a tale as old as time

I have made it clear that I am not the romantic, lovey-dovey type girl. I don't enjoy romantic comedies and Nicholas Sparks novels make me gag. However, I was driving home from class the other day with my iPod on shuffle, sitting in the parking lot that is 93 North at 5pm, and a song from my favorite (and this time I'm not just throwing the phrase around) movie, Beauty and the Beast, began to play. My hand was ready on my iPod to immediately change the song, but I decided to let it play. As I listened to the song, I remembered why it is my favorite movie and how it also relates to my favorite novel (and topic of my senior thesis), Pride and Prejudice.

Beauty and the Beast was the first movie I saw in theaters. I was no more than two years old, but after that I was hooked. Belle became my favorite princess and she still is even if she rarely appears on Princess paraphernalia. As I got older, I no longer had a Beauty and the Beast themed bedroom (although several birthday parties held the theme even up to my sixteenth birthday) the story still held my attention. Belle was not a blonde, beautiful girl that the whole town wanted to marry. She liked to read and was actually an outcast. Although she was being pursued by the most handsome man in the town, she knew he was not right for her and ignored him with all her might.

We all know the story. Belle ends up living in a mysterious castle with a Beast in order to spare her father's life. He is under a spell and cannot be released from it unless a girl falls in love with him depsite his appearance. There is the famous ballroom scene with Belle and the Beast as they glide across the dance floor in her beautiful yellow ball gown to the movie's theme song. She finally realizes that she is in fact in love with the Beast despite her fear and saves his life just before he dies by confessing her love. It's a beautiful story. That part can't be denied. I am obsessed and have read many versions of the story in my twenty-one years.

Senior year of high school, I was assigned Pride and Prejudice for summer reading. I thought I was going to hate it. One of those boring classics. I was so wrong. I was addicted to Pride and Prejudice and realized it was because of its similarity to Beauty and the Beast. Elizabeth Bennett is Belle, the outcast in her family, always living in the shadow of her older, more beautiful sister. Mr. Darcy is the beast; misunderstood and hard to fall in love with because of his arrogance.

I became just as obsessed with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy as I am with Belle and the Beast. The fact that the two stories were so alike quickly made me want to read the novel more than once, see the movie, and read any other books that had to do with Mr. Darcy. My bookshelves contain several books with the name "Mr. Darcy" in the title. Although I am not into the typical love stories, stories of unlikely couples and friendships blossoming into romance have a place in my heart. Maybe it's due to the fact that Beauty and the Beast was the first movie plotline engrained into my head, but I know for sure that it's a favorite that cannot be replaced.

Although Pride and Prejudice was written centuries before the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast was released, I think it is safe to say that this storyline is in fact a tale as old as time.

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