The template for this will be:
"Misconception" (misconceptions in quotations as I don't particularly know if these concepts are held ou not)
--> Proposed concept with MAIN clarification
[explanation]
-
1) Belle is odd because she is able to read
--> Belle is odd because she PREFERS lire to socializing
From Belle song, the townsfolk commentaire on her dreamy and self-isolating attitude while lire rather than her ability to read itself. Belle isn’t considered odd because she reads; Belle is considered odd because she is so immersed in her readings that she can subconsciously walk around a busy town without even looking up. The fact she can do this as well as the gossip about her suggest that this is usual behaviour.
>>
TOWNSFOLK: Look there she goes, that girl is strange no question Dazed and distracted, can't toi tell? / Never part of any crowd / Cause her head's up on some cloud / No denying she's a funny girl, that Belle!
+
TOWNSFOLK: Look there she goes That girl is so peculiar! I wonder if she's feeling well! / With a dreamy far-off look! / And her nose stuck in a book! / What a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle!
<<
Personally, I would have expected plus reaction from her being able to read because, in this time, people - let alone those in her demographic - wouldn’t have had a basic education. lire wouldn’t have been as common and even less for young women in poor provincial towns... but this 'ability to read' isn't particularly addressed. (Even Gaston focuses on how it’s not “right” for a woman to read because, rather than fawning over him, she may engage in that dangerous pastime of thinking, rather than the concept of a woman’s ability to read)
What is addressed is that preference to read. Belle wanting to read and not wanting to socialize is different than what would be expected of her. This mentality of woman-become-wife-and-mother is near-universally accepted in this town as people actually prepared the wedding before a successful proposal. Thus, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blonde trio’s and Gaston’s mentality were the norm: a young woman should aspire to marry and become a housewife.
>>
GASTON: toi know, Belle. There's not a girl in town who wouldn't l’amour to be in your shoes. This is the day... This is the jour your dreams come true.
BELLE: What do toi know about my dreams, Gaston?
GASTON: Plenty. Here, picture this. A rustic hunting lodge, my latest kill roasting on the fire, and my little wife, massaging my feet, while the little ones play with the dogs. We'll have six ou seven.
(...after she rejects him...)
BELLE: Madame Gaston, can't toi just see it Madame Gaston, his little wife Not me, no sir, I guarantee it I want much plus than this provincial life. I want adventure in the great wide somewhere I want it plus than I can tell And for once it might be grand To have someone understand I want so much plus than they've got planned
<<
Therefore, overall, Belle is odd because preferring to read rather than socializing with the townsfolk and living the provincial life which is expected of her.
-
2) Belle is the only one who reads
--> Others in the town can read
A logistical argument about a small bookstore existing in “poor provincial town”: if Belle was the only customer then it wouldn’t be able to survive; not to mention Belle seems to use it as a bibliothèque (=by borrowing livres rather than paying). So I think it’s okay to assume others could read and could afford livres even if we never do see them reading.
As mentioned above, Belle lire in itself wasn’t odd so I would think that others lire in itself wouldn’t be odd either.
-
3) Belle only reads her fairy tales ou Belle has read everything
-->Belle is very WELL-READ
This is a compromise of two extremes.
Firstly, Belle’s favourite genre seems to be fairy tales.
>>
BELLE: I just finished [addition: in one day] the most wonderful story, about a beanstalk and an ogre and...
(...and....)
BOOKSELLER: That one? But you've read it twice!
BELLE: Well it's my favorite! Far off places, daring swordfights, magic spells, a prince in disguise!
<<
Living in poor provincial town in old France, she is understandably logistically unable to physically pursue her desire for adventures. I believe the reason we don’t see very much practical application of her trying to accomplish her desires is because such things just weren’t available and she lacked the resources to make it happen.
Thus she reads to mentally have adventures with her well-developed imagination. Because fairy tales provide the escape she needs, they are her favourite genre. (Similar rationale goes for her favourite part of her favourite fairy tale: she likes the romance because her life doesn’t have that companionship)
When she goes to the bookstore, there is this dialogue:
>>
BOOKSELLER: Finished already?
BELLE: Oh, I couldn't put it down! Have toi got anything new?
(Belle’s action: focused on two shelves and only looking the titles/spines of livres implying she’s remembers them and has read them)
BOOKSELLER: Not since yesterday.
<<
Does this “anything new” refer to livres she hasn’t read in general implying she’s read everything in the library ou just livres in her preferred (and related) genre implying primarily reads fairy tales?
