Tale As Old As Time

University of Iceland

School of Humanities Department of English

Tale as Old as Time

Disenchanting the Beast

B.A. Essay

Karitas Marý Bjarnadóttir Kt.: 060297-2589

Leiðbeinandi: Dr. Jessica Murphy May 2020

ABSTRACT

Representations of the beastly bridegroom have become entangled with their respective brides and female sexual desires. Modern stories of human brides and their animal grooms tend to favour the latter. This essay applies a feminist approach when exploring the evolution of the animal groom within the Beauty and Beast motif. It examines different representations of beastly grooms and brides and varying interpretations of female and male narrators and illustrators. The bear as the Beast is a common figure and evolving views towards the bear as a Beast over the centuries are explored. This essay discusses two exemplar stories for the Beauty and Beast motif,

Apuleius’ “Cupid and Psyche” and Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

Comparisons are made between the two aforementioned works, as well as Disney’s 1991 and

2017 adaptations of Beauty and the Beast, the Nordic tale “East of the Sun and West of the ​ ​ Moon” and other works. This essay examines how and why the Beast’s character has transformed from a self-deprecating, gentlemanly creature to a complacent narcissist. In earlier versions the Beast is considered to be the other and a supporting character to a young girl’s ​ ​ maturation into womanhood. However, modern retellings have starred the Beast as the main protagonist. This essay explores these trends and their plausible causes by reflecting on the history of the animal bridegroom motif and the culture and time in which it was written.

Furthermore, the Beast is no longer presented as horrifying, but as a symbol of the fallen angel resurrected. The male Beast is sensationalized and celebrated to the extent where it no longer needs to be disenchanted, and the female Beast is depicted as introspective. The fascination and repulsion women (and men) have with the Beast is one of sexualized glorification and toxic masculinity. Table of Contents:

Introduction 1 ​

Imagining the Beast: On Animal Brides and Animal Grooms 3

Apuleius’ “Cupid and Psyche” 11

Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast” 15

How the Beast Stole the Limelight 18 ​

The Modern Beasts 22 ​

Conclusion 26 ​

Works Cited 28

Bjarnadóttir 1

INTRODUCTION

Throughout the centuries the Beast has been interpreted in numerous ways, but the transformation of its monstrousness stems from contemporary notions of ugliness. The frightful animal groom has transformed from a simple mammal to an anthropomorphic figure, and the beastly form has come to be preferred by many over the disenchanted man. Originally, being with the Beast represented the choice in a young woman’s life to leave her family (or the familiar) for the unknown and unfamiliar. The animal mate motif has evolved from celebrating a woman’s journey towards self-discovery and growth into womanhood to one that glorifies the male ego and a woman’s acceptance of her husband. This shift in sensibility alters our perception of monstrousness. This essay examines various stories of the animal bridegroom motif, focusing on the beastly grooms, the female experience and the couple’s shifting roles within the tales.

Stories provide a glimpse into the society they were written in and their prevalent ideas towards the sexes and perceptions of monstrousness. The animal bridegroom motif traditionally examines anxieties about relationships, sex and its animalistic nature. The story’s impact changes as our views towards certain animals evolve, and thus the Beast itself is transformed. The Beast’s portrayal and shift towards the leading role represent the switch in cultural values and sexual expectations.

Gender plays an important role when discussing stories of any sort. Regarding tales of the animal bridegroom motif, the sex of the animal partner, as well as the narrator and illustrator, is essential to understanding the story’s inner workings. With animal brides, the human grooms break the rules to tame their animal brides of the natural world. In sharp contrast, the animal ​ ​ grooms are presented as victims of circumstance. The grooms did not choose their animal form,

Bjarnadóttir 2 like many of their female counterparts. Instead, they are meant to broaden their human bride’s horizons by celebrating primal masculinity. Even so, gyno- and androtexts do share a trait of the female experience, the dreaded first sexual encounter.

Apuleius’ “Cupid and Psyche” addresses these issues from the couple’s bedchamber.

This story establishes the concept that a woman who keeps her husband happy is granted happiness in return. Meanwhile, one can examine it critically as the submission and surrendering of the feminine. For while Psyche goes on her journey of self-discovery, completing various tasks of housewifery, she ultimately reverts to the docile pet Cupid wanted. Cupid was never enchanted as a Beast; the Beast derives from Psyche’s subconscious from her experiences with

Cupid in the night.

Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast” takes a more virtuous approach. This Beauty already possesses all the qualities that a man could want in a wife; still she does not want him. This version suggests that a woman should love a man she does not find attractive, if only for his good character, and take the necessary time to develop their relationship.

More recent versions of the story have taken this notion so far that it does not matter whether the Beast’s character is good or not; he should be rewarded regardless of his actions.

The Beast does not improve over the course of the narrative but is praised and sexualized for its hellish features. Disney’s 1991 animated version even adds a second Beast, the human hunk

Gaston.

These various editions of the animal bridegroom motif evolve, change and adapt to the societies they are written in. By examining the key points of these stories, the characteristics of

Bjarnadóttir 3 the iconic couple, their relationship and varying representations of the other, one can deduce how ​ ​ the monstrous Beast has come to usurp the throne from Beauty and her disenchanted human prince.

IMAGINING THE BEAST: ON ANIMAL BRIDES AND ANIMAL GROOMS

Hans-Jörg Uther’s tale index in his book on The Types of International Folktales reveals that ​ ​ there are two main classifications of courtships between humans and animals: The Man on a ​ Quest for His Lost Wife (Tale Type 400) and The Search for the Lost Husband (Tale Type 425) ​ ​ ​ (Uther 231-265). The use of the word “quest” for Tale Type 400 suggests an epic tale where the groom is active in his search for his animal bride. This tale type is favoured by men (Leavy 118).

On the other hand, the 425 Tale Type is favoured by women and the phrasing suggests that the wife is passive in her “search” for her husband, like one searches for one’s house keys whilst another goes on a quest for hidden treasures.

It is impossible to find one version of the animal bridegroom tale that laid the foundation for the rest. Tales of animal brides and grooms can be found “in virtually any corner of the world,” observes Barbara Leavy in her novel titled In Search of the Swan Maiden (2). However, ​ ​ an interesting shift has taken place. The male Beast has stolen the limelight from the female

Beauty over the course of the last decades. This character was originally meant to guide women in finding the beauty within their spouse. Now, he has become a shapeshifting phenomenon meant to be admired by all for who he is on the outside. When examining the evolution of the animal groom, it is important to understand the bride’s role in both versions of the tale as the

Beast and human bride.

