Beauty and the Beast

by Arthur Quiller-Couch

Through her great capacity to love, a kind and beautiful maid releases a handsome prince from the spell which has made him an ugly beast

Genres: Classics, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Picture Books, Beauty and The Beast, Romance

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch was a Cornish writer, who published under the pen name of Q. He is primarily remembered for the monumental "Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900" (later extended to 1918), and for his literary criticism. He guided the taste of many who never met him, including American writer Helene Hanff, author of 84 Charing Cross Road, its sequel, Q's Legacy, and the putatively fictional Horace Rumpole via John Mortimer, his literary amanuensis.

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 5 out of 5]

VERSION: Villeneuve.
ADAPTATION: 4 stars.
ARTWORK: 5 stars. Soft watercolours and black & white ink drawings.
BEAUTY: Spanish brunette.
BEAST: Lion-like with some reptilian features.
CURSE: An enchantment was put on him, it's not mentioned by whom but it's stated it wasn't his fault.
THE Rs: Very correct and longer in development.
KEY ELEMENT CHANGED: When he asks her to marry him, the wording is made more all-audiences friendly, and when she doesn't return in time to the castle, it's her family as a whole who persuade her to stay with good intentions and no ill-will. The entire sequence of the curse is omitted.
FAVOURITE SCENE:


The plotline of this book is a shortened version of Madame de Villeneuve's original fairy tale, in itself a rarity since Madame de Beaumont's is the norm for picture books, and which was adapted with small modified details introduced by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, whose adaptation of this and other French fairy tales was first published with illustrations by Edmund Dulac.

It's a pretty faithful adaptation, too. Not a slavish word-by-word one, but neither one that has altered key elements too much. The only crucial element of the fairy tale I can tell was altered here was the curse sequence, which is inexplicably omitted from the text. I can't tell why, because Villeneuve is big on the reason for why the curse happened. It's never said as much here, but at least Quiller-Couch did specify that the curse wasn't Beast's fault.

I can only think of sanitising it for all audiences as the possible reason, since the fairy of the curse had her advances rejected by the prince. Another reason to suspect this was the reason is that the wording of Beast's daily proposal to Beauty is worded differently here, stripped of its erotic undertone. The latter isn't a make-or-break detail, but the curse should've been included or at least alluded to more clearly rather than by innuendo. Also, the stately lady in Beauty's dream is played out with some modification, too.

Besides that, I liked Quiller-Couch's adaptation, he too care to expand on Beauty and Beast's interactions, kept Beauty busy around the palace as she's supposed to be, and didn't vilify her family. The latter was a pleasant departure from so many other adaptations that choose to go overboard with this dynamic.

But the real star of this book is the artwork by Ángel Dominguez. I loved his depiction of Beauty so very much, it's not only quite different to the usual looks she has in most picture books but also personally relatable. Beauty here has the appearance of a Spaniard: olive complexion, dark hair, facial features of a girl from the southern Mediterranean. This is the only book I've seen that has this Spanish look for both Beauty and Beast in human form, and it makes sense that the artist would choose this instead of the usual redhead or generic white brunette, because Dominguez is from Spain. I was awed when I saw it, I really didn't think I'd find this! When I was little and looked at illustrations, I always liked to gaze for long at girls that had my same colouring, and it seems I've not wholly outgrown that habit, heh.

As for Dominguez's take on Beast, it won't be one of my favourites, but I accepted it without much of a fuss even though I think his purposefully exaggerated monstrosity of a head is a bit disproportionate to his body, and that the artist overworked his imagination a tad looking for a mix of animals that looked both ugly and terrifying. But maybe that was the intent, to pose a dichotomy between his cursed animality and his humanity, at least I'd like to think so. So 4.5 stars rounded up it is, and it stays a favourite.

Note: There's an edition with art by Edmund Dulac, which I also own, but that I don't particularly like and wouldn't rate higher than 3 stars. Dulac is too Orientalist in his interpetation of the tale, with Beauty having a weird mix of Indian, Persian and Western. The story by Quiller-Couch is the same, however Dominguez's art makes this version more desirable for fans and collectors.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story I love to revisit and Quiller-Couch's version was a real treat.

[Chiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrazioni meravigliose, altrettanto la storia. Nonostante conoscessi già più o meno la vicenda, è stato davvero molto bello e interessante leggere la fiaba originale della bella e la bestia, che è riuscita a regalarmi un lungo sorriso nelle ultime pagine.

