It's been a while since I last posted, and I wanted to get in a little analysis of the story so far as the writers of Once Upon a Time have spun it. The story I'm talking about is Rumpelstiltskin/Beauty and the Beast as it appears on Once. So, if you're looking for pirate captains, witches, or dwarves, you won't find them here. Not today anyway.
I've written before about how Beauty and the Beast parallels, in many ways, the plot and themes of Jane Eyre, which critics long before me have noted, but also how interestingly Once's version sticks surprisingly close to it as well.
So my latest observation, besides noting that Belle did indeed follow the Jane Eyre model by rejecting, painfully, Rumpelstiltskin (though the banishment trope sort of went the other way), is to note that now Rumpelstiltskin and Belle's story has at last come full circle.
At the beginning of their story together, Rumpelstiltskin made a discovery about what he believed were Belle's true motives. Then he banished her. Now Belle has (finally!) made a similar discover (will she prove to be wrong too? I don't think so.) and has banished Rumpelstiltskin. Of course, he didn't stay banished for long, but then, neither did she -- as we discovered in seasons 2 and 3.
What does all of this mean? I don't know. I hesitate to predict, but if the story continues to follow the pattern of Jane Eyre, Belle will possibly be tempted down a different path with a possibly different suitor and Rumpelstiltskin will finally have to come to terms with (witness the destruction of) those old sins and patterns that held him back (in Jane Eyre this is literally symbolized by Bertha, Rochester's first wife; in Once, this is the dagger). Of course, just like Rochester, Rumpelstiltksin was trying to have his cake and eat it too -- before he got caught. He was trying to get rid of the dagger (Bertha), and keep Belle (Jane).
If Rumpelstiltskin is humbled by fate (like Rochester) and loses his power completely, he may have a chance of getting back together with Belle, who will have gone through her own journey at that point. Of course, there is one major difference here: In Jane Eyre, Jane rejects Rochester's love and flees from him, but she never actually rejects him in her heart. Belle, on the other hand, seems to have openly accepted that Rumpelstiltskin was a bad choice for her. I agree with her, but I still wonder if this story is going to keep following its literary predecessor?
My two cents.
I've written before about how Beauty and the Beast parallels, in many ways, the plot and themes of Jane Eyre, which critics long before me have noted, but also how interestingly Once's version sticks surprisingly close to it as well.
So my latest observation, besides noting that Belle did indeed follow the Jane Eyre model by rejecting, painfully, Rumpelstiltskin (though the banishment trope sort of went the other way), is to note that now Rumpelstiltskin and Belle's story has at last come full circle.
At the beginning of their story together, Rumpelstiltskin made a discovery about what he believed were Belle's true motives. Then he banished her. Now Belle has (finally!) made a similar discover (will she prove to be wrong too? I don't think so.) and has banished Rumpelstiltskin. Of course, he didn't stay banished for long, but then, neither did she -- as we discovered in seasons 2 and 3.
What does all of this mean? I don't know. I hesitate to predict, but if the story continues to follow the pattern of Jane Eyre, Belle will possibly be tempted down a different path with a possibly different suitor and Rumpelstiltskin will finally have to come to terms with (witness the destruction of) those old sins and patterns that held him back (in Jane Eyre this is literally symbolized by Bertha, Rochester's first wife; in Once, this is the dagger). Of course, just like Rochester, Rumpelstiltksin was trying to have his cake and eat it too -- before he got caught. He was trying to get rid of the dagger (Bertha), and keep Belle (Jane).
If Rumpelstiltskin is humbled by fate (like Rochester) and loses his power completely, he may have a chance of getting back together with Belle, who will have gone through her own journey at that point. Of course, there is one major difference here: In Jane Eyre, Jane rejects Rochester's love and flees from him, but she never actually rejects him in her heart. Belle, on the other hand, seems to have openly accepted that Rumpelstiltskin was a bad choice for her. I agree with her, but I still wonder if this story is going to keep following its literary predecessor?
My two cents.
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