Bjarnadóttir 4

Leavy claims that in both cases, the protagonist’s gender correlated most likely with the teller of the tale (118). For example, in works written by male authors the female protagonists are mutilated more often than male heroes, but the damage can often be physically reversed, such as severed hands magically growing back (Warner, Once Upon a Time 38-39). This concept ​ ​ suggests that preying on women does not have long-lasting or severe consequences. In contrast,

Warner explains that when women tell fairy stories:

They also undertake this central narrative concern of the genre—they contest fear; they

turn their eye on the phantasm of the male Other and recognize it, either rendering it ​ ​ transparent and safe, the self reflected as good, or ridding themselves of it (him) by

destruction or transformation. (From the Beast 276) ​ ​ In most cultures, “woman was a symbolic outsider, was the other, and marriage demanded an ​ ​ ​ ​ intimate involvement in a world never quite her own” (Leavy 2). Women writers animate their female protagonists as calculative and cautious when it comes to the Beast. They recognize the

Beast as an outsider to their society, much like themselves, but an unknown male figure nevertheless.

For a woman, marriage was dreaded, as it involved leaving her family (and her father) for the unknown, whereas for a man leaving his family for marriage was viewed as an adventure, as in “Jack the Giant Killer” and “Puss in Boots” (Opie 64-82, 147-151). Indeed, there is no anguish for a man in leaving his home, only reward (Warner, From the Beast 276). For the ​ ​ human bride, however, the situation is different. She may be condemned for her beauty

(Apuleius’ “Cupid and Psyche”), her oddness (Disney’s 1991 Beauty and the Beast) or even her ​ ​ innovation and feministic views (Disney’s 2017 Beauty and the Beast), but the same goes for the ​ ​

Bjarnadóttir 5 animal bride. The underlying structure of every Beauty and the Beast narrative is identical, moving from the dreaded first counter with the other, to its acceptance, embrace or even ​ ​ annihilation (Warner, From the Beast 276). Although many women no longer face unwanted ​ ​ marriages, there are still dangers in the world that make leaving the familiar for the unfamiliar a dangerous journey, more so than for men.

Marina Tatar states that there are two types of animal brides, with the first as the victims of abduction or seduction who marry mortals and become human. In this first type, men attempt to cheat and bend the traditional rules of spell-breaking by stealing the animal cloaks of their brides as in “The Swan Maiden” or “The Dog Bride” (Tatar, The Classic Fairy Tales 79-80, ​ ​ 82-83). These women are made to abandon their families and follow the call of nature. Animal brides are not translated into animal shape, like their male counterparts. Rather, they hide in cloaks that grant them the freedom of the animal form. They often hide at their own initiative “in order to elude an unwanted lover”—and sometimes their father, like in the tale of “Donkey-skin” ​ (Warner, Once Upon a Time 38). This first example of animal brides forms a sharp contrast to ​ ​ ​ the latter type of animal brides. These brides seek men who can break the magic spell binding them to their animal state. They effortlessly carry out “prodigious tasks that demonstrate their clear superiority to the human competition” (Tatar, The Classic Fairy Tales 31). This ​ ​ estrangement of the animal bride’s shift from beast to human represents the domestic and down to earth (Tatar, The Classic Fairy Tales 39). Depicted as an effort to tame nature, this treatment ​ ​ of animal brides is in stark contrast to what has become a glorification of the animal groom in modern society.

Bjarnadóttir 6

When the groom is presented as a Beast, the Beast as a symbol refers to the primal and mythical urges of humankind. Whilst animal brides are often captured by their human grooms and kept as pets (as in “The Swan Maiden”), the animal grooms have the habit of running away and making their brides earn their love by searching for their beastly grooms (like in “Cupid and

Psyche”). External appearances and charm count for nothing when it comes to animal grooms.

However, the nature of the Beast’s features varies within the culture it is placed (Tatar, The ​ Classic Fairy Tales 359). Regardless, in both cases the disenchantments of these beastly brides ​ and grooms represent the union between man and nature, the mind or body and the soul (Tatar,

The Classic Fairy Tales 39, Bettelheim 285). To summarize, the union of the animal bride ​ (feminine nature) and man is presented as forceful and harsh. In contrast, the binding of the animal groom (masculine nature) to a woman is a consensual partnership in these stories.

Exploring this further, the stories of animal grooms “display an interesting bifurcation, with one set of stories going mainstream, the other going dormant” (Tatar, The Classic Fairy ​ Tales 32). “Beauty and the Beast” and “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” are good ​ examples of these antithetical story types. In her book From the Beast to the Blonde on fairy ​ ​ tales and their themes, Marina Warner recounts that in the earlier versions of “Beauty and the

Beast” from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, narrators frequently avoided giving precise indications of the Beast’s horrid features (299). This magnifies the Beast’s monstrousness as not knowing adds to the horror. Although storytellers could get away with describing the Beast, illustrators had to find a means to represent it.

Illustrators avoided lupine looks, as the stories stress the Beast’s gentleness and docile nature, and because they did not want to confuse it with the Big Bad Wolf from “Little Red

Bjarnadóttir 7

Riding Hood” (Warner, From the Beast 300). Mere animal forms, such as lions, warthogs, and ​ ​ swine, were sufficiently terrifying at first, but monstrousness is a flux, and the trend soon evolved towards more anthropomorphic characteristics: two-legged, upright beasts, disfigured by fangs, elephant trunks and snouts. The male illustrators put the Beast’s aggressive arsenal at the forefront, formidable natural weaponry adorning the less-than-human Beast for their visions of a fallen angel of priapism (Warner, From the Beast 299-300). This representation of the otherly ​ ​ ​ Beast magnifies qualities that male illustrators found appealing and threatening. Although it makes for an enticing creature, female artists interpreted the meaning of horrifying features differently.

