Hidden in Childhood
The heroine's journey has shown up countless times in stories I have read or watched, but I never recognized the pattern before it was pointed out to me. Beauty and the Beast is one of my childhood classics, and it also happens to be a fantastic representation of Maureen Murdock's heroine's journey. However, the journey is a complex concept so I will only focus on a few major steps. Starting from the beginning of the movie at step 1, "shift from feminine to masculine," we can see Belle rejecting typical feminine roles. Her rejection to conforming to society is shown when she doesn't seek Gaston, the most desired man in their village while the other girls are only focused on trying to marry him. She also reads books, helps her father with his inventions, and forms her own opinions, which society does not want her to do as a woman. This nonconformity is further confirmed in one of the first songs, "Belle", when the village people say, "that...