Anna Campbell | What a Beauty Is This Beast!
Great romances often have a mythic underpinning that adds depth and resonance. So a road romance can echo The Odyssey or a Harlequin Presents can hark back to the universal themes of Cinderella. I believe readers, even if not consciously aware of these patterns, recognize the structure in their subconscious minds. So the satisfaction we get at the end of The Ugly Duckling when the duckling after all his trials turns into the beautiful swan is the same satisfaction we get at the end of a great love story where the plain governess snags the fabulously glamorous Regency rake who recognizes her inner beauty.One of my favorite fairytales is Beauty and the Beast so it’s no surprise it’s behind a lot of my stories. Beauty is a lot gutsier and more proactive than many fairytale heroines (I mean, Sleeping Beauty basically…sleeps!). Although she’s sure it means her death, Beauty offers herself up as the Beast’s prisoner to save her father. She’s also got some great values although perhaps a financial adviser mightn’t go astray. Still, it’s a lovely moment when after the sisters have asked for everything that walks and talks from their father, Beauty asks for nothing more than a rose. I love the Beast too. I love that his outer shell doesn’t match his inner heroism. I love that he loves Beauty so much. There’s a wonderful old French film of Beauty and the Beast where the Beast’s pain and loneliness just break my heart, especially when he admits his shame at being an animal before the woman he loves.
My second historical romance for Avon, Untouched, uses the themes of Beauty and the Beast. Matthew, the hero, has a lot in common with the Beast. In fairytale terms, he’s been cursed by his wicked uncle and forced to live as a captive madman. But like the Beast, Matthew has an inner strength that nothing can quash and like the Beast, when he falls in love with Grace, the heroine, it’s completely and forever. And as in the fairy story, Grace gradually sees past the façade to the wonderful man beneath. Only when they surrender to love and unite against evil can they break the curse and get their happily ever after. Which is how all the best fairytales end!What’s your favorite fairytale? Does it find echoes in your favorite romances? And don’t forget to check out news, excerpts and my latest contest on http://www.annacampbell.info/
Anna Campbell
Labels: Anna Campbell, fairytales, Historical, Romance
posted by Fresh Fiction @ 8:00 AM
20 Comments:
Hi Anna!
I love Beauty and the Beast. I'm a huge fan of Cindrella stories (love those makeovers) especially when the Prince falls in love with the princess, even when she's in her rags and ashes.
Tawny, lovely to see you. Actually I think BATB and Cinderella are the two most popular fairytale parallels. Why wouldn't they be? The stories really target our deepest longings, don't they? Thanks for your comment, my Bandita Buddy!
Howdy, Anna, or should I say "man overboard"? Waving from the Bandit Lair.
I love the B&B story; it makes me weep, every single danged time. I've hooked all my granddaughters on the Disney cartoon version, well when they're old enough. It does have some frightening moments.
Beauty asking for a rose is King Lear derivative, don't you think? Regan and Goneril ask for so much from their father-king father, butCordelia, his favorite, asks for nothing. And refuses to compromise her honor by choosing to obey her father over husband.
Uh, will I sound completely stupid if I ask what a road romance is? I can probably figure it out, but that's the first time I've heard that term. (Hands head in shameful moritification.)
You know, the hero and heroine are flung together on a journey together, Jo. Usually they start out despising each other or as total strangers, but the trials and tribulations of the journey show them a different side of each other and they fall in love. Often the end point of the journey is something that adds conflict - you know, for example, he's going to hook up with his family and he hates them and she's someone who believes in family. They're another version of the crucible romance, in my book, because the hero and heroine are stuck together and can't get away from one another, as much as they might want to. Then you add heat!
I think the rose/Lear thing is just one of those motifs that is probably as old as storytelling. It's good shorthand for saying this is someone who has deep values and integrity and they deserve the prince at the end. It's ages since I've seen Lear - does Cordelia say she loves her father like salt? Anyway, there's an old English fairytale which uses that motif and the king flings out the daughter he thinks doesn't love her (whereas salt is one of the necessities of life but he's too silly to realize that). I think she marries a swineherd who is a prince in disguise. I've read so many of these, I get them mixed up! Clearly I need another hobby!
dHi Anna!
I love a good cinderella story. Unfortunately, in this series I'm writing I don't get to write one until the last book. I'm dying to write it but I have to get these other spinsters married off first.
Christie, congratulations on your debut book EVERY NIGHT I'M YOURS coming out in Feb. I can hardly wait to read it! Sounds so sexy! Looking forward to the rest of the series and the Cinderella one at the end. I haven't really done Cinderella yet. I'll have to put it on my list. Thanks for the comment!
Hi Anna! Wonderful post. You really express the essence and appeal of Beauty and the Beast so well. Maybe it's the very fact the Beast hates himself so much that makes him love the beauty so desperately and perhaps gives him the power to look beyond her beauty, just as she looks beyond his ugliness?
Though of course, Matthew in Untouched is anything but ugly! It's the ugliness of his situation and the terror of that so-called madness that gripped him that really is the at the root of his 'beastliness', isn't it? And Grace has weathered her own hardships so they have that deep connection when they finally come together. And the sex is hawt, too!
Congratulations on another fantastic release!
As for me, I'm thinking of doing a Pygmalion story. It's not a fairytale, but mythology gives us archetypes in the same way fairytales do, I think.
Anna, I love your analysis of these basic motifs. I tend to write organically and only figure out after the fact what I've done LOL. Which is odd, considering most of my teaching career was analyzing those great literary works.
