Beauty and the Beast Characters

The Beauty and the Beast was first published by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanna Barbot De Villeneuve’s fairy tale collection La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740. Later on, in 1956, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont abridged the story.

Currently, there are multiple adaptations of Beauty and the Beast – dramas, movies, animations, etc. – out of which the most popular one is undoubtedly the 2017 film starring Emma Watson as Belle.

Beauty and the Beast: Plot Summary

Beauty and the Beast is a heartfelt love story between a young woman and a prince who has been cursed to look like a beast. Minor details in the plot, such as the number of siblings Belle had, can vary because the story has multiple versions worldwide. Therefore, this summary is based on only one of the more popular versions.

The story begins with the omniscient narrator introducing the reader to the main character of the story, Beauty. She is the youngest of the three daughters of a wealthy merchant. They used to live a prosperous life in a big house filled with luxuries. However, circumstances lead their father to lose his money, and the family has no choice but to move to a smaller house.

While Beauty’s two elder sisters lament the loss of extravagance, Beauty is more considerate. She is not only beautiful from the outside but also possesses a beautiful personality. Instead of blaming her father or mourning the loss of their former way of living, she consciously tries to hold back her sadness and help her family.

One day, Beauty's father receives word that one of his ships might have survived, and there is a possibility of him getting back some of his fortunes. He has to leave his daughters home alone to reclaim his wealth. But before leaving, he asks each of his daughters what they would like as a gift once he returns.

Beauty’s elder sisters demand lavish and extravagant gifts from their father, but Beauty only requests that he return home safely. Upon her father’s insistence, she requests a rose.

The merchant learns that his wares have been stolen and returns home dejectedly. But on the way, he loses his path due to a terrible snowstorm and ends up wandering into a forest near his home. As he walks around, he chances upon a magnificent castle where the garden is filled with blooming roses. He remembers Beauty's wish and plucks a rose to take back home.

However, the Beast, who is the master of the castle, catches him in this act. He believes that Beauty's father is stealing from him and threatens him. But the man explains that the rose is for his daughter. The Beast lets him return home on the condition that he will send one of his daughters to the castle to pay the debt of the rose.

When Beauty's father returns home, he tries to keep what happened at the castle a secret. But Beauty finds out and volunteers to go to the castle. Although she is frightened by the Beast, and her father has been banned from the castle grounds, Beauty doesn't try to escape, for she believes it was her own desire for the rose that led to this situation.

Beauty's days in the Beast's castle weren't as bad as she expected. The Beast leaves her alone for most of the day, and she makes friends with the inanimate objects which had magically turned animated, the animals and the magic mirror. The only time when she had to interact with the Beast was at dinnertime when he would ask her to marry him. However, Beauty refused every time.

Once, the Beast surprised Beauty by appearing in the castle garden suddenly. Seeing her frightened, the Beast said he wouldn’t show himself in front of her again. But the sadness in his voice compelled Beauty to request his presence later.

In the meantime, Beauty kept having dreams about a handsome young man who warned her not to be deceived by looks. As the dream keeps repeating regularly, Beauty starts falling in love with the man in her dreams.

She soon grows homesick and wishes to return home to attend to her father, who had fallen ill. Though the Beast expressed anger at her wish, he granted her permission to visit her father for two months. While nursing her father back to health, Beauty has a dream of the Beast dying. She immediately uses the magic ring that the Beast had given her and returns back to the castle.

In Beauty’s absence, the Beast is almost dead from heartbreak. Beauty quickly nurses him back to health and promises to marry him.

The next morning, Beauty finds that the handsome man from her dreams stands in place of the Beast. He reveals that he is a prince who has been cursed by an enchantress. The only way to break the spell was to have someone fall in love with him while he was a beast.

After Beauty’s father gets better, they plan the wedding and live happily together.

Beauty and the Beast: Major Characters

1. Beauty (Belle)

The female protagonist of the story, Beauty (also known as Belle in some adaptations), is the youngest of three sisters (in some adaptations, she is the youngest of twelve siblings). The readers don't catch a glimpse of their mother, and it seems they live together with their father only.

Beauty's family used to live in a big house amidst comfortable luxury. But due to unforeseen circumstances, they had to move to a smaller house. Unlike her sisters, who kept complaining about their circumstances, Beauty is understanding. Instead of voicing her unhappiness, Beauty does what she can to help around the house.

She received the name 'Beauty' because of her looks as well as her personality. Despite the hardships that she and her family have to go through, she doesn't stop smiling.

Beauty is also very modest and understanding. When her father asks her to name something he should bring as a gift, Beauty only wishes for his safe return. While her sisters demanded extravagant gifts, there’s nothing more important to Beauty than her father’s safety.

Upon learning about her father’s encounter with the Beast in the enchanted castle and the condition he had to agree to, Beauty doesn’t hesitate to volunteer. She feels responsible that her desire for a rose landed her father in trouble with the Beast. So, without any complaints, she decides to stay at the Beast’s castle.

