C LIT 128A Lecture 4: Beauty and the Beast
Document Summary
Laws about marrying outside one"s own class in straparola"s venice. Similar to other tales featuring maidens who must marry hogs or hedgehogs. 3 fairies bestow wishes upon the queen when they find her sleeping. One fairy places a curse to the queen where her child will be born as a pig who may assume human shape when taking a 3rd wife. Father decides that the son should be brought up & nurtured like a rational being & not as a brute beast . The prince is born as a pig but talks like a human. Cannot refrain from rolling in the mud (nature vs. nurture) Female character who disguises herself to protect herself from a suitor who is her father/relative. King"s wife dies & she doesn"t want him to remarry so she tells him he should remarry someone who is more beautiful & wise as her. The only person who meets those traits is their daughter.
