Beauty and the Beast is a Disney classic released in 1991, then adapted into a live-action film in the 2010s, starring the talented Emma Watson in the lead role. There she falls in love with a monster, whom her entire village, led by the infamous Gaston, absolutely wants to kill... But despite what one might think, he is not the real villain of the film.
Gaston, the designated villain of Beauty and the Beast
Yes, Gaston is a real bastard, and we are not going to pretend in this article that he is otherwise. The "handsome guy" slap-headed, courted by all the young women in the village, only has eyes for Belle, a caring and studious young woman, whom he is determined to marry. However, even if the latter declines each of his marriage proposals, he does not hesitate to take all the inhabitants with him to deliver her from the clutches of the Beast. Of course, no one has asked him anything, and the Beast does not constitute a real threat in itself... But Gaston cannot guess that. In a way, he acts bravely by going to the rescue of the woman of his dreams. In the end, it is above all his pretentious and arrogant attitude, and his inability to accept that Belle does not want him that make him so annoying: consent is not a concept very well understood by Gaston. It's also worth noting that he's largely responsible for Belle's father, Maurice, being locked up for his "crazy" comments about the Beast. But despite all his flaws and bad deeds, Gaston is a far cry from the Enchantress, who could be added to our list of the worst Disney villains...
The Enchantress, the real villain of Beauty and the Beast?
At the very beginning of Beauty and the Beast, it's said that an enchanting creature that has taken the form of a repulsive old woman is the source of the Prince's curse. It is because he rejects her twice when she asks him for shelter during a storm that she casts this terrible spell on him. However, in the tale, the prince was only 11 years old when he was cursed. He was certainly snobbish and insensitive, but he was still a child. If all "brats" were to be punished by being forced to find love before their 21st birthday, otherwise they would be stuck in the skin of an animal for the rest of their lives, there wouldn't be many human-looking people left on Earth... Forcing a child to fall in love or be condemned for eternity is as unhealthy as it is disturbing.
The Enchantress forced a capricious child to live ten years of enforced solitude, at an age when one is developing, mentally and socially. The rules for breaking the curse involved finding a girl brave (or rather, crazy) enough not to run away from a monster, himself locked away in a sinister castle deep in the woods. In other words, she was condemning him to a life of exile and misery. All because this old woman was "molested" by a child! Not to mention the Prince's servants, who were also victims of the spell. The Enchantress could certainly teach him a lesson, but it was far too disproportionate to his "crime." The likelihood of Belle falling in love with the Beast was practically zero, and it would have meant that the Prince AND all his servants were doomed forever.
Certainly, the lesson the Enchantress wanted to teach the Prince about inner beauty was good in itself, but it was very poorly applied, and far too harshly. She's a much worse villain than Gaston, who could almost pass for a choirboy next to her...
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