Guest Author - Megan Rippel

Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley is set near an enchanted forest an untold number of years ago. The exact time of the story is not important in this timeless love story between a young girl and an unlikely suitor.

The plainest of her sisters, Beauty is the heroine of the story. She has a love of books and learning and an inquisitive nature. She is brave and selfless, as the readers of this book will discover. She is determined to do the right thing.

The first time we are introduced to the Beast he is heard rather than seen. “There was a roar like that of a wild animal, for certainly nothing human could make a noise like that; and the horse reared and plunged in panic” (pg. 71). The Beast is a curious mix of ugliness and refinement. For 200 years he has been under a curse. He has claws, many long teeth, and is hairy with a mane like a lion. His voice is rough and harsh even if he is saying something nice. He is lonely and fills you with alternating feelings of repulsion and sympathy.

Beauty insists on taking the place of her father as the ransom demanded by the Beast. Even though she is a hostage, she finds herself beginning to like the Beast and wants to stay with him. Each night the Beast asks her, “Beauty will you marry me?” Her response is always no. She is fearful and panicked at the thought of marrying the Beast. As the months go by, what starts as a definite answer gets less certain as she realizes how much she cares for the Beast and actually starts to love him.

Beauty misses her family terribly and asks permission from the Beast for a visit to her family. He agrees and Beauty promises to come back in one week. It is at this point that she has a choice: she can run away from the Beast, or she can return to him. Her decision, and the surprising effect it has on the Beast, is what makes this novel a love story.

An interesting hidden bit that runs throughout the story is the defining of the word honor. Beauty is given the name Honor at her birth. When she is old enough to realize that her name has significance, she asks her father what it means. He tries his best to explain, but Beauty has a hard time grasping it. The five-year-old wishes to be called Beauty instead, and the name sticks. As the story progresses, we discover the word honor used many times. For example, the Beast says to Beauty’s father after he picks a rose, “Your misfortunes seem to have robbed you of your sense of honour, as you would rob me of my roses” (pg. 72). When the Beast asks for one of his daughters in exchange for the father’s life, Father cried, “I cannot do that. You may think me lacking in honour, but I am not such a cruel father that I would buy my own life with the life of one of my daughters” (pg. 73). By the end of the book, we come to realize the true meaning of the word honor, as we see Beauty keep her promise and live up to her given name.

This book is a favorite of mine because you experience the feelings Beauty feels without her emotions being named explicitly. As I begin to feel trust in the Beast, Beauty says “I found it was… difficult not to like and trust him” (pg. 139). I understood, as I was feeling the same emotions. The author gives descriptions that paint a vivid picture in your mind as you read. When describing the enchanted garden she writes, “Every leaf and blade of grass, or pebble in the path, or drop of water or flower petal, was perfect, in plan and in execution: true in colour and in shape, unworn, and unharmed as if each had been created only a moment ago, as if each were a gem, and the polish of each facet the life’s work of a fairy jeweler” (pg. 102). In this passage, the reader can see the garden in its meticulous order, just how the author intended it to be.

I have read this charming story countless times, and each time it is still as wonderful as the first. I have come to appreciate it more and more each time I pick it up and discover subtle themes woven through it. I highly recommend this book to girls who love fantasy!