Les concepts de la beauté et de la laideur dans le projet pédagogique de Marie Leprince de Beaumont

Beauty and ugliness, which have sociological implications, allow Leprince de Beaumont to present the model of a Christian woman which is central to her educational project. An outward sign of spirit, ugliness wrests off masks. Beauty is not God-given but a trial through which one is exposed to vanity. A force which can perturb, assist or impede the happy resolution of tales, the pair which beauty and ugliness make up plays an essential narrative role crystallised in the scene of metamorphosis.