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Comparing Lao Tzu's Beauty And The Beast

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A Tale as Old as Time Close your eyes and imagine a world complete with peace and serenity. This is the world Lao-Tzu offers. The tao te ching gives the reader a glimpse of guidelines that could create the world imagined above. At first glance, Lao Tzu’s teachings seem impossible and out of reach. However, like many philosophies there are bits and pieces that can be applied to everyday life. The teachings of tao te ching are not just found in taoism, but also the magical world of Disney. One example in particular is the childhood classic Beauty and the Beast. In the movie, Belle, Beast, Gaston, Lumiere, and Cogsworth have something they are striving for, but when they are reaching to receive what they desire, they fail. Once the characters embrace the …show more content…

He has fame, fortune, and could essentially marry any girl in the town, yet he is still unsatisfied. Gaston wants to marry Belle because she is the most beautiful girl in town, and in the opening number he says,“Here in town there’s only she, who’s as beautiful as me…” Because of this Gaston becomes the major antagonist. In the text of tao te ching it says, “When wealth, and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its evil on itself.” Taoism teaches contentment with what you have, but Gaston continues to desire Belle, and even tries to force her into marriage. After Belle rejects his proposal, he desires her even more. When Belle returns to the town and tells him of the friend she found in Beast, he becomes jealous and his desire is to kill Beast. Lao-Tzu cautions against too many desires saying, “He whose (desires) are few gets them; he whose (desires) are many goes astray.” Had Gaston made the choice to be content with the world and life as it is, he could have had a chance for a happy ending, but his greed took precedence over contentment. After the battle Beast gives him a chance to walk away and go on living his life, but Gaston’s desire for Belle leads him to his

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