The Beauty and the BeastThe Beauty and the BeastThe Beauty and the Beast  La Belle et la Bête) is a traditional written by French novelist nd published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins (The Young American and Marine Tales).^[1] Her lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and published first by1756 in Magasin des enfants (Children’s Collection) and by in theof his Fairy Book series in 1889, to produce the version(s) most commonly retold It was influenced by some earlier stories, such as , written by Lucius Madaurensi inin the 2nd century AD, and ” an Italian fairytale published by n 

The Beauty and the Beast La Belle et la Bête) is a traditionalwritten by French novelist nd published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins (The Young American and Marine Tales).^[1] Her lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and published first byn 1756 in Magasin des enfants^[2] (Children’s Collection) and by f his Fairy Book series in 1889, to produce the version(s) most commonly retold.^[1] It was influenced by some earlier stories, such as, written by Lucius  the 2nd century AD, and . an Italian fairytale published byn Variants of the tale are known across EuropeIn France, for example,  an operatic version of the story, written by  and composed byn 1771, which had enormous success well into the 19th centuryt is based on the second version of the tale. Amour pour amour (Love for love), by Nivelle de la Chaussée, is a 1742 play based on de Villeneuve’s version. According to researchers at universities in the story originated around 4,000 years ago A widower merchant lives in a mansion with his six children, three sons and three daughters. All his daughters are very beautiful, but the youngest, Beauty, is the most lovely, as well as kind, well-read, and pure of heart; while the two elder sisters, in contrast, are wicked, selfish, vain, and spoiled. They secretly taunt Beauty and treat her more like a servant than a sister. The merchant eventually loses all of his wealth in a tempest at sea which sinks most of his merchant fleet. He and his children are consequently forced to live in a small farmhouse and work for their living.