They emphasized particular styles of thinking, speaking, and writing that would distinguish them above others in society, placing special emphasis on wit and innovation. In the salon meetings, women strove to develop their conversational skills.
A number of the more intellectually curious women began meeting at salons (or drawing rooms) in Paris to talk about art, literature, love, marriage, and other subjects of importance to them. These women were well connected socially in particular, they were associated with the royal court. In this regard Beauty’s efforts paralleled those of some upper-class women during the 1630s. Undaunted, Beauty seeks to educate herself despite social constraints. In Robin McKinley’s story, the character Beauty wishes to attend a university, but her longing is scorned by her governesses. Women did not attend universities and had little access to public spheres of discourse. Many girls were sent to convents to further their education, but in general their training was geared toward domestic skills. In addition, all little girls were taught social etiquette so that they might become courtly ladies. Some also learned to dance, sing, or play the clavichord, an early keyboard instrument. Often instructed by their nurses, they were tutored in such basic subjects as reading, writing, and geography. Upper-class French women in the early 1600s generally received a basic education. Events in History at the Time the Novel Takes Place Women, education, and salons McKinley’s story takes place in an era that resembles the one evoked by the familiar French version and so bears a relation to some events of that period.
The familiar version of “Beauty and the Beast,” the tale on which the novel is based, appeared in 1757 in France, where it was affected by developments in art and society that spanned more than a century. Set in the mythical past, the story itself is not closely linked to any specific time period. Her novel Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast reflects changing perceptions about fairy-tale heroines during this period, as well as her own personal interests. She attended college in Maine in the early and middle 1970s, during the rise of the women’s rights movement in America. The daughter of a naval officer, Robin McKinley spent much of her early childhood abroad.
The daughter, Beauty, returns and begins a new life with the Beast.Įvents in History at the Time the Novel Takes PlaceĮvents in History at the Time the Novel Was Written Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the BeastĪ novel based on a well-known French fairy tale and set in the mythical past published in 1978.īeauty’s father picks a rose from the garden of an enchanted castle whose ruler, the Beast, angrily demands that either he or his daughter return to the castle in one month as payment.
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