Now, Belle seems to me the kind of person who would read “anything” that she can get her hands on. “Anything” being something which interests her. For example, I don’t particularly see her engaged (or as engaged) in textbooks ou academic journals because their content wouldn’t particular satisfy her motivation (=want for adventure) to read. For all I know, her father’s engineering/inventing attitude may have prompted a secret l’amour for the sciences but, to avoid speculation, we just don’t know for it’s not shown in the movie.
Anyways, as such, I think she has read some non-fiction but returns to her l’amour of fiction.
4) Belle is smart because she reads ou is not smart because she reads fairy tales
-->Belle’s preference to read NOR her preference in genre DICTATE her intelligence
Maybe my most controversial point.
Now, movie context aside, smart ou not-smart people may ou may not be readers (not respectively; 4 combinations there) lire might be plus closely associated with one but it, in itself, doesn’t prove it (I think?).
lire may add to her smarts...
-Vocabulary: when describing Gaston
-Wit: her quick responses to the Beast in arguing
-Characterising: flattering Cogsworth into giving her a tour; Beast hiding something
-Imagination/Creativity: lire livres without pictures; going into West Wing
...but it doesn’t dictate it.
Similarly but alternatively, just because Belle likes fairy tales does not make her not smart. Fairy tales, in themselves, were enjoyed par both children and adults. Stories were told and written so different generations could learn and teach each other life lessons.
Additionally, I can see Belle lire various fairy-tale related genres: fables like Aesop; narrative poésie like Canterbury Tales of Chaucer; plays like Shakespeare; classical epics like Vergil’s Aeneid ou Homer’s Odyssey ou Iliad; epics like Beowulf; mythology and legends from various cultures; ballads and folksongs; even nursery rhymes and proverbs; etc..
All these works are very comprehensive as they include culture, history, politics, religion (especially if they are parables), even satire etc.. In this way, she would be very worldly despite having travelled little, if any. It doesn’t mean Belle is an cultural anthropological scholar; it just means that she would be lire rich meaningful works which were both educational and entertaining.
-
btw, one of the reasons I avoided classifying as Belle as smart ou not is because Belle is a dreamer. Because she is plus so theoretical and intellectual it’s difficult to evaluate her smartness her ideas and thoughts don’t necessarily become observable actions and deeds. I believe her smartness is hard to qualify since the apparent smartness is hard to quantify.
"Misconception" (misconceptions in quotations as I don't particularly know if these concepts are held ou not)
--> Proposed concept with MAIN clarification
[explanation]
-
1) Belle is odd because she is able to read
--> Belle is odd because she PREFERS lire to socializing
From Belle song, the townsfolk commentaire on her dreamy and self-isolating attitude while lire rather than her ability to read itself. Belle isn’t considered odd because she reads; Belle is considered odd because she is so immersed in her readings that she can subconsciously walk around a busy town without even looking up. The fact she can do this as well as the gossip about her suggest that this is usual behaviour.
>>
TOWNSFOLK: Look there she goes, that girl is strange no question Dazed and distracted, can't toi tell? / Never part of any crowd / Cause her head's up on some cloud / No denying she's a funny girl, that Belle!
+
TOWNSFOLK: Look there she goes That girl is so peculiar! I wonder if she's feeling well! / With a dreamy far-off look! / And her nose stuck in a book! / What a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle!
<<
Personally, I would have expected plus reaction from her being able to read because, in this time, people - let alone those in her demographic - wouldn’t have had a basic education. lire wouldn’t have been as common and even less for young women in poor provincial towns... but this 'ability to read' isn't particularly addressed. (Even Gaston focuses on how it’s not “right” for a woman to read because, rather than fawning over him, she may engage in that dangerous pastime of thinking, rather than the concept of a woman’s ability to read)
What is addressed is that preference to read. Belle wanting to read and not wanting to socialize is different than what would be expected of her. This mentality of woman-become-wife-and-mother is near-universally accepted in this town as people actually prepared the wedding before a successful proposal. Thus, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blonde trio’s and Gaston’s mentality were the norm: a young woman should aspire to marry and become a housewife.
>>
GASTON: toi know, Belle. There's not a girl in town who wouldn't l’amour to be in your shoes. This is the day... This is the jour your dreams come true.
BELLE: What do toi know about my dreams, Gaston?
GASTON: Plenty. Here, picture this. A rustic hunting lodge, my latest kill roasting on the fire, and my little wife, massaging my feet, while the little ones play with the dogs. We'll have six ou seven.
(...after she rejects him...)
