I realized I only knew the disney version of this story and nothing about the original source material. I assumed it was an old anonymous folk tale and was pleasantly surprised to learn that it belongs to the feminist literary tradition of the French fairy tale. 

(I did not know this but the term “fairy tale” was coined in French (“conte de fée”) by Madame D’aulnoy in the 1690s! that’s not from this book, it’s just an interesting peripheral fact I learned while reading about the genre online.)

The fact of Beauty and the Beast being a novel means that, in addition to the fairy tale logic common to folklore, there are slightly more in-depth explanations behind characters, their motivations, and the larger world of the story. In this way the author is much more present on the page than in, say, orally collected folklore where there is an air (however unrealistic) of authorial non-intervention. Because of this it is possible to draw conclusions about de Villeneuve’s values and interests in addition to the general ethics of her class and times which is a compelling feminist exercise.

Frankly the story is captivating and beautifully told. the Beast suffers from both imposed hideousness AND imposed stupidity which makes for a more interesting narrative. The fact that he is truly cursed and not just a Nice Guy that Beauty has to clean up raises the stakes. There are also many many exciting flourishes and details, both in characterization and in world-building, that add unexpected depth. This is an enduring work and not just a curiosity.

Wolfgang has an obvious level of dedication to the source material and the history of this novel and not the least of her contributions to literature is to clearly trace the lineage of this story from its original publication and through all its bastardized translations and editions to the modern day. It turns out that until Wolfgang’s translation was published it was almost impossible to read an unabridged version of Beauty and the Beast in English! she clearly loves what she does and it shines through; she’s produced the definitive English-language edition.