Is Being a Beast a Gift or a Curse?: Looking at the Characterization of the Beast in Two Contrasting Tales

We read many different versions of Beauty and the Beast (ATU 400 and ATU 425 according to Tatar) this past week, most of them stories I had never heard of before. Of these stories, two of them that I found most interesting were “The Pig King,” and Italian tale by Giovan Francesco Straparola and “The Swan Maiden.” Although these two stories are technically of different tale-types, I find their distinction between which identity is labeled the “beast” to be one that is very revealing as to society’s view of gender roles.

The characterization of the beast is vastly different in these two tales. In “The Pig King,” the male beast is depicted as horrific. He is a murderous monster, who even his parents don’t think will ever be loved. When his father first sees him, he thinks about killing him, putting him out of his misery, a dramatic example of how his animal-form is portrayed as a curse, as something undesired and hated. His pig-form is described as filthy and disgusting, and the beast has no control over when he transforms until he is no longer a pig when his curse lifts and sheds his skin.

A Calvin and Hobbes Spin on LRRH

Bill Watterson defies expectation yet again in his interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood. Published on February 2, 1986, the comic depicts Calvin’s father reading the tale as a bedtime story to Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin asks that the wolf in the story be changed into a tiger. Because of the transformation, the story also deviates from the Grimm Brothers’ typical ending. Instead of the wolf (tiger) being shot and killed, he eats both Little Red Riding Hood and the hunter, delighting both Calvin and Hobbes.

This story is a social cartoon, meant to entertain, but it also highlights important aspects of fairy tales. To Calvin, the story has a much different meaning than it does for other children. He relates to the beast so much so that he asks for it to be changed into the form of his friend (Hobbes) as well as that the ending of the story be altered, so that the wolf (tiger) is successful. To Calvin, the protagonist of the tale is the tiger, who simply acts as tigers do and eats his prey. Calvin is horrified at the idea of the tiger being shot, and his father, instead of trying to enforce a different message upon him, changes the tale to suit Calvin’s beliefs and needs.

I am a big fan of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips. They remind me of fairy tales in that they have value for children and adults alike. I find this comic is particular really funny and entertaining because its ending is surprising, but even though Little Red Riding Hood and the hunter both die, the comic is wholesome, showing Calvin’s great innocence and imagination, his love for Hobbes, and his ability to connect to the stories he’s told in his own unique way. The shock factor is similar to that of Roald Dahl’s version of the tale, where Little Red Riding is transfigured into the wolf - she ends up wearing two wolf pelts and murdering an innocent pig for sport (not for protection). The shock-factor of the ending highlights how fairy tales can be interpreted in many different ways depending on the person and/or the time of when the tale is read.

Cartoonist: Bill Watterson; Comic Strip: Calvin and Hobbes; URL: https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/02/02     

  

What is a Fairy Tale?

At this point in the course, we’ve talked for many hours about why fairy tales are important - how we can analyze them and what purpose they serve in our society. And so the question becomes: what exactly have we been talking about? What makes a story a fairy tale as opposed to just a tale? What qualifications set fairy tales apart from all other stories?


Fairy tales are powerful stories, stories that are for people of all ages. They are full of drama and intrigue, entertaining enough to keep a child’s attention and often triggering an emotional response. Most significantly, fairy tales are defined by their elements of magic. There must be some element of wonder or the fantastic in a fairy tale.