Don't remember the salt thing in Lear, but love the idea. Certain elements are such wonderful symbols -- the King James is replete with the salt images -- savoring, flavor.
Christine, I love the Pygmalion story too. Transformation, atonement, grace, justice -- those are sweeping themes that speak to all of us.
Hi Anna! *Waving madly* I love your books and I love the Belle et Bete as well, so dark and anguished, then the woderful HEA. Have you ever read Beauty by Robin McKinley? It's a wonderful retelling of the fable as story, rather than theme. I think I've read it about 30 time. I reach for it when I've read Countess Below Stairs too many times. I trade 'em off. Grins.
Jo, the salt theme in King James IS quite pronounced, isn't it? Hadn't thought about it but as soon as you said it, about ten verses popped into my head from the KJV that had something to do with salt. Grins.
Christine, lovely to see you! I love Pygmalion stories. Can't wait to see what you do with that. The artist falling in love with his own creation and then not coping when the creation turns out to have an agenda of its own is so powerful. And thanks for those kind words about UNTOUCHED. Matthew certainly isn't beastly on the outside but Grace perceives him as a beast when they first meet. Actually I think the root of BATB is the Psyche and Cupid myth so I agree that there are deep, deep roots for a lot of these stories.
Jo, I write organically too but these things are so deeply set in my psyche, they just seem to bubble up and invest the story. There's definitely a Sleeping Beauty touch in my third book TEMPT THE DEVIL. Not so much BATB. Perhaps I'm expanding my horizons! ;-)
Actually if salt meant I wouldn't starve or die of food poisoning over winter, I think I'd consider it fondly too. I think in our modern technological age, we forget how close to the edge a lot of people lived in the past. Salt literally was a life or death thing.
Jeanne, madly waving back. I've just put Beauty on my list at Amazon so next time I order... I adore A Countess Below Stairs too. I can't tell you how many times I've read it.
Hi Anna! Taking a break from typing elsewhere to drop in because I can't resist reading your thoughts on the archetypal story themes.
I like Beauty and the Beast best I think, closely followed by Ugly Duckling--or maybe in revers...and tomorrow I'll reverse them again of course...
The complexities of the characters in both of these story types are endless. You can mine them forever and not find them all.
And I write the crucible type story as well--throw them together, and keep them together--no choice. IF they had a choice, they'd go separate ways before they discover the hidden magic. Love it.
Hi Cassondra! Hey, you guys have really got a party going on over at Romance Novel TV today, haven't you? Thanks for popping by to say hello. Actually the trick is coming up for something that WILL keep them together, isn't it? Once I've got them stuck, things happen organically. Hmm, is that a euphemism?
Excellent post, Anna. Jo's right, you do explain and analyse these themes so well.
I love Cinderella too (and no, it's not the glass slippers!). I think it's because there is such a strong message of hope in it. Not just the romance, which I adore, but also of achieving one's dreams. Of being able to rise above adversity and evil.
Oh, and because she gets to stitch the Stepmum and Stepsisters *cackle*.
It's always the most fun pantomime to see too.
My favourite romances tend to be friends who turn into soulmates, star-crossed lovers getting their second chance and basically any story with a happy ending which shows how two people can overcome the odds to find love.
Hi Anna,
Lovely post. I think as Christine says, sometimes these themes are so old they predate fairytales - you can see some of them in olf myths (though they don't necessarily end as happily)!
As you know I'm a Cinderella sort of girl. I think it's partly the transformation and partly the fact that the transformation isn't what counts.
We've talked before about Matthew and Beauty and the Beast and I agree that the theme is definitely there. Have you thought though about the link to Rapunzel? It's been at the back of my mind for a while. He's gorgeous and locked up in a walled estate, unable to communicate with anyone until the right heroine comes along! Just a thought.
Annie
I totally love stories that follow the Cinderella parallel. I'm a sucker for a story where the overlooked, plain, nerdy girl gets the guy.
Oooh, Annie, nicely stated. I like the Rapunzel connection. And symbolically Matthew (Rapunzel) has to give up something (her hair, his chance at freedom [he thinks] to win the prize.
Anna, lovely to see you. The Romance Bandits are out in force today, aren't they? Yes, I think the message of Cinderella is that if you face your trials with courage and good heart, you'll get your reward. Some people see C as passive. I don't. She just does the best she can. Mind you, I must say I always get a thrill in the 'ball' moments in those romances when she finally gets to shine in her full glory. I don't think I'm alone there!
How interesting, Annie! I hadn't thought of Rapunzel although it's one of my favorite fairytales. As a kid, I always used to cry my eyes out when the prince fell on the thorns and went blind. The person locked away from the world theme is strong in old folktales and myths, isn't it? I think of Semele who was locked away in a tower because her father had been told her son would overthrow him. But Zeus being king of the gods managed to get to her! Mind you, Zeus was such an over-sexed type, he seemed to get to most of them somehow or other!
Trish, I think that's why I like nerd and geek romances. I love it when the hero or heroine demonstrates hidden qualities that aren't immediately there. I mean, who doesn't love firefighter or cop romances but they're obvious heroes. The man who's trapped and seems to be all intellect who ends up saving the woman he loves (just like Matthew does) - there's something breathtaking in that. And speaking of firefighting romances, don't you have a firefighting romance of your own coming out from Harlequin very soon?
Jo, the Rapunzel connection gets more interesting by the minute. You're so right!
Thanks to Fresh Fiction for asking me to visit today. Thanks to my Bandita friends for coming by. Had a great time! Now off to dig out some more fairytale romances!
Best.
Anna
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