Two Beauties

I love fairy tales. Fairy tales were some of my favourite reading as a child and I am so glad that many adult writers are taking these fairy tales and spinning them into full-length adult novels. (As an aside, I thought I'd point out that the books I discuss below are both filed under teen - but they can be enjoyed by adults too!) One of my favourite fantasy writers, Robin McKinley, has done just that with the classic fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast". However, McKinley's case is unique - she has written two very different versions of the fairy tale. I cannot recall any other author returning to the same inspiration and subject matter as an already published (and critically acclaimed) novel. I've read both versions and thought it would be interesting to read them back to back. Here are the results.

Both novels follow the familiar lines of the tale - merchant with three daughters loses all his wealth and must leave the big city for a small town. Beauty adapts cheerfully to the surroundings while the evil sisters whine. Father eventually returns to the city as a lost ship has come in. He is unable to get roses for his daughter Beauty in the city and returns home. On the way home he is lost in a storm and takes shelter at a magnificent palace. Upon leaving the next day, he plucks a rose, thereby incurring the wrath of the Beast, who demands a daughter in return. Beauty volunteers and goes to live with the Beast at the castle. Despite his ugly and terrifying appearance, Beauty senses his good heart underneath. Yet she misses her family and must return. However, once she returns to her family, she realizes that she loves the Beast and returns to his castle only to find him dying. She declares her love for him, which releases the spell and turns the Beast back into a man. The evil sisters are punished and Beauty marries her de-enchanted prince and lives happily ever after.

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty & the Beast is McKinley's first attempt at the tale. It was published in 1978, at the beginning of her career as a writer. From the very beginning the unique and reflective voice of the narrator grabs you. The story is told in first person from Beauty's point of view, and she is an excellent story-teller. Beauty's real name is Honour, but she disliked the name and renamed herself Beauty as a child. She is stubborn and studious - an excellent and voracious reader. Her two elder sisters are also virtues personified - Grace and Hope. However, unlike the fairy tale, Grace and Hope are kind, gentle and good. There is a close knit relationship between the sisters and their elderly merchant father.

Beauty's eldest sister Grace is engaged to one of her father's shipmen, Robbie. When the merchant loses his fleet, Robbie is presumed dead. Hope also is engaged to one of her father's employments, a shipbuilder named Gervain. He wants to return to the area of the country where he grew up, and has accepted a job to work as a blacksmith in the town where his aunt lives. After the merchant loses his fleet, it is decided that Grace, Beauty, and their father will go with Gervain and Hope and live with them in the little town far away in the country.

The rest of the story proceeds as usual and Beauty is the sister that must travel to the Beast's castle. The castle and environs are lovingly described. Beauty is served by enchanted invisible servants, but eventually learns to understand their language and overhear their conversations.

At the castle, Beauty spends her days reading and studying, riding her horse Greatheart, and conversing with the Beast. After her natural fear for the Beast has worn off, she finds him an excellent companion. They read together and eat together - but the Beast spoils every meal by asking Beauty to marry him. She invariably replies no.

Beauty is homesick, but she understands that it is her duty to stay with the Beast. However, she has magical dreams that allow her to "peek in" on what is happening to her family. The Beast shows her how he is able to send her these visions, and Beauty sees one of the city - Robbie and his ship have come back alive! Grace is unknowing, and is being pushed into marriage with the young minister by her sister Hope. Beauty knows she must return and stop Grace's engagement to the minister by letting her know that her true love Robbie has returned. The Beast is reluctant, but lets Beauty go.

As before, Beauty does not realize her love for the Beast until it is almost too late. Fortunately, the story ends happily, as Beauty confesses her love for the Beast, saving his life and breaking the enchantment. The book ends with the promise of a triple ceremony - Grace and Robbie, Beauty and the Beast, and Beauty's father and Gervain's aunt Melinda.

This is one of my favourite fairy tale retellings. The story grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let you go. Beauty is an engaging and interesting heroine. Her intelligence shines through the page. She is not the sappy sweet princess of most fairy tales - she is a unique, interesting, and intelligent person. The novel follows the fairy tale for the most part, but I enjoy the sisters being friendly to each other, instead of having two evil sisters. This is a lovely and delightful tale.

Rose Daughter is McKinley's second novelization of the "Beauty and the Beast" fairytale. It was published in 1997 and contains an afterward explaining why McKinley returned to the fairy tale that she'd already told. She had more to say about the story in general, and roses in particular.

