Use Of Fairy Tales In Alex Flinn's 'Beastly'

“Hanseldee and Greteldum” Fairy tales are a source of wonder and awe for children of all ages. Every culture all around the world has favorite assorted fairy tales and fables that help herd children into young adults. As those children grow into adults, often times those stories stay with the adults that were once so affected by these tales. Many authors have taken advantage of sentimental value these fairy tales have and updated them to cater to a young adult audience which is the case with Alex Flinn’s Beastly. Beastly is a modern retelling of Beauty and The Beast which was originally published in the 18th century by a French novelist. In Beastly, Kyle Kingsbury is an entitled, handsome, and popular high schooler who plays a prank on an outcast. The outcast reveals herself to be a witch and casts a spell on Kyle until he can find someone who loves him in return within two years or he
After Kyle’s father finds out about his disfigured appearance, he locks his son away in an apartment with a tutor and a housekeeper. One year later, Kyle, now Adrian, has not found love and only finds comfort in tending to roses on the roof. One night a poor robber breaks into Adrian’s home and Adrian promises not to report it to the police if the robber’s daughter moves into the apartment. Eventually after warming up to Adrian, Linda, the robber’s daughter, wishes to see her father one last time and Adrian gives her a magic mirror and lets Linda go. On the last day of the second year, Adrian looks in the mirror to find Linda in danger. Adrian goes to save her, she kisses him, and the spell is broken. Adrian is handsome again, Will, his tutor can see again, and Magda, reveals herself as the witch and is also set free. Beastly strongly resembles Beauty and the Beast in many ways. The magic mirror, the pretty boy turned ugly, true loves kiss, the pretty prisoner who falls in love with the Beast, and the curse are all exact parallels of the