Though most wouldn't deny that
Jane Eyre (a nineteenth-century novel by Romantic author, Charlotte Bronte) shares themes of Beauty and the Beast just as many stories based on redemptive love do, the
Once version of Beauty and the Beast, and in particular Rumpelstiltskin's story, has just as many interesting parallels to the Victorian novel as it does to the original fairytale.
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| Mr. Gold (Season One) |
The writers of
Once Upon a Time have cast Rumpelstiltskin in the role of the Beast and added Emilie de Ravin's Belle to that mix; however, unlike the traditional Beast protagonist, in this version the Beast is not only physically repulsive, but morally reprehensible as well. Also, unlike the traditional tale, the Beast has several lovers pre-Beauty, and throws Beauty out at the "end" of the story (Skin Deep). This deviance from the traditional Beauty and the Beast plot actually matches fairly well with Bronte's novel.
In the novel, the anti-hero, Rochester, slowly falls in love with a young woman named Jane (twenty years his junior) who is working for him at his estate, Thornfield. Jane is the caretaker and governess of Rochester's ward, Adele. In the course of the story, we discover that Rochester has had two important women in his life before meeting Jane, and will have a dalliance with one more before he confesses his love for Jane. Though she feels the same and the two plan to marry, Jane finds out (on the wedding day, no less) that Rochester is already married, having hidden his insane wife in the upper rooms of his house. Jane leaves Rochester, traveling on her own across the countryside before being rescued by her cousins and forming a new life for herself (going through a slight bought of amnesia in the process). When a supernatural experience causes her to return to him, she finds his house burned to the ground, and discovers that his mad wife set it on fire, then killed herself. Rochester, though now blind in one eye and a cripple, reunites with Jane and the two marry and have a son.
Don't quite see the connections yet?
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| Pirate Milah |
Well, for starters, there's
Bertha Mason, the wife of Rochester's youth, whom his father and brother tricked him into marrying. Bertha is hinted at being a raucous, racy woman, possibly unfaithful to Rochester, who slowly goes insane until she has to be locked up for her own safety. While Milah, Rumpelstitlskin's wife, doesn't go insane, her carefree personality and thirst for a dangerous life (i.e. Hook and the pirates) is similar to Bertha's desire for pleasure and greater license. It is also worth noting that Bertha has an unmitigated wrath toward Rochester, similar to Milah's hatred for Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin spends a great deal of time tending Milah, just as Rochester ultimately becomes Bertha's caretaker.
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| Milah in bed (The Crocodile) |
The main difference here, beside the point that, unlike Bertha, Milah does give Rumpelstiltskin a child, is that Rumpelstiltskin is responsible for Milah's death in a more direct way than Rochester is for Bertha's. Still, the effects of the first wife in both men's lives, whether symbolically or literally, is long lasting and in some ways impedes the last romance.
Since the premiere of episode twelve of season one of Once Upon a Time, many have been calling down curses on the heads of the writers for introducing a story and a relationship that generally garners a passionate reaction (and following) from viewers: Rumbelle. Supporters of the relationship claim that it demonstrates True Love, an overarching theme of the show (not so subtly reinforced throughout). Detractors decry the relationship as abusive and manipulative, and usually, though not always, pull out the Stockholm reference, citing the relationship as a "perfect tale" or example of the mental disorder ("Once Upon a Time: Stockholm Syndrome Alert" ColorTV). 
