Moral of the story "Beauty and the Beast"

I have been so interested in the story line of Beauty and the Beast. It can relate to everyone in some way or the other. It is about a very handsome but very selfish prince who heavily taxed the villagers that he used to buy beautiful things for his castle. And he had lots of parties that he invited only the beautiful people to. An old wrinkled up old lady came to his castle during one of his parties to come in from the cold. And she offered the prince a single rose for some food and shelter. But he refused her offer and demanded her to leave. Then she became a beautiful enchantress who placed a curse on him and all his servants who lived with him in his big castle. She turns him into the hideous Beast until he learns to love and be loved in return. If he has not found love by the time the rose lost all it's petals, he will be doomed to the end of his time.

But who could ever learn to love a beast? Ten years later, Maurice, an artist from a nearby village, becomes lost in the woods and seeks shelter in the Beast's castle, the Beast imprisons him for trespassing and taking a rose for his daughter. His daughter Belle, a bookworm who dreams of life outside her provincial village. Belle is ahead of her time. She is viewed as odd by the villagers except for Gaston, a military officer. All the women of the village find him handsome and a catch other than Belle who thinks of him as egotistical, and narcissistic. This interests Gaston to pursue her for her hand in marriage.

Belle finds her father trapped in the castle and offers her place instead. The Beast accepts with a promise she'll remain in the castle forever. In the beginning Belle views him as nothing more than a monster. The beast views her as difficult and stubborn. But the two soon taste the bitter-sweetness of finding "you can change and learning you were wrong".

Belle meets the enchanted objects who cheer her up, but she refuses to have dinner with the Beast. Enraged, he tells the servants that if Belle does not eat with him, she will have to starve, then shuts himself away in the West Wing. He sees Belle through the magic mirror, who angrily cries that she will have nothing to do with the Beast. Melancholy, he watches one more petal fall from the rose. Ignoring the Beast's orders, Lumiere, along with the other servants, welcomes Belle warmly and entertains her with an elaborate dinner and a show. After dinner, Belle asks the servants for a tour of the castle. Lumiere and Cogsworth happily oblige, but Belle manages to sneak away from them and penetrate into the forbidden West Wing, where she discovers an extremely disarrayed and desolate room, a slashed portrait of a handsome man with strangely familiar blue eyes, and the enchanted rose. The Beast finds her there and frightens her with a terrifying display of temper. Belle flees the castle, disregarding her promise to the Beast, and, in the dark forest, is attacked by wolves. The Beast appears and fights off the vicious creatures, but is wounded during the fight; a grateful Belle returns with him to the castle and, while tending to the Beast's wounds, thanks him for saving her life. Then he thanks her for caring for him. Over some time, the two start to become friends. With the help of his enchanted servants, Belle begins to draw the cold-hearted Beast out of his isolation The Beast begins to fall in love with Belle by giving her"ownership" of his immense library. The household items are excited and optimistic that Belle may fall in love with the Beast and cause them to become human again. The relationship reaches its climax with an elegant dinner and ballroom dance.

After the romantic evening, The Beast notices that Belle seems melancholy. She tells him that she wishes to see her father, Maurice again, just for a moment. The Beast takes her to the West Wing and gives her the magic mirror, explaining that it will allow her to see anything she might desire to see. Belle asks if she can see her father and the magic mirror reveals that Maurice is in trouble with the villagers. The Beast, having fallen in love with Belle, releases her to rescue her father and also gives her the mirror so that she may look back and remember him. Belle hurries off, finds her father where a mob gathers to take him to the asylum. Gaston, an egotistic military officer offers to have Maurice spared if Belle agrees to marry him but she still refuses. Belle uses the magic mirror to show the Beast to the villagers, who become frightened at his hideous appearance. Belle assures them that the Beast is kind and gentle, and that he's her friend. Out of jealousy and anger, Gaston tells the mob that Belle is as crazy as her father. Belle disagrees and calls him the real beast for wanting to kill him. She tells him off that she sees him as nothing more than a narcisstic, rude, obnoxious and selfish jerk. Insulted, Gaston rallies the villagers to storm the castle and "kill the beast," convincing them that he is dangerous to the entire town. To prevent Belle and Maurice from warning the Beast, Gaston has his men lock them in the asylum.

Belle and Maurice escape from the asylum using an invention and rush back to the castle. The villagers force open the door, but Lumiere leads the servants in defense of the castle. Gaston deserts the battle to search for the Beast. The servants eventually manage to drive the villagers out of the castle. Meanwhile, Gaston finds the Beast alone in the West Wing and attacks him, throwing both of them outside on the balcony and rooftops. The Beast does not defend himself because he has given up hope of being able to see Belle again. As soon as he sees Belle arriving at the castle, calling out for him, the Beast gains the will to fight Gaston. A heated battle ensues between the two, culminating when the Beast grabs Gaston by the neck and threatens to throw him off the roof. Gaston begs for his life, and the Beast relents, softened by his love for Belle. He tells Gaston to leave and never come back, and then throws him aside. When the Beast climbs back up to the balcony where Belle is waiting for him, Gaston shoots him in the back, then loses his footing and falls into the deep chasm far below, signalling his death.

Belle tries to reassure the badly wounded Beast that everything will be fine, but he knows that his wound is fatal. The Beast tells her that he was happy to see her one last time, and dies succumbing to his injury. Belle, in tears, whispers that she loves him, just before the last petal falls from the rose. The spell is broken. The Beast, brought back to life, is reverted to his human form, unrecognizable until Belle looks into his blue eyes. The castle becomes beautiful again and the enchanted objects turn back into humans. The last scene shows Belle and the prince dancing in the ballroom while her father and the objects watch and they live happily ever after.

The moral of the story to me is defined in the following ways:

1. Don't have a stone cold heart no matter who they are.

2. Don't judge a book by it's cover.

3. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

4. Happiness can be found everywhere, if one will let into their life

5. Don't be deceived by appearances.

I can relate to Belle since she was beyond her time. And she was seen as odd by the villagers.

I fell in love with the beast. Not the the handsome prince he became.