The cursed beast and the good-natured beauty. In other words, the beauty and the beast. A tale as old as time, Beauty and the Beast, captures the fairy tale of a young woman who falls in love with a cursed prince turned into a beast, breaking the curse through her love and kindness. This timeless tale of Beauty and the Beast has actually been established for centuries, being retold and adapted in various regions worldwide, captivating audiences since the tale of Cupid and Psyche in the 2nd century. Cupid and Psyche first established a troupe of love based on physical appearances, hinting at the fear of an unknown beast as a husband. The depiction of Psyche’s character as beautiful when submissive and obedient to her husband reveals the ideal virtuous woman in ancient Roman times and how a woman should conduct herself in order to be in a loving relationship with her husband. Not only is she then viewed as beautiful because of her physical appearance, but also through her Similarly, the Chinese variation, Lady White Snake, emphasizes the role of jealousy as the true beast rather than the snake herself, highlighting how the beast may not always be interpreted through physical characteristics.

 Further adapting the same tale to their culture, the African take on Beauty and the Beast sprouts the variation of The Snake with Five Heads. Following a similar troupe of a beastly husband, two different sisters take the role of the beauty, redefining what the defining qualities of a beast or beauty truly are. As varying cultures took their own spins on more and more adaptations, this fairy tale was established to be best known through Disney’s film adaptation in 1991. Disney’s viewpoint of the story transformed the tale into a magical experience of love and beauty, transforming the princess into a heroine for many.

 The power of a fairy tale to transcend cultural and geographical boundaries, spreading its universal morals but yet having portrayals of its characters and settings shaped by unique regional influences has interested us in researching the renowned tale of the ‘cursed prince and good-natured beauty’ as this reveals fairytales are a reflection of societal values. By analyzing different variations of the fairy tale, our project will reveal deeper meanings behind societal definitions of beauty and beastliness and allow us to analyze the correlation between love, obsession, and patriarchal norms. As we uncover the similarities and differences between the fairy tale adaptations, we hope to reveal the role love, beauty, and beastliness play and the portrayal of gender roles in distinct cultures. As each culture’s variation of the fairy tale has their own interpretation and portrayal of themes, examining these concepts within each adaptation will provide a deeper understanding of how fairy tales serve as a reflection of a culture's societal values and norms as each fairy tale provides a way for cultures to express their collective ideals, morals, and aspirations. In the end, we will compare and contrast the distinct concepts presented in each cultural variation to understand how varying cultures across the world share similarities and differences.