|
|
|
Beauty
and the Beast - The Story
Prologue
Once upon a time there lived a handsome
prince whose heart had been bewitched by an evil fairy, La
Feé Misérable. She had turned the prince into
an evil man, enslaving the people of his court. When the good
fairy, La Bonne Feé, arrived at the castle she was
dismayed by La Feé Misérable’s wicked
deeds. The two fairies took to the heavens to battle - the
forces of good against evil. The prince, caught in the crossfire,
was turned into a monstrous beast and La Feé Misérable,
confronted by his ugliness, fled the castle. The court also
took flight, leaving the beast alone in his misery. La Bonne
Feé took pity upon the beast, and revealed an image
of his former self with a beautiful girl holding a rose, but
warned him that this happy ending will only come to pass if
he wins her heart. The image disappeared to be replaced once
again by his beastlike reflection.
Act One
A miner, Monsieur Desparé, lives
with his three daughters in a little house on the outskirts
of a forest. Two of the daughters are lazy and believe themselves
to have been stolen at birth from a wealthy family. All of
the work is left to the youngest daughter, Beauty. One day
Monsieur Desparé returns home in great excitement,
having discovered a beautiful jewel in his mine. The two lazy
daughters decide to accompany him to the city, where they
intend to buy all of the luxurious possessions they feel they
deserve and Beauty decides to join them to keep her father
company.
As the family travels through the strange
forest it becomes very dark. Suddenly a beautiful fairy appears
in the company of goblins. Although she seems friendly the
fairy, La Feé Misérable, and her goblins attack
the family and steal the precious jewel. In the confusion
Beauty finds herself alone. She wanders through the forest
until she finds a beautiful rose and then, to her astonishment,
a magical giant peacock appears before her and takes her further
into the forest. Some distance away Monsieur Desparé
is still searching for Beauty but, now that the jewel is gone,
her sisters no longer want to go to the city and insist that
she must be dead.
Beauty, in the meantime, has arrived
at the door of a huge castle and, as the doors magically open,
she climbs cautiously up the imposing staircase into her new
life.
She finds herself in a dark and cold
hall. Suddenly a beast leaps out and seizes the terrified
Beauty. Her attempts to escape are futile and, in the ensuing
struggle, Beauty picks up the rose. As the beast takes it
from her he sees their reflection in the mirror and remembers
the image shown to him by the good fairy.
Trying his best not to frighten her he motions to her to join
him. Statues which stand around the room suddenly come to
life to serve a wonderful banquet.
As they eat the beast becomes anxious
and frightens Beauty, but her gentleness encourages him to
open his heart to her and tell her of his pain. Suddenly realising
how ugly he must look to her he loses his courage and, hiding
his face, he motions to her to leave. But as Beauty climbs
the staircase she gazes down upon the beast and, moved by
his suffering, she returns to him. The beast cannot bear her
to look at him, but slowly he becomes encouraged. However,
Beauty is still frightened and pulls away and the beast, distraught,
flees.
Exhausted by her terrifying ordeal she falls asleep on enchanted
pillows. The beast returns to find her sleeping and watches
over her from a distance.
Act Two
Beauty has spent many weeks in the
castle and has watched the beast slowly change, becoming more
gentle and less frightening. One night she dreams the beast
has become a handsome prince. Beauty awakes to find herself
in the great hall and sees that the beast is watching her.
Confused about the strange dream she joins the beast for their
usual dinner. The beast is in a playful mood and Beauty suddenly
finds herself close to him, but as she reaches out to take
him in her arms a vision of her father appears in the mirror.
Confused and scared she begs the beast to let her go to her
father and he sadly agrees. He gives her a magic cloak, to
transport her to her destination, and an enchanted mirror
and she departs for home. The castle once again takes on a
gloomy atmosphere, this time not of anger but of despair.
Once back at home Beauty realises she
misses the beast and thinks constantly of him.
Seeing his beloved daughter brooding Monsieur Desparé
tells her to return to the castle. Her sisters overhear and
decide to steal the magic cloak and mirror to transport themselves
to the castle, where they intend to claim their much desired
wealth. Beauty follows them out into the woods where the sisters,
fighting over the magic cloak and enchanted mirror, destroy
both items. Fearing that she may have lost her only route
back to her beast Beauty falls to her knees in despair. La
Bonne Feé appears before Beauty and, seeing true love
in her eyes, decides to return her to the castle.
Sad and alone the beast has given up
all hope of Beauty’s return. La Feé Misérable
and her goblins have returned to taunt him. Beauty returns
to find the beast caught up in a net. The goblins seize her
and, just as the evil fairy is about to stab her, the beast
leaps in front of Beauty and takes the mortal blow himself.
Instantly the spell is broken and La Feé Misérable,
defeated, flees from the castle as La Bonne Feé arrives
to claim victory. To Beauty’s amazement the handsome
prince from her dreams steps from the mirror. Anxiously looking
for the beast she looks into the prince’s eyes and realises
that he is her beast. The two embrace and joyfully prepare
for their wedding.
And, as in all fairytales, they lived
happily ever after…
|
|