[a ☕︎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

neither the retelling nor the art is particularly good—there are squeaking parrots, dancing apes, and portal windows galore in this one (so noisy lol). i prefer beauty and the beast slightly more simplified. i also don’t find ángel domínguez’s art very appealing, his beauty is tangled-haired and always gaping at the delights of beast’s palace. michael hearn’s forward was a very nice addition though; he analyzes and touches upon some of the greater adaptations of this fairytale (i.e. jean cocteau’s film la belle et la bête and garbo’s reaction at its completion). will stick to dulac.

[Yuliya Urumova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this retelling did not age well.
The illustrations are beautiful if taken on their own. Combined with the text however, they create a dissonance that really distracts from the story. The characters are painted in Middle Eastern style clothing and the story reads very much like an 1800’s England. And even though I understand the reasoning behind combining the two (this retelling was originally published in the early 20th century), I could not appreciate either.

[kesseljunkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a gift from my old high school speech and debate coach. She saw aspects of me that I couldn’t at the time and every so often I reread the story because it reminds me of her and of the struggle I had with understanding myself. The edition I have is out of print I think, so the one logged here is technically not the same one. But the translator/teller is the same.

[John Stanifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief but excellent retelling of the classic French version of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, complete with gorgeous illustrations. Not only is the library there, but so are a charming bunch of talking birds and monkeys (who have apparently been dipping into the castle library). Loved it!

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obsessed

So I love my beauty and beast books. The art had me drawn to it a bit. Because it was different. This is like my 3rd or 4th time reading this one. And I still really like this one. Highly recommend it. 5 star book.

[T.E. Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is pretty close to Gabrielle Barbot de Villeneuve's version, but more succinct, which is an improvement in my opinion. A solid version overall. ❤️

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite surprised how many liberties Disney took with the original story which actually has plenty going for it. Very good fairy tale, though not sure AQC version is necessarily the best

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This timeless tale of seeing beneath appearances is given the star treatment. The story is accompanied with vibrant, lush illustrations that are stunningly beautiful and opulent in detail. Given an exotic Eastern setting, Beauty is shown in upturned shoes, a feathered turban and a caftan while her father is accordingly attired like a well-fed pasha. The beast is truly hideous although his beastliness is shown mostly in his animalistic paws that resemble those of a massive dog. His face is more like that of an ogre or troll, with a long, curved human nose, a widespread jaw and pointed ears, than of any animal I’ve ever seen.

What I found frustrating was that the illustrations focus exclusively on these characters; we are never shown Beauty’s valiant brothers or scheming sisters or even the dream prince whose enigmatic advice she can’t quite grasp. While focus on these main characters brings the reader a sharp notion of the merchant’s terror and the burgeoning relationship between Beauty and the Beast, it would have been more fulfilling to have the other characters portrayed. The story was fleshed out by focusing on them; why couldn’t the illustrations have reflected that?

So while I found the story intriguing, I could have wished the illustrator might have given more for this fairy tale.

[Phair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the cover art is the same, my copy is a standalone of the B&B story rather than the “and other tales” edition, this one published by Gramercy Books, 1991 and acquired around that time. The Dulac illustrations are very “Arabian Nights” in style with sparkly Art Nouveau touches. Beast is quite horrible looking with a gray ogre face, bulging eyes, elf-like ears and pale, creepy lion’s paws. The text dominates in this 60+pp book with only 7 full page plates by Dulac. We never see the transformed prince but we do get a plate depicting the good fairy who appears to Beauty. There is an introduction by Lois Hill giving background on the tale and Dulac.

[Amy]

We did not finish this book of fairy tales. The first story was Sleeping Beauty and it was okay, but the language was too flowery for my taste. The second story was Bluebeard. I stopped reading it to my son when his wife opens a closet and discovers the bodies of his former wives. It goes into the gory details--blood and slit throats. Too much for my son. I might read it later to myself if I get time.

[Roniq · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book of classic fairy tales from the old French. Beautiful vintage, color illustrations with accompanying stories. I use this book to practice my drawing from.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appearances are not reality. Love has the power to heal. The tale is well told here with gorgeous Art Nouveau illustrations by Edmund Dulac.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars- not my favorite interpretation of the tale. Neither Beauty nor the prince were likable in this version.