Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins (The Young American and Marine Tales). Her lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and published first by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 in Magasin des enfants (Children’s Collection) and by Andrew Lang in the Blue Fairy Book of his Fairy Book series in 1889, to produce the version(s) most commonly retold.
Ten years later, a beautiful young woman named Belle dreams of adventure and brushes off advances from Gaston, a handsome, arrogant hunter. Lost in the forest while traveling to a fair to present his latest invention, Belle’s father Maurice seeks refuge in the Beast’s castle. After Maurice befriends the castle’s servants, however, the Beast discovers and imprisons him. Belle ventures out in search for him and finds him locked in the castle’s dungeon. The Beast agrees to let her take Maurice’s place.
Befriending the castle’s servants, Belle is treated to a spectacular dinner. When she wanders into the forbidden West Wing where the rose is kept, the Beast flies into a rage, causing Belle to flee the castle and into the woods. She is attacked by wolves, but the Beast rescues Belle and gets injured in the process. He begins to develop feelings for her while she nurses his wounds and he delights her by showing his extensive library.
Returning to the village, Maurice tells the townsfolk of Belle’s predicament, but no one believes him. Gaston then bribes Monsieur D’Arque, the town’s warden of the insane asylum to have Maurice locked up if Belle refuses to marry Gaston.
After sharing a romantic dance with the Beast, Belle discovers her father lying in the woods while attempting to rescue her using the magic mirror. The Beast releases her to save Maurice, giving her the mirror to remember him with. Belle rescues Maurice and brings him back to the village where she nurses him back to health. Suddenly, an angry mob led by Gaston comes to Belle’s house and they try to take Maurice away. Belle then proves Maurice’s sanity by revealing the Beast in the mirror to the townsfolk. Belle angrily confronts Gaston that he is a monster and the Beast is not, which enrages Gaston whom she does not want to marry. Realizing that Belle loves the Beast, Gaston has her thrown into the basement with her father and rallies the villagers to follow him to the castle to kill the Beast. With Chip’s aid, Maurice and Belle escape and rush back to the castle.
Not happy, the servants battle the invading villagers, driving them out of the castle. Gaston attacks the Beast in his tower, who is too depressed to fight back, but regains his will upon seeing Belle return. He overpowers Gaston but spares his life before reuniting with Belle. Gaston stabs the Beast, but he loses his footing from the Beast’s thrashing and falls to his death.[a] The Beast nearly dies from Gaston’s stab before the last petal falls. When Belle tearfully professes her love to him, the curse is broken, repairing the castle and restoring the Beast’s and servants’ human forms. The Prince and Belle host a ball for the kingdom, where they dance happily.