Women illustrators—fewer in numbers—tended not to stress the ferocity or dominance ​ of the creature in nature but inclined towards the characteristics of animals classed lower than mammals, such toads, fish, lizards and rodents (Warner, From the Beast 300). As Warner points ​ ​ ​ out, from a female point of view, the repugnant leans more towards a clammy, submissive and flaccid manifestation, such as reptiles and insects (From the Beast 300). These dominant and ​ ​ submissive creatures illustrate strongly how the male and female respectively interpret the grotesque Beast: when males see themselves in the role, with various degrees of scrutiny, and choose a domineering animal on the top of the food chain. Women, on the other hand, pick a lowly creature, visually repulsive because to women the Beast embodies explorations of their sexuality (Warner, Once Upon a Time 92). The Beast both entices and elicits fear in women ​ ​ because he presents a challenge: should they submit to their partner and patriarchal society? Over the evolution of this Beauty and Beast motif, the answer to this question changes. There is,

Bjarnadóttir 8 however, a common creature between male and female illustrators and narrators that plays the part of the Beast: the bear.

Bears are omnivores, competing for the same resources as humans and living near them in early history. Their pawprints resemble those of a human footprint, and when standing upright, they have a human-like shape to them. This resulted in the bear being viewed, at some level, as the “archetypal messenger to the supernatural world” (Kets de Vries). This connection to the supernatural relates to why Saint Augustine, a Christian theologist from antiquity, likened the bear to the Devil (Warner, From the Beast 300). With its strong paws, the bear was seen as a ​ ​ ​ representation of the Devil’s lustful and wrath-like nature (Warner, From the Beast 300). The ​ ​ ​ bear was early on viewed as an ideal medium for interpreting the Beast.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the bear proclaimed warmongering and anger rather than lust. The evolution of the bear as a Beast took a leap in medieval folklore. It was now seen as a representation of the ferocious wild man of the untamed forest, “an emblem of power in feudal heraldry,” symbolic for a reversion to the natural state (Warner, From the Beast 300). The ​ ​ ​ fear of this creature only grew as tales of their wrath spread through folklore.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the threat of animals like bears and wolves was real; they would prey on towns in times of scarcity. With the rising popularity of the bear in feudal society as a symbol of power. They became pageants of kings, a poor imitation of humans as they were made to dance in chains on their hindlegs. The bear was now a part of the jester crew and his maleficent reputation as King of the Beasts was no more. Another reason for the bear’s popularity as the Beast was that “Beauty and the Beast” was popular on the stage and a

Bjarnadóttir 9 bear costume was easy for an actor to pull off (Warner, From the Beast 299-302). Neither ​ ​ ​ viewed as a wild beast nor a domestic pet, the bear became an interposed Beast of mild terror.

In Norse folklore, there were elite troops of berserkers, earning their name by the ​ ​ bearskins they wore in battle and their ferociousness in the battlefield. Men seized by the berserkergang performed feats of astonishing power and rage. Tales of women being ravished by ​ bears from the Norse Viking Age and hereafter have contributed to the identification of the fairy tale Beast with bears above all (Warner, From the Beast 301-302). For example, in the Nordic ​ ​ ​ folk tale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” the Beast is a polar bear who claims a poor man’s daughter as his wife in exchange for riches (Asbjørnsen). ​ ​ Bestiality, eroticism and cannibalism have coalesced to form the motif of the animal groom over the centuries (Warner, From the Beast 301-303). However, representations of the ​ ​ ​ bear as a Beast took a sharp turn in the twentieth century with the arrival of the teddy bear. The teddy bear reformed the symbolism of the bear to one of domesticated sexuality. The origin of the teddy bear connects back to the American president Theodore Roosevelt. Warner describes that one of the ways men demonstrated their “masculinity and vigorous hardness was on hunting trips, especially big-game hunting” (From the Beast 305). No animal was considered fiercer and ​ ​ more masculine than the grizzly bear. On one of these expeditions, Roosevelt had no luck finding a bear to shoot, so one was captured and offered to him to kill. He refused, as it was against his rules of sportsmanship to kill a creature in such a way. However, one plausible reason for why Roosevelt refused to kill the bear may be because it was a female animal. Female animals were not considered to be as manly to kill, although in many species, such as the lioness and even bears, the females are just as fierce and strong (Warner, From the Beast 306). This may ​ ​ ​

Bjarnadóttir 10 relate back to anthropomorphizing the maternal responsibility the female animals have, but the fact that female prey was considered less admirable plays a part in how the male Beast has become the focus of attention in the modern eye.

The Christmas after this hunting trip the “Teddy’s bear” was marketed. The marketing of the bear as a cuddly and loveable toy for children traduces the creature. With well-known fairy tales such as “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” presenting bears as fearsome creatures, this sudden shift in perception spread like wildfire (Opie 264-269). Warner argues that “by giving a toy in the shape of a wild animal, the giver encourages the goodness of the wild in human nature” (From the Beast, 307). This furthermore suggests that as the child grows older, it should ​ ​ leave this animalistic id-like nature of the natural world behind. This was a common belief in the

1950s, but attraction to the wild nature of the human condition has grown greatly over the last years, as the Beast has won the audience over and Beauty has been demoted to a supporting role.

Views towards the bear as a Beast have changed immensely. The interpretation of the bear as a Beast made an appearance again recently in the 2012 Disney animated movie Brave. ​ ​ The story of Merida in Brave is a twist on the traditional 425 Wandering Wife motif of the ​ ​ ​ ​ animal groom stories: Merida, a wild and adventurous bowsman, does not want to follow suit with her well-conducted mother. As a result, she proceeds to shame the neighbouring clans by besting her suitors in a contest for her own hand. Her mother is furious as war starts to brew between the clans of the humiliated suitors. To alter her fate as an orderly princess, Merida bargains with a witch, and Merida unknowingly transforms her mother (and brothers) into bears.

To break the spell, Merida must mend the bond torn by pride. Merida is not wandering to find her husband but seeking to reconcile with her mother. The motif of wife and groom has here

Bjarnadóttir 11 evolved into one of maternal bonds. Merida and her mother are finding their places in their society, whilst realizing that they do not want the same things.

In Celtic cultures of the time Brave takes place the bear was viewed to be a sacred ​ ​ creature, not a hostile one. Celtic people worshipped the bear goddess Artio (Kets de Vries).