This tale is not told in the first person, so immediately there is distance between the characters and the reader. I think I prefer the first person narration of Beauty instead. Another difference that one notices right away is that there is a lot more magic in this novel. Lashings of magic, even. While magic was implied in Beauty and definitely came into the novel in the Beast's castle, there did not seem to be that much magic in everyday life. There is a lot more everyday magic in Rose Daughter.

Again, of course, the book follows the story. The three sisters are Lionheart (brave and fierce), Jeweltongue (witty and quick-spoken) and Beauty. Beauty in this book is not the strong, intelligent heroine that she is in Beauty. That is not to say that she is dumb - she is not! She is just not of the same scholarly bent as the first Beauty. This Beauty is kind, and good, and patient, and sweet. Not quite sickly sweet, but almost there. I think I prefer the first Beauty to the second Beauty.

There is also a greater emphasis on roses in this tale. Roses in this world are almost a magical flower and require magic to grow. They are very rare. Beauty is an avid gardener - a talent she puts to good use when the father and sisters must leave the city. They settle at Rose Cottage - a property left to them in a will by an old woman. Lionheart becomes the cook, and then disguises herself as a man to work in the stables at the local squire's house. Jeweltongue becomes a seamstress and is soon taking in work from all over the village. Beauty gardens. She manages to restore the vegetable garden to its former glory, but is confused by all the thorny shrubs planted around the house and in the garden. However, they bloom, and Beauty realizes they are roses. (The reader will have already figured this out.)

When Beauty is sent to live with the Beast, she discovers a glasshouse full of dead rosebushes on the property. She makes it her task to restore the roses and get them to regrow. The glasshouse is the only friendly part of the Beast's castle. The castle in this tale is much more mysterious and malevolent than in the first tale. And what of the Beast? He is darker in this one - a little more like a romantic hero - tall, dark, and melancholy. He cares for Beauty, but I think their connection is not as developed as in the first tale.

Beauty has to return suddenly home when she discovers that the squire's evil son is going to expose Lionheart as a girl and will reveal a mysterious "curse" involving three sisters who live at Rose Cottage that will disrupt the family's peace. She returns home, only to find that while she has been gone only a week, her family has been without her for 7 months. Beauty comes home and reassures her sisters that she will be alright. She must return before the last petal falls on the rose. Because time moves differently between the two worlds, she nearly misses her opportunity to return. However, she does return to tell the Beast she loves him, and face off against the forces of darkness before she and the Beast can be happily ever after (with a slight twist to the usual ending that I'm not sure I entirely approve of).

By now you will probably have come to the conclusion that I prefer Beauty to Rose Daughter. Yes, you would be correct! There is more of a sens of humour to the first book - it is a little more lighthearted in places and Beauty is able to laugh at herself. The Beauty in Rose Daughter is quite a bit more serious. The setting is a little more serious too - the castle is darker and more actively malevolent than in the first book, where it was just magically sterile. But on the whole, I prefer Beauty to Rose Daughter, even after reading them back-to-back. Beauty's visit home in Beauty is more practical than in Rose Daughter. In Beauty, Beauty must return to prevent her sister from marrying the wrong man. In Rose Daughter, Beauty returns because she is homesick. But she has only been gone 7 days! And then she returns home, is there for maybe 15 minutes, and then magically returns back to the Beast's castle. She only returns because it is mandated by the fairy tale, it seems, and not because the author wanted her to. So the return of Beauty in the second book is somewhat forced.

Further, I greatly prefer the first Beauty to the second Beauty. This may be a function of the narrative changes - first person vs. third person. You get to know the Beauty of the first book better and she is a much more well rounded character than the Beauty of the second book, who is just a little too good and sweet to be true. Beauty of the first book has a little more humour, a well-developed sense of irony, and can laugh at herself. Beauty of the second book is quite serious, and sweet and patient and uncomplaining. A nice character, to be sure, but not as interesting to read about as the first Beauty.

However, whether you read Beauty, Rose Daughter, or both, I do urge you to read one of them. Both books show McKinley's skill at creating a memorable, magical world. And if you read both, let me know what you think of Beauty and Rose Daughter. Which did you prefer?

I will end slightly off topic. Sometimes I take photos of book for my blog on the table, sometimes I take them on the floor. However, when taking them from the floor, sometimes I have a little feline assistance:

Seems my cats want in on the action too! (Or at least one of them.) Sometimes they sit in front of my monitor too - a little difficult then to see what I'm writing. However, I'll forgive them as long as they continue to sit on my lap and purr as I'm reading all the great stories for this blog.