Beauty and the Beast is a classic French traditional story. It presents several archetypal moral lessons – the foremost of which is to not judge a book by its cover. But, to understand the importance of the story, it is also significant to see the historical and psychological contexts in which it was written. This story represents the acceptance of the “Other” in literature and in us. It encourages the reader / listener to seek what’s below the surface in everyone (Lundin, 841). Within the pedagogical context of our modern educational system, this fits within the frameworks of social education as well as within classic children’s literature (Pflieger, 185). It is a classic story of love and of triumph of good over evil. Children love this story.
