In Beauty and the Beast, the parental role is very significant. The father of the beauty wanders in to unknown grounds of the beast's castle. He picks one of the beast's flowers for the beauty as a gift and is subsequently attacked by the beast. The beast says that the father must return to be claimed by the beast after he is let loose or a wife must return. Beauty chooses to return in her fathers spot because she feels guilty about the deal that her father had to make. Even though the father doesn't want this to happen, Beauty still returns to the Beast . The cause and effect relation of the father leads beauty to the beast so the father acts as a bridge or the limiting factor in this story. No father picking the flower would possibly mean no beauty meeting the beast.
In the Frog and the Princess, the Princess looses her ball in a well. A frog comes along and she requests that the frog helps her. She agrees to the promise of taking the frogs home with her if the frog returns the ball. She gets the ball and returns home. The princess tries to go back on her promise but the frog followed her home. Her dad finds out about the promise that she made to the frog and makes sure that she honors her promise.
In both stories, the father serves somewhat as symbols of morality. They experience different situations that are unusual and uncomfortable but remain steadfast to the notion that a promise is a promise.
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I agree that the father serve as symbols of morality by either telling their daughter to abide by a promise or by following through on theirs.
ReplyDeleteThe fathers also play a significant role because ultimately, it is thanks to them that their daughters find love. By making his promise, Beauty's father causes Beauty to meet and spend time with the beast. In the Frog and the Princess, the king enables his daughter to meet her prince by forcing his daughter to follow through on her promise to let the frog sleep in her room.
This is an interesting concept that I hadn't really considered in the stories. It certainly adds a degree of depth to the father figure. Originally I viewed the "father" in the Beauty and the Beast stories as solely a symbol of the progression from childhood to adulthood via marriage. Viewing the father also as a symbol of morality further nuances the character as a symbol of progression - he is symbolic of the passage to adulthood, and in adulthood one must make mature decisions and keep promises.
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