BELLE: Madame Gaston, can't toi just see it Madame Gaston, his little wife Not me, no sir, I guarantee it I want much plus than this provincial life. I want adventure in the great wide somewhere I want it plus than I can tell And for once it might be grand To have someone understand I want so much plus than they've got planned
<<
Therefore, overall, Belle is odd because preferring to read rather than socializing with the townsfolk and living the provincial life which is expected of her.
-
2) Belle is the only one who reads
--> Others in the town can read
A logistical argument about a small bookstore existing in “poor provincial town”: if Belle was the only customer then it wouldn’t be able to survive; not to mention Belle seems to use it as a bibliothèque (=by borrowing livres rather than paying). So I think it’s okay to assume others could read and could afford livres even if we never do see them reading.
As mentioned above, Belle lire in itself wasn’t odd so I would think that others lire in itself wouldn’t be odd either.
-
3) Belle only reads her fairy tales ou Belle has read everything
-->Belle is very WELL-READ
This is a compromise of two extremes.
Firstly, Belle’s favourite genre seems to be fairy tales.
>>
BELLE: I just finished [addition: in one day] the most wonderful story, about a beanstalk and an ogre and...
(...and....)
BOOKSELLER: That one? But you've read it twice!
BELLE: Well it's my favorite! Far off places, daring swordfights, magic spells, a prince in disguise!
<<
Living in poor provincial town in old France, she is understandably logistically unable to physically pursue her desire for adventures. I believe the reason we don’t see very much practical application of her trying to accomplish her desires is because such things just weren’t available and she lacked the resources to make it happen.
Thus she reads to mentally have adventures with her well-developed imagination. Because fairy tales provide the escape she needs, they are her favourite genre. (Similar rationale goes for her favourite part of her favourite fairy tale: she likes the romance because her life doesn’t have that companionship)
When she goes to the bookstore, there is this dialogue:
>>
BOOKSELLER: Finished already?
BELLE: Oh, I couldn't put it down! Have toi got anything new?
(Belle’s action: focused on two shelves and only looking the titles/spines of livres implying she’s remembers them and has read them)
BOOKSELLER: Not since yesterday.
<<
Does this “anything new” refer to livres she hasn’t read in general implying she’s read everything in the library ou just livres in her preferred (and related) genre implying primarily reads fairy tales?
Now, Belle seems to me the kind of person who would read “anything” that she can get her hands on. “Anything” being something which interests her. For example, I don’t particularly see her engaged (or as engaged) in textbooks ou academic journals because their content wouldn’t particular satisfy her motivation (=want for adventure) to read. For all I know, her father’s engineering/inventing attitude may have prompted a secret l’amour for the sciences but, to avoid speculation, we just don’t know for it’s not shown in the movie.
Anyways, as such, I think she has read some non-fiction but returns to her l’amour of fiction.
4) Belle is smart because she reads ou is not smart because she reads fairy tales
-->Belle’s preference to read NOR her preference in genre DICTATE her intelligence
Maybe my most controversial point.
Now, movie context aside, smart ou not-smart people may ou may not be readers (not respectively; 4 combinations there) lire might be plus closely associated with one but it, in itself, doesn’t prove it (I think?).
lire may add to her smarts...
-Vocabulary: when describing Gaston
-Wit: her quick responses to the Beast in arguing
-Characterising: flattering Cogsworth into giving her a tour; Beast hiding something
-Imagination/Creativity: lire livres without pictures; going into West Wing
...but it doesn’t dictate it.
Similarly but alternatively, just because Belle likes fairy tales does not make her not smart. Fairy tales, in themselves, were enjoyed par both children and adults. Stories were told and written so different generations could learn and teach each other life lessons.
Additionally, I can see Belle lire various fairy-tale related genres: fables like Aesop; narrative poésie like Canterbury Tales of Chaucer; plays like Shakespeare; classical epics like Vergil’s Aeneid ou Homer’s Odyssey ou Iliad; epics like Beowulf; mythology and legends from various cultures; ballads and folksongs; even nursery rhymes and proverbs; etc..
All these works are very comprehensive as they include culture, history, politics, religion (especially if they are parables), even satire etc.. In this way, she would be very worldly despite having travelled little, if any. It doesn’t mean Belle is an cultural anthropological scholar; it just means that she would be lire rich meaningful works which were both educational and entertaining.
-
btw, one of the reasons I avoided classifying as Belle as smart ou not is because Belle is a dreamer. Because she is plus so theoretical and intellectual it’s difficult to evaluate her smartness her ideas and thoughts don’t necessarily become observable actions and deeds. I believe her smartness is hard to qualify since the apparent smartness is hard to quantify.