Artos is the Celtic word for bear, with Artio standing for “powerful bear.” Like J.A. ​ MacCulloch’s The Celtic and Scandinavian Religions note, the word artos is easily traced to the ​ ​ ​ ​ goddess of nature and maternity Artemis, who could take the form of a bear (18). Brave thus ​ ​ reverts to the original “Beauty and the Beast” motif where Greek Mythology plays the leading role: Apuleius’ “Cupid and Psyche.”

APULEIUS’ “CUPID AND PSYCHE”

The first known Beast of Western literature is Eros, or Cupid, the god of love. Apuleius’ tale of

“Cupid and Psyche” is the earliest extant of an animal groom story type and has become the canonical version for the “Beauty and the Beast” motif (Tatar, The Classic Fairy Tales 32, ​ ​ Warner, From the Beast 273-74). The text is considered a myth, not a fairy tale, as it is a part of ​ ​ Greek Mythology. The story’s Beast, Cupid, is the god of erotic love, born of the union of

Venus, the goddess of love, and Mars, the god of war (Tatar, Beauty and the Beast xxvi). In this ​ ​ romance, Psyche is forbidden to look upon her husband, Cupid. When she eventually breaks this rule, Cupid runs away. This event sets Psyche out on a journey to find her husband and win him back.

After Psyche heeds her sisters’ advice to see the monster that lies with her in bed, Cupid feels betrayed and scolds her: “Return to your sisters, whose advice you seem to think preferable

Bjarnadóttir 12 to mine” (Apuleius). Bettelheim states that this is the first time we encounter the motif of two older sisters “who are evil due to their jealousy” (294). These sisters are presented (by the narrator and Cupid) as an obstacle between man and wife.

However, the sisters may also act as Psyche’s maternal mentors, for although they acted out of jealousy, they do raise her consciousness, as “women reaching out to other women to make them aware of their condition would be an example of female bonding” (Leavy 133). To elaborate, what her sisters are attempting to get across is the question of do you know who (or ​ what) you are married to? By setting rules that forbid Psyche from gazing upon him or being ​ with him during the day, Cupid is attempting to keep his work life and home life separate.

These restrictions set by the groom bear a strong resemblance to the story of the vile

Bluebeard (Opie 137-141). Bluebeard tested his wives by not allowing them to enter a room, making the room even more enticing. Eventually curiosity gets the better of them and they explore the forbidden room, red with the blood of his ex-wives. Bluebeard sets his wives up for failure and depicts female curiosity as something women should not act on in an attempt to control them.

A similar scene can also be found in “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” where the white bear warns his wife to not let her mother speak to her alone, lest she would drive him away from her (Asbjørnsen). When his wife fails the impossible task, he blames her for their failed marriage. “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” closely reworks the Wandering Wife story ​ ​ type as the white bear takes the role of Eros by abducting the heroine, asking her as he does so:

“Are you afraid?” (Asbjørnsen). Neither the young woman of this fairy tale nor Psyche ever fully

Bjarnadóttir 13 submit to their male partner, but when they disobey their husbands’ orders, they have to win them back.

When Psyche inevitably breaks this rule after her sisters’ excitation, Cupid leaves Psyche distraught and his enchanted castle disappears. Psyche’s failure to trust her husband blindly and obey him in all costs Psyche his love for her (Warner, From the Beast 273). Despite the stories’ ​ ​ preaching that “love cannot dwell with suspicion,” these acts of rebellion against the animal grooms’ wishes set the Beauties out on tasks of self-discovery and independence. The story of

“Cupid and Psyche” is about Psyche reaching maturity and completing her quest for her lost husband.

Unlike the mainstream “loquacious avatars” in European versions of “Beauty and The

Beast,” Psyche is active in her search for her husband (Tatar, The Classic Fairy Tales 33). ​ ​ Psyche’s betrayal sends her on a quest of impossible feats in a trial of “housewifery” set by

Venus, her mother-in-law (such as sorting seeds, bringing Venus a jar of ice-cold water from the river Styx and delivering a box to Prosepine) (Apuleius). Venus demands that Psyche renounces her feminine virtue to be with her husband, Cupid. These tasks are eloquent testaments to women’s struggles and what they had to overcome in that time, but they are presented as a

“taming of the shrew” motif that further cement and strengthen patriarchal norms.

However, the story always focuses on Psyche and her journey towards self-discovery. In the end she becomes mistress of her own fate and wins back her husband, becoming the goddess of the soul. In other words, Psyche has to learn to become the domestic woman that Madame de

Beaumont’s Beauty is from the start. The lesson of “Cupid and Psyche” is obvious by the name of the child of the couple: the harmonious marriage of Love and Soul begets Pleasure.

Bjarnadóttir 14

Nevertheless, this first story of the “Beauty and the Beast” variety sets a precedent symbolic nexus for the tales to come with the couple’s conflicts.

The term used by the Ancient Greeks for the soul was psyche (ψυχή) (Collins ​ ​ ​ ​ English-Greek Dictionary). The word psyche follows feminine declensions and was considered ​ ​ ​ to be the archetypal feminine element in human beings. Cupid is the personification of love in all ​ its varieties being the son of Venus, the goddess of love. In no other animal groom story type is the allegory as clear: Psyche lives in a world of darkness, as she only meets her husband at night.

Her striving towards consciousness is a promise of integration with the conscious and unconscious forces of human personality (Leavy 107). Her hardships suggest the endeavour of wedding the psychic qualities to sexuality (Bettelheim 293). This battle is represented by Psyche entering the underworld and returning from it.

Contrary to Cupid’s parallel characters in other stories, Cupid is never anything but himself. This first Beast of the West is neither enchanted nor grotesque. It is only Psyche’s imagination that invents this image (Bettelheim 294). Cupid is present only in the obscurity of nightfall, keeping his daily life as a god and nightly existence as Psyche’s husband separate from each other whilst hiding his marriage from his mother Venus.

There is fetishization and romanticization of the abduction and submission of femininity

(Warner, From the Beast 295). It relates to the idea of women being “given away” like property ​ ​ from father to husband. Women have historically suffered from the material disadvantages of being transferable property and marriage has for centuries been patriarchy’s chief institution for maintaining this status quo (Barry 125). Women are still taught that “happily ever after” is attainable by marriage, although the reader rarely ever gets a glimpse of life after the wedding

Bjarnadóttir 15 reception. These ideas confirm men’s elevated status in society, building the pedestal of fragile masculinity atop of the ownership of women. They are so firmly ingrained in society that women have ultimately found means to cope with them. This is what Madame Leprince de Beaumont aimed to do with her fairy tale “La Belle et la Bête.”

