3/12/15
Professor Warren
Beauty Discussion Questions
3. Do you like Beauty? What aspects of her character make her relatable, and what about her did you dislike or find tiresome? Personally, I like Beauty. I enjoy her personality despite her inferior appearance . Her pleasant personality makes her more relatable and her desire for adventure aids in this as well. The courage she showed in leaving all she knew live in a castle with a stranger makes the reader admire Beauty’s character. There were few things I felt tiresome regarding Beauty’s personality, although her readiness to leave her family at the first hint for an opportunity to get out seemed slightly suspicious to me.
4. Write about the significance of names in this novel. The names of the characters in this novel are one of the most entertaining aspects of the plot. First, the name of the daughters plays a significant role in the book- Beauty’s name ironic because of her unpleasant features in comparison with her more handsome sisters. The other two sisters, Grace and Hope, also have peculiar names, given to them by their father to bestow meaning and significance to their names. Overall, names continue to play a vital role in the novel, each person’s name revealing a piece of them.
6. How does Robin Mckinley’s novel Beauty compare to the 1991 Walt Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast? How is the book similar and how is it different?
The novel elicits a much more authentic feeling due to the background and more in-depth explanations of characters. The book and novel share a relatively close plot and achieve the same start and end result. The novel and film also share the same characters, although the personalities are drastically different. As can be expected, the movie is simplified but the book gives a much more intelligent and robust personality for each character and the plot as a whole.
15. Define the term Motif. Find several examples of motifs in the novel and