In his 1872 book Traditions, Superstitions, and Folklore, Charles Hardwick explains the reasoning behind metempsychosis during the time of the Druids, writing: Metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls, was the idea that a human soul did not perish at death, but instead moved on to another physical body-often that of an animal. In fact, according to one Victorian scholar, tales of humans cursed to live as animals owed more to the ancient belief in metempsychosis than to morality and romance.
However, there was far more to the tale of La Belle et la Bête than simple advice to young ladies that they must look deeper than surface appearances. A lesson on choosing a worthy (though possibly less attractive) man instead of a handsome rake or a scoundrel.
This is a lesson which many an eighteenth and nineteenth century parent would have sought to drive home to their daughters. A young woman learns which qualities are most important in a prospective husband and, only by choosing wisely, does she earn her happy ending. Taken as a whole, La Belle et la Bête appears, on its face, to be more of a morality lesson than a fairy tale.
Cover of Beauty and the Beast, An Illustrated Picture Book by Walter Crane, 1874.
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