MADAME LEPRINCE DE BEAUMONT’S “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST”

The most familiar animal-groom story today was “Beauty and the Beast,” penned by Madame

Leprince de Beaumont in 1756, who adapted her story from an earlier romance in 1740 by

Madame de Villeneuve, “La Belle et la Bête” (Warner, Once Upon a Time 39). Madame de ​ ​ Beaumont’s story shifted the literary landscape from one of grotesque stories for adults to tales of virtuous women for the young (Tatar, Beauty and the Beast 27). In their book on The Classic ​ ​ ​ Fairy Tales, the Opies wrote concerning the story of de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast” that ​ it was “the most symbolic of the fairy tales after Cinderella, and the most satisfying,” a prime example of the animal-groom motif (179). Written at the dawn of the Enlightenment, it was a pioneering use of the fairytale form to promote the virtue of fine manners in the young (Warner,

From the Beast 297). Madame de Beaumont directed the story of “Beauty and the Beast” at ​ female readers, addressing their fear of arranged marriages, often to older men, in order to “brace them for an alliance that required them to efface their desires and submit to the will of a monster” (Tatar, The Classic Fairy Tales 33-34). Furthermore, Tatar notes that the story not only ​ ​ endorses obedience and self-denial, but intensifies the significance of the interactions between

Beauty and Beast by preaching that the transformative powers of empathy disenchant the Beast

(The Classic Fairy Tales 34-35). De Beaumont aimed to comfort her readers with the theory that ​ ​

Bjarnadóttir 16 making your husband happy will make you happy in return. Beauty disenchants the Beast when ​ she realizes that her feelings towards him are more than platonic and asks him to become her husband.

As the Opies point out in their introduction to de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast,” it is impossible not to notice the similarities Apuleius’ “Cupid and Psyche” has to this story: an almost supernaturally beautiful girl is betrothed to a hideous monster. But this Beauty has not mistaken her human lover for a monster, like Psyche, nor failed to see the good man beneath the horrid surface, like Disney’s Belle; on the contrary, her Beast’s beastliness will teach her something (Warner, From the Beast 307). The Beast, the embodiment of male sexuality, does not ​ ​ stand as a threat to her. Rather, it holds a mirror to the nature within Beauty, her own female sexual desires, and allows her to mature into womanhood.

Both Beauty and Psyche undertake tasks of “housewifery,” though Beauty did so before ever meeting the Beast (Opie 179-180). This suggests that she had to behave perfectly to be worthy of meeting the Beast to begin with. Like Beauty, Psyche is reluctantly allowed to see her family, and her contact with them puts the couple’s love in jeopardy. Both women have malicious and jealous sisters, and in both stories these sisters meet the fate they deserve. The juxtaposition between opposing female characters, namely the demanding sisters and docile

Beauty became a trend with the arrival of the children’s fairy tale. The main difference between de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast” and “Cupid and Psyche” by Apuleius is found with the

Beast.

The Beast of “Beauty and the Beast” is a monstrous creature, not a beautiful, god-like

Cupid. Beauty trembles before his “horrid form” the first time she meets him—their relationship

Bjarnadóttir 17 is not one of love at first sight (Opie 188). Yet the Beast is never described. As stated earlier, this adds to the Beast’s monstrousness. On the other hand, the Beast might also be interpreted as a plain old man rather than a buffalo or a bear.

In de Beaumont’s version, the Beast has more time in the limelight for Belle (and the audience) to fall in love with him. This gives their love solidity and groundwork, whereas in

Disney’s versions the characters only get a couple of days together during which they refuse to eat dinner in the same room. Furthermore, Beast does not run away from Beauty, like Cupid.

Rather, it is Beauty that deserts Beast. Beauty has been given the power to leave her husband and she does. However, this feminist groundwork is quickly broken down as Beauty is forced to return to save her Beast from death by marrying him.

The Beauty of Madame de Beaumont’s story is modest, obedient and charitable, and in the end she does well for herself. Beauty’s virtuousness stems from her acts of self-sacrifice

(Tatar, The Classic Fairy Tales 33). She is already humble and willing to play the servant, unlike ​ ​ Psyche. Moreover, she is accomplished in other tasks of housewifery. Looking past the Beast’s horridness leads Beauty to his true character and ultimately their happily-ever-after fate.

Unlike the myth of “Cupid and Psyche,” de Beaumont’s version does not need to spell out the benefits of this union. The two characters complement and balance each other harmoniously. In the phrasing of Bettelheimian rhetoric, this union may be interpreted as the humanization and socialization of the id (Beast) by the superego (Beauty) (Bettelheim 309). To illustrate this point further, consider that the diligent and hard-working nature of Beauty may be represented as the mind in contrast to the childish animalistic nature of the Beast, depicting nature and aggressive sexual desires. When the two of these antithetical characters come

Bjarnadóttir 18 together, they make a harmonious pair that emphasizes the best qualities of the two, making the ego.

This tale is a celebration of “the civilizing power of feminine virtue and its triumph over crude animal instincts” (Tatar, The Classic Fairy Tales 37). The marriage of Beauty to the ​ ​ former beast is “a symbolic expression of the healing of the pernicious break between the animal and the higher aspects of man,” described as a sickness (Bettelheim 308-309). When separated from Beauty and what she symbolizes, her father and the Beast nearly die. The Beast’s sickness after Beauty leaves represents an evolution in the Beast from the primitive and aggressive sexual personality towards a loving and trusting character. The metaphorical meaning of this story is that beasts can change, but recent adaptations pose the question: do we want them to? ​ ​ ​

HOW THE BEAST STOLE THE LIMELIGHT

Tales of animal brides and animal grooms stand “as models for plots rich in opportunities for expressing anxieties about marriage” (Tatar, The Classic Fairy Tales 37). Over the years, ​ ​ however, the Beast has stolen the limelight from Beauty and what used to be her bildungsroman.

