Fairy Tales: Brains and Beauty

In Riquet with the Tuft, Charles Perrault and Catherine Bernard address a semblance between beauty and intelligence. Perrault’s tale describes beauty as a source of physical attraction but further describes the mind as a more enticing benefactor which encompasses a much more lasting power of attraction. We see similarities between the two tales but each has an entirely different conclusion than the other. In both tales a beautiful face only serves as a temporary masking of inner beauty, whereas true intelligence is a more permanent source of attraction. In the case of the Riquet with the Tuft, beauty serves as the initial cause of attractiveness. Perrault and Bernard’s version contain contradictory endings which leave the reader to assume a different moral to the same essential story. Bernard and Perrault both view beauty as the initial cause of physical tantalization however the extent to which physical beauty plays into the creation of a love relationships is different in both tales.
The fairy who endowed the younger princess with the absence of good looks stated that “She will have so much intelligence that her lack of beauty will hardly be noticed” (Perrault 23). It is clear that Perrault is insinuating that a comprise effect between beauty and brains is necessary, if one is beautiful then they in turn must be less intelligent and vice versa. The quote also suggests that intelligence can mask a lack of beauty and that wit is a much more powerful aspect of a person. “In any person the mind is the only part that matters, mind over body, mind over matter” (Chinese Proverb). It becomes evident in Perrault’s version that intelligence is revered over physical attractiveness when the princess says “I’d rather be as ugly as you and have intelligence…then be as beautiful and stupid as I am” (Perrault 23) . We see that in Perrault’s version intelligence is very important; the queen reproaches her beautiful daughter for being unintelligent, yet never once reproaches her ugly daughter for lack of physical attractivness.
After the Riquet bequeaths the elder princess with intelligence, she hastily becomes regarded as beautiful and highly desirable among others. It is at this point that she steps out from underneath her sister’ shadow and becomes a desirable item in society. This is important to note because Perrault is directly implying that intelligence is a power that exudes ones inner beauty. The uglier sister “ always outshone the elder when they were in society. At first everyone gathered around the more beautiful girl to admire her, but soon left her for the more intelligent sister.” (Perrault 44). Here we see how beauty serves as a source of initial captivation but in the end the strongest source of attraction, which is intelligence always prevails. We see just the opposite in Bernard’s version.
In Bernard’s version of Riquet with the Tuft, the Riquet confronts Mama with a cruel conversation pertaining to her mental deformity “ …your incapacity to think, and without my making a value judgment, this fault makes you as inferior as I am, for my body is like your mind. That’s the cruel thing I have to say to you.” (Bernard p.36). By coaxing Mama into believing that both of them are equally the universal same, the Riquet with the Tuft is slyly superficial in attempting to make Mama fall in love with him. The Riquet uses his intelligence to get Mama to be his mistress, he lures her in with delusions’ of granger “I am master of all the treasures locked up in the earth, and you would be the mistress of them. With gold and intelligence, who could want more?” (Bernard 37). In this tale Mama is given riches and intelligence however both are not powerful enough to smother the love she feels for the ‘handsome’ Arada. This tale is different from Perrault’s version because beauty prevails over brains. The Riquet was initially attracted to Mama because of her beauty which signifies the central significance of beauty in terms of beginning romantic relationships. By causing Mama to prefer the man who is handsomer, Bernard is subtly insinuating that beauty is essential to love which is contradictory to Perrault’s moral.
Perrault and Bernard balance the power of wit and the beauty against eachother, this dichotomy is used differently in portraying ideal love relationships. In Perrault’s tale, when the princess realizes that their minds are of the same caliber, she begins to find him more physically attractive. Bernard takes a slightly different approach which can be seen as somewhat paradoxical and superficial when compared to Perrault’s tale. When Mama realizes her mistake she goes to a person of her same caliber of beauty which insinuates that physical attractiveness is preferred to sound mindfulness, moreover Bernard suggests the beauty is essential to love.
Both Perrault and Bernard distinguish beauty and mind as important traits, although their reasoning is substantiated by blurred reasoning. Perrault directly implies that intelligence is a power that exudes ones inner beauty while Bernard’s version reveres beauty as a much more important aspect of a love relationship. Both tales view beauty as an initial tantalization of physical attraction however the extent to which physical beauty plays into the creation of a love relationships is different in both tales.


Works Cited
Nelford, Thomas. Online Quotes. 1996. Chinese Proverbs. 1998