La Belle et La Bte The fairy tale that captured my heart as a child, and still is one of my favorite fairy tales,

is Beauty and The Beast by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont. The story is exceptional among the many celebrated fairy tales because it teaches us that love is way more than the first sight, or the second, or the third; that its about accepting ones imperfection and finding a persons greater essence which is the heart. I was already in my elementary when I first read the story. The main thing that appealed to me then was the fact that Belle (Beauty) was not a Princess and Beast was not charming. Here is a story that strays from the predictable perfectly-matchedroyalties-turned-lovers we get from the other romantic fairy tales. Stories like Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel tell a happy-ever-after of fairest Princess and Prince Charming. In Beauty and The Beast, theres the customary happy ending but a deviation in the thematic portrayal of love is presented as the archetypal Prince Charming turns out to be a horrible beast, waiting for a love that sees more than what meets the eye. The touch of verisimilitude in the story, as for the part when Belle first laid her eyes on the horrid appearance of Beast and got sadly terrified, added to its unconventional taste. Love, here, did not come instantly but gradually. It even rooted from friendship, making it a deeper kind of love. Lastly, I love what Belle quoted in the story, It is neither wit, nor a fine person, in a husband, that makes a woman happy, but virtue, sweetness of temper, and complaisance. when she started to feel the absence of Beast and realized that it is possible for her to fall in love with him.