Eros/Psyche vs Beauty/Beast

A detailed Summary of Eros/Psyche vs Beauty/Beast

Long have stories and media been devoted to tales of a beauty 'taming' a beast, most likely taken from the popularity of the French fairy tale, "Beauty and the Beast." But where exactly did this plot originate? Many do not realize that the themes within "Beauty and the Beast" were not entirely original ones and many facets of it are mirrored in much earlier tales, such as the ancient Greek myth of "Eros and Psyche."

Both tales take on an animal-husbandry theme of sorts, although in the case of Eros and Psyche, it is the fear of a bestial husband, while in Beauty and the Beast, there is one in actuality.

Psyche embraces a husband that she is not allowed to view after having previously been led to believe that she was to be killed and carried off by a demon. When she later tells her sisters of her husband's secret identity, out of jealousy they implant ideas in her head that he indeed is this demon that she had been warned about, and encourage her to kill him. She goes on of course to discover that he is not a demon, but the god Eros when she moves to strike him, but at that point her mistrust and curiosity cause him to leave her.

Beauty knows of the Beast's animalistic characteristics and begins fearing him because of it. She l

earns to love him yet still wishes he were the handsome prince that she saw in her dreams. It is when she agrees to give into her feelings and accept his love in return that the beast transforms into his true self - the prince that dwelled in her dreams.

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In both cases, the "animal" husbands were not what they appeared. Psyche feared Eros was an evil monster despite his good care of her, and that fear endangered their relationship. Beauty held back her feelings because of appearances, only to discover that the Beast was who she truly wanted all along.

But in the very end, Psyche and Beauty are both rewarded with the same happy ending - marrying their beloved. Beauty is rewarded with a lavish wedding, the beast taking the form of the prince who resided in her dreams, and a visit from her family for "having the courage to rescue [the beast] from the terrible enchantment," (Cole, Page 23); and Psyche was made immortal in reward for fulfilling the horrid tasks that Aphrodite asked of her.

Young, beautiful maidens sent toward their lovers in such a fashion has to be about the theme of lost virginity. The rapidness of Psyche's readiness to kill Eros when she thinks he might be a demon shows a certain amount of bitterness towards the man who took her virginity, while

Some common words found in the essay are:
Psyche Beauty, Beauty Beast, Beauty Beast's, Psyche Similarly, Beast Beauty's, Cole Page, Beauty's Psyche's, Eros Psyche, , beauty beast, psyche beauty, eros psyche, beauty rewarded,

Approximate Word count = 909
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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