Beauty and the Beast

As a child I grew up watching and loving fairy tales. My favorite by far was Beauty and the Beast. As a child, I loved the concept of all the fairly tale elements…the castle, pretty girl, singing, and of course the happily ever after. As I re-read my favorite childhood fairytale over a decade later I realized that there was so much more to this fairytale other than all of the fantastical elements that I found so intriguing as a child. The key message from this fairytale is that beauty is found within. Children are more likely to create an image in their mind of what a person’s character traits based on the appearance that they see. Beauty and the Beast however sends an important message to children; that an individual’s actions and how they treat you is far more important than their appearance. This is such a strong message for children to grasp, and I don’t think that I fully understood this as a child, but now I find that this is a very important and think it is something that everyone should learn at a young age.

Slater, Teddy. Beauty and the Beast. New York: Golden Book, 1997. Print.