I didnt see it there before. This song highlights the emerging connection
between Belle and the Beast, one that may not have developed without Belles ability to look
past his tough exterior and see what lies inside. As June Cummins puts it, It is Belle and not the
Beast who must learn to love ugliness and literally embrace the bestial (Cummins 26). Her
continuous behavior of kindness and understanding toward the Beast shows him that she cares
enough to stay with him through various struggles. Belles actions toward the Beast exemplify
the classic ideal in American culture of not judging someone before you get the chance to know
him/her. At first, Belle thought of the Beast as an angry creature who tore her apart from her
family, but after discovering the truth about him and his desire for love, Belle could appreciate
him fully. Belles ability to genuinely get to know the Beast before she made up her mind about
him, opens up new doors for their relationship. Children in American culture may benefit from
being exposed to Belle as someone who did not write the Beast off based on her first impression.
The Beasts brutality toward Belle contributes to the concept that the man should be
dominant in the relationship, which raises issues about how children are raised in American
culture and how they perceive relationships. Soon after Belle arrives at the castle and the Beast
casts her father away, Belle locks herself in her room. When the Beast requests that she join him

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for dinner, Belle refuses his invitation, claiming that she will stay in her room. The Beast,
angered by her stubbornness, tells the household servants that if Belle does not eat dinner with
him in the dining room, then she does not eat at all. This situation, along with multiple others in
which the Beast asserts his power over Belle, raises awareness to an issue within American
culture about male dominance in a relationship. In the past, the man has predominantly been the
head of the household, making all major decisions and expecting the woman to follow along with
whatever he may decide. However, in recent years this arrangement has lost some prevalence
within American families. But with examples of relationships like the one between Belle and the
Beast, children within American culture many begin to reinforce these mindsets about gender. If
young boys perceive themselves as being more powerful in a relationship than their counterparts,
then relationship violence and numerous other issues are sure to follow. In addition, if young
girls see one of their beloved Disney princesses being treated as inferior but staying in the
relationship anyways, they may become more vulnerable to abusive relationships in the future. A
dominating male role, such as the Beast, may prove detrimental to how children within American
culture perceive relationships, which in turn impacts their opinion on relationship violence.
In childrens entertainment, the issue of relationship violence does not come up very
frequently. However, this does not diminish the importance of exposing children to examples of
healthy relationships from which they can learn. The media, and Disney in particular, has the
opportunity to play a monumental role in shaping the lives of children in American culture.
Children learn so many of their ideals, values, and perceptions of the world from the media, but
with Beauty and the Beast as a relationship role model, the days of happily ever after may be
coming to an end.

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Works Cited

Beauty and the Beast. Dir. Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise. Disney, 1991. DVD.
Cummins, June. Romancing the Plot: the Real Beast of Disneys Beauty and the Beast.
Childrens Literature Association Quarterly. 20.1 (Spring 1995): 22-28. ProjectMuse.
Web. 16 March 2013.
Olson, Kathryn. An Epideictic Dimension of Symbolic Violence in Disneys Beauty and the
Beast: Inter-Generational Lessons in Romanticizing and Tolerating Intimate Partner
Violence. Quarterly Journal of Speech. 99.4 (2013): 448-480. Web.