Monthly Archives: March 2015

Scars: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast

Posted on by

0

I wrote a fractured fairy tale for college and I’ve been working on it again. Here are the first two pages! Let me know your thoughts!

There was a rich merchant who made his wealth by trading goods and he lived with his three daughter. The oldest two were beautiful and perfect as can be but the youngest one, Beauty, was not gorgeous or graceful like her sisters were. Beauty was born with a scar on her face and people considered her very ugly. Her mother had named her just before she died in labor without really seeing her face. She was clumsy and awkward in conversations which did not make her appealing to many other children in town. What Beauty did have was a heart of gold that made her kind and caring, two traits her sisters did not have. Her older sisters were still their father’s favorites though because he knew he could get his eldest daughters married to handsome, wealthy men, and increase his already high social status. The older daughters were already being followed by suitors and seemed to be the most sought after girls in town. To him Beauty was a disappointment and her name was reminder of what she could never be.

The merchant was very determined that his daughters were well educated, and though they were all knowledgeable, the older sisters did not love books as much as Beauty did. Therefore she had gained more knowledge about the world than them. Beauty would escape into the world of books because she had no friends or suitors around, as her sisters did. This trait turned out to be important when one day her father came home to tell his daughters that he had lost his wealth and they would have to move to the country and become peasants. The older sister cried and begged not to leave, but Beauty was used to the hardships of life and saw the unfortunate news as a blessing because she was able to get out of a town that hated her.

When they arrived in the countryside, Beauty took care of the family. They no longer had servants and were so self-centered in their despair of losing their fine things that they did not attempt to learn how to take care of themselves. Beauty on the other hand went straight to work. She used the books she read and learned to grow a garden, hunt, cook, fix equipment, tend their animals, and keep the household together. Some time passed and Beauty grew to love the country because she was left alone to do as she pleased and did not have to worry about the other townspeople harassing her. It was a simple life and she could run in the tall grass in the summer and sit by a warm fire while the snow blew in the winter. She did not blame her family for being in their despair because they were so used to the life they had, but she did wish that they would see that there was more to life than material belongings. Finally, her father and sisters began to learn from her how to live in the countryside. It was hard for them at first, but eventually they were good enough at a task to help Beauty with the everyday work.

One day the merchant received a letter that there was a shipment of goods coming. He thought it would be a great opportunity to get his old life back for his family. He enthusiastically told his daughters of the letter and that he believed he could regain his wealth. He asked his daughters if there was anything that they wanted him to bring back for them. The eldest daughter asked for jewels, the middle daughter asked for a fine dress. Beauty replied, “All I would like is a book, something new to read.” Her sisters and father laughed at her for her simple request. “I do not have anything else to ask for.” Beauty did not believe the shipment would make their father rich again, and she kept this to herself as she watched her family laugh at her. Beauty did want a book because she sold most of them to have money for the family. Also, Beauty did not believe that the shipment of goods would not make her father rich again. Beauty knew that this would not help her family to hear so she simply said, while they were still laughing at her, “I have nothing else to ask for. They stopped laughing at Beauty, and started to help their father pack and ready the horse for his journey.