The Lady and The Lion

The Lady and The Lion
by the Brothers Grimm, retold by Laurel Long & Jaqueline K. Ogburn, illustrated by Laurel Long
Ages 9-11
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The Lady and The Lion begins as the classic beauty and the beast tale with a merchant being tricked into promising his youngest daughter to a lion beast. The daughter goes to the beast with faith that he will not harm her and finds that the beast is in fact a young prince cursed by an enchantress to be a beast by day, man by night and dove if light ever touches him.  They fall in love and live happily together until one day the prince is exposed to candlelight and becomes a dove cursed to fly the earth for 7 years.  The lady follows his trail of feathers and receives help from the elements on her journey until she is reunited with her lover and the enchantress is destroyed. 

I really enjoyed The Lady and The Lion but I have always been a fan of Disney's Beauty and the Beast because it strayed from the usual fairy tale formula.  This fairy tale starts with a happily ever after and we see the lion gain the ladies trust as a kind man and the lady win him over because of her understanding nature.  The lady and the lion are both strong, developed characters and work together in the story.  Both exhibit clear, admirable qualities.  The lion takes a chance on his curse when he goes to meet the lady's family and shows perseverance when forced to endure the punishments of the enchantress and bravery when he fights her dragon form.  The lady shows courage when she continues to search for the lion even after she has no trace of him, asking the elements to aid her and facing new and fearful forces. Their enduring love is actually reflected in the text.  In the end they work together to destroy the enchantress and continue their lives happily ever after. 

This enjoyed that this beauty and the beast tale introduced elements I was unfamiliar with.  The illustrations, done in oil paints and water color paper, show that the story takes place in India and reveal detailed buildings, animals, geography and plants native to the area.  I am curious as to the influence the setting had on the tale.  The style of the paintings such as the positions of the people, background and framing are similar to that of classical paintings depicting scenes from the bible, angles, saints etc.  This seems to put the story on an epic scale.  It was also interesting how large a role the elements played.  The lady seeks help from the Sun, Moon and North Wind.  When I looked closer I learned that the story was a combination of Beauty and the Beast and East of the Moon West of the Sun which I have always loved. 

As I discussed earlier I would like to use this book in a larger study of fairy tales.  I would especially like for my students to do research on the cultural influences in the story and if this was part of the original tale or a decision of the authors.  We could discuss how artwork which was not an original part of the tale may influence the story.  I would also discuss the role of the natural elements how the influence they have on fairy tales.  We could talk about power sources: where each character seems to derive their power, how they use it and who seems to be the most powerful.  We might discuss motivating factors within the story, compare them to motivations within other fairy tales and discuss which seem to be the most affective and most believable