Upon reading the classic fairy tale story and enjoying the popular Broadway hit, you can see the two stories contain very similar and yet some unlike features. Throughout this paper I will be exploring the comparisons of these two stories told by Jeanne-Marie Laprince De Beaumont’s Beauty and the Beast to Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera.
The most important symbol that is seen in both stories is the rose. In Beauty and the Beast Beauty asked her father for a rose since the countryside they lived in did not produce them. When Beauty’s father picked a rose without permission, the beast gave an ultimatum that either the father can die or sacrifice a daughter in his place. This is when the rose is symbolic of sacrifice. It also represents purity for Beauty was pure of heart and innocence.
In The Phantom of the Opera the rose is symbolic to the passion seen between Christine and the Phantom. The first rose appears in the musical after Christine performs on stage for the first time. In this instance the rose can be seen as a reward for a spectacular performance. Even the Christine’s love interest, Raoul de…show more content… Throughout Beauty and the Beast the Beast continually asks beauty to be his bride every evening they were together. Beauty fell more in love with Beast as the months drew on however the thought of marring him was a dreadful one to her. In The Phantom of the Opera the reference to a beauty marrying a beast is made. When the Phantom seduces Christine into following him to his lair. In his lair he has a mannequin that resembles Christine dressed in a wedding gown and veil. This is another inference to the love the Phantom has for Christine based off of the willingness to make her a gown. When Christine sees the gown she faints, as if the thought repulses her. Much like Beauty, Christine sees there is light in her “beast” but does not fully love him yet to marry