Beauty and the Beast Has Always Had a Feminist Message

Ask someone what the moral of the story is for Beauty and the Beast — especially someone who’s only ever seen the animated [f500link]Disney[/f500link] version — and he or she is likely to say that the story teaches audiences not to judge people by their looks. But, ever since its first publication in 1740, the story has had another, perhaps even deeper takeaway: the importance of a woman's right to choose her own husband.