The evolution of the symbolic representation of the Beast as the other and the definition of the ​ ​ other throughout the centuries has contributed to a vital degree to the changing meanings of the ​ tale (Warner, From the Beast 277). To illustrate this further, “while eighteenth and nineteenth ​ ​ century versions of the tale celebrated feminine virtue and its triumph over animalistic tendencies, modern culture hails the Beast’s heroic defiance of civilization” (Tatar, The Classic ​ Fairy Tales 37). In other words, there is presently a rampant trend towards celebrating the male ​ as a dominant and dangerous creature.

Bjarnadóttir 19

Prevalent beliefs of the 1990s were that women were not supposed to be docile or submissive, like Madame de Beaumont’s Beauty. Linda Woolverton’s screenplay for Disney’s

1991 Beauty and the Beast features an exemplar for women of the 1990s: Belle, a feisty ​ ​ bookworm who disregards the wishes and commands of the men around her. She finds romance on her own terms and, ironically, loves reading fairy tales more than any other genre. This nod to the origins of the Beauty and Beast motif make Belle recognize the type of story she is caught in when she arrives at the Beast’s castle, and it gives her an edge over any other character (Warner,

From the Beast 314). For contemporary feminists, Belle is the prototype for the liberated ​ woman, which is why this animated movie was one of the biggest box-office draws of all time

(Warner, From the Beast 313). However, the character of Belle does have her own flaws, unlike ​ ​ de Beaumont’s Angel of the House. Belle had immense potential as the first feminist Disney princess, but she falls short when she accepts the Beast for who he is: an egoist with anger management issues. Belle does rebel against the Beast, but eventually she lets him have his way.

Perhaps unexpectedly, it was not Belle who held the animators’ full attention, but the

Beast (Warner, From the Beast 315). This celluloid Beast is male desire incarnate and embodies ​ ​ the Eros figure as a phallic toy. The Beast towers over Belle (and the viewer), crowding the screen from edge to edge, frothing at the mouth as he inflates and tumesces. Everything about him is grand, and apt to grow bigger: “his castle looms, its furnishings dwarfed by its

Valhalla-like dimensions” (Warner, From the Beast 315). He steals the show and learns nothing ​ ​ from his enchantment.

Disney’s 1991 Beast resembles the American buffalo, cementing the ideas of the representation of the Beast as a part of the natural world, like the plains the buffalo wandered,

Bjarnadóttir 20 unspoiled by human contact (Warner, From the Beast 315). However, the Beast’s nearest ​ ​ ancestor is the Greek mythical creature known as the Minotaur. A result of the unholy union between woman and nature, the half-bull Minotaur represented perverted lust and regularly feasted on young women. These two contradictory images make the Beast an interesting outsider to human society: he is condemned for his animalistic rages whilst also epitomizing the virtues of the wild (Warner, From the Beast 315). However, what is significant is that he is the damned ​ ​ Beast in both appearance and character, and he is adored for his beastliness.

By the 1990s, Warner argues, perceptions of the social outcast were so glorified that any return the Beast might have towards a fully human shape would have degraded rather than redeemed the hero (From the Beast 313). In Disney’s 1991 Beauty and the Beast, the prince who ​ ​ ​ ​ emerges from the enchanted monster seems lacklustre in comparison to the damned creature prevalent throughout the film, even Belle seems disappointed. It was the Beast that won the viewer’s heart, not the red-headed human prince, solely present for the final minutes of the movie, and this point is still applicable to Disney’s 2017 version. When one thinks of Disney’s

Beast, the humanoid replica seldom comes to mind.

Beast’s humanization is dependent on Beauty’s strengths, not her weaknesses (Leavy

130). Beauty is willing to see past his rough and hot-headed character and is patient with him. As

Angela Carter puts it, the tale has been increasingly employed “to house-train the id” (Warner

310). We are given a “Beast-centered narrative developed almost exclusively to the male figure in the story,” a male figure with tyrannic and childish anger management issues (Tatar, The ​ Classic Fairy Tales 38). Beauty and Beast’s relationship has taken a turn from harmonious ​ towards dysfunctional.

Bjarnadóttir 21

On the topic of the relationship of the iconoclasts, Tatar writes that “the kaleidoscope has been given a decisive critical turn, one that reconfigures the relationship between heroine and beast, with a young woman who stands up to Beast, even if his overpowering visual dominance shrinks her own importance” (The Classic Fairy Tales 39). Even though Belle is arguably a ​ ​ strong female character, she does not play the lead role anymore. She stands up to the Beast, but she does not compare to him. He is so triumphant in his animal state that his aggressive outbursts are considered “charming” and many find the Beast preferable to many Disney princes who, in comparison, seem much more like Madame de Beaumont’s docile Beast or even Apuleius’

Cupid.

Proving the lovableness of the good Beast has become the main concern. However, the

1991 animated Disney adaption introduces a second Beast, another suitor for Belle’s affection,

Gaston. He is the real beast of the narrative, the human Beast, and he represents the extremist male ego. Gaston is Disney’s beautifully packaged square-chinned heart-throb and revealing him to be the monster is not presented as horrific, but simply commonplace. He does not hide his true ​ ​ character; he is a psychopath devoid of emotion and any regard for any life other than his own.

Even so, Gaston is charming and every townsperson disregards the negative aspects of his character aside from Belle and her father. Tatar rightfully named him “the truest villain in this cinematic tale” (The Classic Fairy Tales 38). This walking caricature of toxic masculinity is ​ ​ a lyncher who preys on social outcasts and is capable of deep treachery in pursuit of his own interests (Warner, From the Beast 316). Gaston neither evolves nor changes over the course of ​ ​ the film, and interestingly, Disney does not change his character for the live-action remake in

2017. Here, the true villain of love is the male ego (and toxic masculinity). He is meant to serve

Bjarnadóttir 22 as a pitiless caricature of men who “fancy themselves Supermen” (Warner, From the Beast 317). ​ ​ In the 1991 film, he is presented as a renegade, and men like the Beast who are in touch with their inner emotions and nature are the exemplars. Undeniably for both Disney versions, the focus is taken away from the Beauty and the Beast (no matter its form) holds the spotlight.

