The courtship of Mr.Lyon: Gothic & Fairytale

The courtship of Mr.Lyon: Gothic & Fairytale

1. Gothic

   • Setting in a castle
     • Gives the audience an idea of the nature of the plot
   • Mystery and suspense
     • Beauty's Father
       • Not knowing who his host is
     • Beast
       • Keeping his true feelings secret
   • Supernatural Events
     • Beast transforming into a man
       • "And then it was no longer a lion in her arms but a man, a man with an unkempt mane of hair and, how strange, a broken nose, such as the noses of retired boxers, that gave him a distant, heroic resemblance to the handsomest of all the beasts."
   • Gender roles
     • Beauty
       • She is the protective one in the relationship
       • She is the heroin, she saves the beast
         • 'Don't die, Beast! If you'll have me, I'll never leave you.'
       • Dominant character
     • Beast
       • His physical appearance follows the stereotype
   • Isolation
     • The beast is isolated from society due to his animal form
   • Entrapment
     • The beast is being trapped by his animal form
   • Corruption of innocence
     • Beauty's innocence corrupted through his father wealth
       • "was learning, at the end of her adolescence, how to be a spoiled child"
       • "the one white rose she said she wanted; the only gift she wanted, no matter how the case went, how rich he might once again be"
   • Women in distress
     • No women in distress
     • Beauty's father in distress
       • His car breaks down
         • "But the old car stuck fast in a rut, wouldn't budge an inch; the engine whirred, coughed and died and he was far from home"
     • Beast in distress
       • He lives alone

2. Fairytale

   • Gender role reversal
     • The beast
       • The Beast begs the Beauty to come back and visit him
         • Instead of the Beauty being scared of the Beast, the Beast feels threatened by the idea that the Beauty leaves him
         • "It will be lonely here without you",
       • Vulnerable and subjective towards the beauty
         • 'Since you left me, I have been sick. I could not go hunting, I found I had not the stomach to kill the gentle beasts, I could not eat. I am sick and I must die; but I shall die happy because you have come to say good-bye to me.'
     • Beauty
       • Shows Arrogance and materialism
       • dismisses the Beast because of his appearance
       • Innocence corrupted in the story
         • Corrupted by money and the life her father gave her in London