Beauty and the Beast is generally considered one of the most romantic movies of all time, so yeah, l'amour is front and center. Belle and the Beast follow the classic arc of hating each other so much, it must be love. But, seriously: try to stop the waterworks when Belle whispers those three little words over his dying body at the end.
Beauty and the Beast has the right idea about love, too. Belle is beloved not because she's beautiful but because she's gentle and kind. The Beast is a little slower on the uptake, but he gets there, too, making sure he earns her affection by the time that last rose petal falls.
But, there's more than just romantic love here. There's familial love, too. Belle and her father are devoted to each other, to the point where she actually trades places with him as prisoner in the Beast's Chateau de Creepy. The enchanted knickknacks also show a lot of affection for each other and come to each other's rescue in the big fight. Love comes in many different forms, the story tells us, but it's always beautiful…even when it involves a clock saving a candelabra from certain doom.
Questions about Love
- In what specific ways do the characters express their love for each other in this film?
- Why is Gaston's idea of love actually not close to love at all? What aspects make it different from the Beast's love for Belle?
- Do the servants love the Beast? How? Does that differ from Belle's love?
Chew on This
Romantic love is the purest form of love, which is why it's necessary to break the spell.
The film suggests that real love means seeing the true person within instead of just what's on the outside.