Beauty is quite brave. Although the Beast’s grotesque features scare her, she doesn’t run away or curse her father. Instead, she starts noticing the Beast's small gestures and acts of kindness and slowly starts growing fond of him.

There is no doubt that Beauty is an attentive daughter. After learning of her father's illness, she does not hesitate to request the Beast to let her go home temporarily, even though she knows he would not like the suggestion. However, she has always been aware of her duties as a daughter.

Beauty’s kind-heartedness and honesty express themselves when she hurriedly returns to the castle after dreaming of the Beast’s death. She had the perfect opportunity to escape the Beast’s castle and remain with her family forever. But she had already promised the Beast that she would return. And moreover, she did not want the Beast to be in pain. So, after finding him almost dead, Beauty nurses him back to health.

2. The Beast/Prince

The Beast was originally a Prince who was cursed by a fairy because of his own arrogance. The readers are first introduced to the Beast when he captures Beauty’s father and accuses him of stealing roses from his garden. When the father tells him that the rose is meant for his daughter, the Beast demands that he bring one of his daughters to the castle.

The Beast is intelligent because, according to the fairy, he needs to make someone fall in love with him to break the curse. Since he looks hideous, the Beast knows he won’t be able to catch the eyes of some lovely maiden normally. So, he uses this opportunity to force Beauty’s father to send one of his daughters to her castle.

Even after Beauty arrives at the castle, the Beast doesn't bother her frequently. He knows he looks horrible, and his low confidence results in restricted meetings between him and Beauty. His confidence lessens when he accidentally scares Beauty by appearing in front of her suddenly.

The Beast is also persistent. He has dinner with Beauty every night and doesn't get discouraged by her refusing his marriage proposals. He knows marrying Beauty is the only way he might be able to lift the curse, and he doesn't want to let the opportunity go.

But the Beast isn’t heartless. When Beauty insists on returning home temporarily to care for her father, he allows her to return instead of keeping her locked up in the castle.

Beauty and the Beast: Minor Characters

1. Gaston

Gaston is not a part of the original Beauty and the Beast story but was introduced in Walt Disney's animated feature film. He is a charismatic hunter and the most handsome man in the village. Gaston is not used to people denying him what he wants. So, he keeps pursuing Beauty despite her rejecting him multiple times.

Gaston is completely opposite to the Beast. While the Beast is physically grotesque, he has a good personality. Meanwhile, Gaston is physically attractive but has a horrible personality.

2. Maurice

Beauty’s father has been dubbed Maurice in a few adaptations. He is a merchant in the original version of the story. He lived a lavish life with his daughters. But due to unforeseen circumstances, he lost his wealth. In other adaptations, he is a quirky inventor whose inventions make the villagers question his sanity.

2. Cogsworth

In the movie, Cogsworth is the Prince's Head of Staff (or the Majordomo). When the Prince was cursed by the fairy, he turned into a pendulum clock. Cogsworth is the voice of reason in the story. When Beauty's father first enters the castle, he tries to persuade the others not to let him stay since he knows the Beast will be angry. He does his best to calm down the Beast when Beauty refuses to have dinner with him. Even when his master orders him to let Beauty starve, his kindness doesn’t allow him to follow through with the order.

3. Lumière

Lumière is the Beast’s maître d', and Cogsworth’s rival. When the fairy curses the Prince, he is transformed into a candlestick. Though Lumière is a loyal servant of the Beast, he doesn't hesitate to go against his master's orders. For example, when the Beast orders his servants not to give Beauty any food, Lumière disobeys the Beast. He tries his best to make the Beast more presentable and earn Beauty's affection.

4. Mrs Potts

Mrs Potts is the head of the kitchen and a motherly figure in the story. She is transformed into a teapot due to the curse that befell the castle. She is very kind and allows Maurice to take shelter in the castle. She tries her best to make Beauty feel comfortable in the castle and soften the Beast so he can earn Beauty's love.

5. The Fairy/Witch/Enchantress

The fairy in Beauty and the Beast doesn't play a major role but is responsible for turning the Prince into a Beast, thereby setting the actions of the story into motion. In some versions of the story, the fairy cursed the Prince because he had grown arrogant and showed no compassion for his subjects. In the 2017 movie version, the witch disguised herself as a poor woman and offered the Prince a rose. However, he was quick to dismiss her because of her haggard appearance. This led the witch to transform into a beautiful woman and curse him.

In conclusion,

Beauty and the Beast is a classic fairy tale that teaches children not to judge a book by its cover. Since the moral of the story is that appearances shouldn't matter, the transformation of the Beast into a handsome prince by the end of the story is somewhat ironic. The story has also been criticized for romanticizing Stockholm syndrome. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most popular classic fairy tales that has been translated into hundreds of languages globally.