Luke Evans’ Gaston in Disney’s 2017 Beauty and the Beast became so popular that ​ ​ Disney+ announced in early March of 2020 that they were working on a prequel to Beauty and ​ the Beast (Goldberg). Instead of elaborating on the origins of the iconoclasts of the story, this ​ prequel will focus on the origin story of Gaston and his sidekick LeFou, portrayed by Josh Gad.

The modernisation of the story will put the male ego to the forefront. These characters, created as a drive for action and comedic relief, have stolen the limelight from Belle and her evolution towards self-discovery and recognition.

THE MODERN BEASTS

Interestingly enough, the beastly groom has evolved into a supercilious character. The animal bride, however, has taken a surprising and introspective turn. Despite both versions seeming to be catered mainly towards women, the animal groom motif is more popular. These modern versions present the idea that these Beauties are content with their plight of being owned by their

Beasts.

Humanity has distanced itself from nature to set itself apart from other animals as a superior breed. This sentiment is clearly reflected in the Beauty and the Beast motif, where the monstrousness of the Beast is its animalistic look. Over the last centuries, the Beast has evolved

Bjarnadóttir 23 from a simple animal to an anthropomorphic beast, as in Disney’s 1991 version of the tale, with the Beast standing upright on its wolf legs, a bull-like head and the teeth of a lion.

Leavy poses the question in her narrative on folklore and gender that “if Walt Disney

Studios really wanted to produce a fairy tale with feminist implications, why did they not adapt one of the many stories that could be designated—if awkwardly—Handsome and the Beastess?”

(Leavy 5). Leavy’s book was published in 1994, three years after the release of Disney’s 1991 animated version, but these issues are even more pressing after their 2017 remake and the announcement of the Gaston prequel.

Angela Carter’s “Tiger’s Bride” is an interesting fusion of the animal bride and animal groom motifs. The Beauty of Angela Carter’s “Tiger’s Bride” turns into a Beast like her groom in a symbolic event where he licks off her skin, revealing a tigress (Carter 109). Tatar notes that

“Beast delivers Beauty from the abject condition of being human as the artificiality of culture, symbolized by the earrings, yields to nature and returns to its primordial state” (The Classic ​ Fairy Tales 37). The Beauty’s enchantment (or disenchantment) is only possible after she ​ renounces her father and the human world by allowing the Beast to see her, a virtuous woman, naked (Carter 106). Here, the natural and untamed are praised and the materialistic is presented as unfavourable.

In her story, Carter alludes to “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” when the heroine suggests that the north wind, directed by “the bear’s son,” has blown her garments to her across

Europe (Carter 99). In “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” the Beauty is guided to her bear-groom by the winds to the castle that rests east of the sun and west of the moon

(Asbjørnsen). Although they are separate stories, these lines suggest that the Beauty of “Tiger’s

Bjarnadóttir 24

Bride” has merely fled one male tyrant, the bear’s son, or even her father, for another, the Beast.

This suggests that although Beauty is free from society’s expectations she is still subservient to

The Beast, as she would not have been able to achieve her natural state without him. This story cements the notion that Beasts may be found all over the world, appearing in various forms of horridness.

Disney’s 2017 adaption of Beauty and the Beast has a different take on the inner battle ​ ​ between the natural and material worlds. In contrast to Cupid, the god who can make an enchanted castle appear at will, the Beast is materialistic and a true lover of aesthetics. The sense of wealth has an erotic charge to it, and it is amped up beyond any degree in the 2017 version that has intricate golden chandeliers adorning every room. The castle is not dusty and desolate, like in the 1991 version, and every piece of furniture is intricate in design and gold-plated.

In a similar fashion, DreamWorks’ 2001 Shrek merges the motifs of animal grooms and ​ ​ animal brides. Princess Fiona is cursed to turn into an ogress at night with only true love’s kiss ​ ​ turning her to “love’s true form.” Fiona falls in love with the ogre Shrek and transforms indefinitely into an ogress after they proclaim their love for one another with a kiss. Although the story might not be of Handsome and Beastess, but rather Beastess and Beast, Shrek does ​ ​ challenge the social conceptions of beauty.

In the television series Once Upon a Time, the Beauty and Beast motif is portrayed ​ ​ through the antagonist Rumpelstiltskin, a coward turned evil. Rumpelstiltskin, played by Robert

Carlyle, is a new perspective on the story of the Beast as a predator. Rumplestiltskin is a man with crocodile-like skin, rotten teeth and a high-pitched leprechaun voice, but he is a man nonetheless. Rumpelstiltskin has all the material possessions and wealth he could wish for, but

Bjarnadóttir 25 the imperfection of the chipped cup (a reference to Disney’s 1991 version of the tale) becomes a mark for his flawed nature.

Once Upon a Time introduces the idea that being a Beast may not be preferable. ​ Rumpelstiltskin declares to Belle that he is tired of being a Beast, yet he does not want to give up the power that comes with it. In the end, Rumpelstiltskin chooses power over love. His refusal to be disenchanted stems from his belief of being unlovable and his fear of losing what he has gained by becoming the Beast. Rumpelstiltskin has stolen a characteristic from Disney’s Belle: self-awareness. He is conscious of his role in the fairy tale and proudly reenacts the famous ballroom scene from Disney’s 1991 Beauty and the Beast. Rumplestiltskin evolves over the ​ ​ series from antagonist to anti-hero to finally, the main protagonist and reverting back to the antagonist. This fluctuation of motives encompasses the general view towards the Beast: an unknown figure, wild in nature and untameable but terribly intriguing.

In “Cupid and Psyche,” the consequences of female curiosity are the focal point of the narrative. In Madame de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast” from the eighteenth century, the role of the woman has evolved into positive reinforcements for good and supportive behaviour in a wife. In more recent versions, the submissiveness of Beauty is enhanced whilst giving a false sense of independence. The metaphorical meaning of the story is no longer that Beasts can ​ change but rather that women should learn how to embrace the Beast for who he is. ​ ​ ​ Warner writes that the transformation the story has undergone means that the Beast no longer needs to be disenchanted and suggests that Beauty has to learn to love the Beast in order to familiarize herself with the Beast within (From the Beast 312). The theme of the Beast within ​ ​ is presented in Mimi Thebo’s Dreaming the Bear. In this novel, young girl Darcy sleeps with a ​ ​

Bjarnadóttir 26 hibernating bear in a blizzard. The she-bear is a maternal figure who was wounded in a poaching accident, losing her cubs earlier that winter. As with Cupid and Psyche, Darcy and the bear make their connection in the darkness of the night. The bear depends on Darcy for food after the blizzard, and they develop a strong bond that goes beyond the material world. Darcy can make her soul leave her body and watch over from above, and it marks the superego. In the end, Darcy has to kill her human-dependent bear and metaphorically breathes in the she-bear’s last breath

(Thebo 157). This action marks the union of the wild and natural id and the superego, making the temperate ego.

CONCLUSION

This “tale as old as time” has been with us for centuries and has cemented itself into our conception of the relationship between the genders. It is evident how and why this story has stuck around over the ages, maintaining popularity with numerous adaptations in literature and film being made over the centuries: this fairy tale transforms with and beyond our societies and adapts to our ideas and ideals. After reviewing the two set-stones of the Beauty and Beast motif,

Apuleius’ “Cupid and Psyche” and Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast,” there are specific traits that affect the evolution and disenchanting of the Beast: Beauty’s role and the nature of the Beast’s otherness. ​ ​ Firstly, when the female experience is considered, Beauty never seems to be entirely in charge of her own fate. The story has evolved to be less about the submission and surrender of the female and more about the domination of the male over the female in any form. Beauty starts as the leading role meant to promote appropriate female conduct, evolving into a supporting

Bjarnadóttir 27 character who challenges the beastly male, but ultimately the woman succumbs to him. The female other is seen battling the other outsider, represented by the Beast. ​ ​ ​ ​ This battle of otherness can be traced back to the story’s origin: a commentary on a ​ ​ woman’s dreaded first sexual encounter. Human sexuality is a conflict between animal-like aggression on one hand and tenderness on the other. This conflict is projected in the duality of

Cupid’s origin (son of Venus, the goddess of love, and Mars, the god of war) and Madame de

Beaumont’s gentle prince hidden behind a monstrous facade. The Beast encompasses unknown sexual territory and Beauty’s inner turmoil. Instead of the couple embracing each other’s otherness, they compete for who is more at odds with society. ​ Secondly, men dominate the world and women are made to seem content with their plight. However, the social outcast has become a glorified trend and those who fit neatly into societies’ mould are scorned, yet neither of them commits to being the outcast. At the end of traditional adaptations, Beauty accepts Beast for who he is and is rewarded by him transforming into his human shape. In more recent adaptations (such as Disney’s 1991 and 2017 versions) the

Beauty seems to prefer her prince’s animal state. Beauty has been demoted to a reactionary character and the focus of the other is on the Beast. ​ ​ The Beast’s gentle temperament degenerates to aggressive and animalistic behaviour and modern retellings embrace the Beast within for its stereotypical masculine aggressiveness. The

Beast has stolen the limelight from the Beauty, as the story used to be about how Beauty came into her own from their relationship, like with “Cupid and Psyche,” but it now follows the evolution (or devolution) of the Beast, in what have now become mainstream and well-known versions, Disney’s 1991 and 2017 Beauty and the Beast. ​

Bjarnadóttir 28

The ever-evolving value of the Beast as a symbol—from the repressed other towards a ​ ​ ​ ​ celebration of the other—gives manifold meanings to the story. The synthesis of repulsiveness ​ ​ ​ and attractiveness accounts for the immense popularity of this tale type. This blurring of boundaries and norms is what makes the tale compelling and popular to reimagine and reanimate.

Bjarnadóttir 29

Works Cited

Apuleius. “Cupid and Psyche.” Bulfinch’s Mythology, edited by Thomas Bulfinch, Kindle ed., ​ ​ Neeland Media LLC, 2011.

Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, et al. “East of the Sun and West of the Moon.” East of the Sun and ​ West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North. Kindle ed., Taschen, 2018. ​ Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 3rd ed., ​ ​ Manchester UP, 2009.

Beauty and the Beast. Directed by Bill Condon, performances by Emma Watson and Dan ​ Stevens, Walt Disney, 2017.

Beauty and the Beast. Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, performances by Paige ​ O’Hara and Robby Benson, Walt Disney, 1991.

Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. ​ Penguin Books, 1991.

Brave. Directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman, performances by Kelly Macdonald and ​ Billy Connolly, Walt Disney, 2012.

Carter, Angela. “Tiger’s Bride.” The Bloody Chamber. Vintage Classics, 2016, pp. 80-109. ​ ​ Collins English-Greek Dictionary, HarperCollins Publishers, 1997. ​ Goldberg, Lesley. “‘Beauty and the Beast’ Prequel Series in the Works at Disney+ (Exclusive).”

The Hollywood Reporter, ​ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/beauty-beast-prequel-series-works-at-disne

y-1282859?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social. Accessed 16 March 2020. ​

Bjarnadóttir 30

Kets de Vries, Manfred F.R. Talking to the Shaman Within: Musings on Hunting. Kindle ed., ​ ​ iUniverse, 2014.

Leavy, Barbara Fass. In Search of the Swan Maiden: A Narrative on Folklore and Gender. ​ ​ NYUP, 1994.

MacCulloch, J.A. The Celtic and Scandinavian Religions. Cosimo, 2005. ​ ​ Once Upon a Time, written by Jane Espenson, directed by Milan Cheylov, ABC, 2011-2018. ​ Opie, Iona Archibald, and Peter Opie. The Classic Fairy Tales. Oxford UP, 1980. ​ ​ Shrek. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, performances by Mike Myers, Edie ​ Murphy and Cameron Diaz, DreamWorks, 2001.

Tatar, Maria, editor. Beauty and the Beast: Classic Tales About Animal Brides and Grooms from ​ Around the World. Penguin Books, 2017. ​ ---. “Introduction: Beauty and the Beast.” The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism. 2nd ed., ​ ​ W.W. Norton, 2017.

Thebo, Mimi. Dreaming the Bear. Wendy Lamb Books, 2017. ​ ​ Uther, Hans-Jörg. The Types of International Folktales: a Classification and Bibliography. Part ​ ​ I, Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia/Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2004.

Warner, Marina. From the Beast to the Blonde. Vintage, 1995. ​ ​ ---. Once Upon a Time. Oxford UP, 2014. ​ ​