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Belle and Gaston Relationship; Discussion
Topic Started: Jan 13 2012, 04:12 PM (227 Views)
Mufasa
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You know something that's always been curious to me - whether Gaston actually had any real feelings towards Belle or whether he only wanted to marry her because she was the prettiest in the town?

I always used to think it was simply because he wanted a trophy wife but when I re-watched the scene where Belle shows the villagers the Beast through the mirror and Gaston gets all jealous, it made me think there were more layers to his character. Plus he was obviously jealous or upset over Belle's rejection to marry him but I always figured it was more of a bruised ego than a bruised heart.

What do ya guys reakon? Am I over analyising too much LOL. :wacko:

Another strange thing I always wondered about was the Jasmine/Jafar and Meg/Hades relationships. Obviously the girls didn't have any feelings for them but the villains do make me think... I don't ship them as potential couples but I always found the relationships intresting.
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Jasmine
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(I'm bringing my reply over cause darnit, I wrote a lot. XD)

I have always simply seen these relationships as 'trophy wife/convenience couplings' admittedly ... but now you have me thinking XD (A dangerous pasttime, I know.)

When it comes to Gaston, he pretty much outright tells us that he wants Belle because of her beauty. "Here in town there's only she, who's as beautiful as me. So I'm making plans to woo and marry Belle." He wants to be seen as the ultimate powerhouse couple, two 'beauties' in a town of otherwise simple and provincial people. So one assumes he has no real feelings for Belle... he just wants her as arm candy/decor down at the tavern. (Who's the accessory in this relationship? For once it wouldn't be the man. xD)

You bring up a good point about his jealousy/irritation regarding Belle's admittance to loving the Beast. But I do think it was more ego-driven than anything. Up to this point, Belle has pretty much made it clear that Gaston simply is not good enough for her. So to find out that she somehow loves a monster... I imagine that comes as a shock to Gaston. He is handsome, strong, successful, well-known, a town hero... he could PROVIDE for his wife, and at that point in time, that was really what most woman sought after, right? Security in knowing she would be cared for. He even tries to sell this point to her when he proposes, outlining their life together. But Belle wanted 'more than that provincial life', which was something Gaston could not understand. So now he realizes that Belle has found her security in a beast that he believes would sooner kill her than protect her, right? How could she chose that over the safety and success that he himself could have offered her? Ouch. Ego slap number uno.

Next... well, the looks department. Gaston has hair, but not THAT much. That Belle would choose that over him... ego strike two.

I could probably go on, but am cutting myself short here cause I think I can still make my point with these facts alone. xD But basically, when Gaston realizes that Belle has chosen Beast over him, yeah, he would be upset. And jealous. But I'm not sure its because he truly loves her. (And if he does indeed have some sort of feelings for her, I'm thinking they would be very twisted in that head that does so little thinking. xD It may be more of a case of lust than love. A 'I've imagined us together so many times, that thats how life should be, and now that I'm realizing it can't happen, my neatly put together plans for my life are caving in around me' sort of deal. Remember the "I'll have Belle for my wife, make no mistake about that." Its more of a 'I have this goal in mind, and I'm determined to reach it no matter what the cost.' sort of deal.)

I think the extra layers that might possibly be showing themselves here could be, gasp, insecurity. Perhaps in that moment, Gaston finds himself thinking "Why him? Why not me? How could she choose that over me?" But this question would probably work him up into a frenzy. (In the stage show at Disney's Hollywood Studios, he grabs her and demands, "How could you be in love with a monster, when you could have someone like me?") He also mentions to D'arque that he "has his heart set on marrying Belle." But most likely for reasons stated above... he's thought about it so much, he believes its canon. xD So when it doesn't happen this way... I think something just snaps inside him. To know that despite all of his efforts to be... well, IT, it still doesn't work. He hasn't done enough. And this woman would dare deny him. (And publically. This is another ego-crushing situation for Gaston, as this would be the second time. Remember in the tavern. "Who does she think she is? That girl has tangled with the wrong man. No one says 'no' to Gaston! Dismissed. Rejected. Publicly humiliated. Why, it's more than I can bear. I'm disgraced.") I'd say he would probably despise her after that. He even declares her "as crazy as the old man" and has her locked up. Arguably, if he ever did marry her after this, being wed to a mental young woman in that time period probably wouldn't do much for his social status. At this point, I don't think he even plans on wedding her anymore... he just wants to hurt her, and to kill the Beast who dared to ruin his plans.

*breathes* So yeah. That's my take on it, but just one BATB fan's opinion xD But reading through again, I can sort of see where some 'hm, is it love?' doubts pop up, as my own brain is now turning through them.. but ultimately, I feel like Gaston's ego is the prime drive here. xD And if it IS love.. I don't think he fully understands what love is anyway. XD IE, lyrics from the song "Me" from the broadway musical:

I can see that we will share
All that love implies
We shall be a perfect pair
Rather like my thighs
You are face to face with destiny!
All roads lead to...
The best things in life are...
All's well that ends with me!
Escape me? There's no way
Certain as "Do, Re,"
Belle, when you marry...
So Belle, what would it be?
Is it "yes", or is it "oh, yes"?


Belle: I...I just don't deserve you!

Who does?
ME!


Moving on, Jasmine and Jafar. I don't think there's any love here either. Jafar and Iago even plot to have Jasmine killed after he takes the throne. ("What if you were the chump husband?" "WHAT?" "Okay, you marry the princess, alright? Then, uh, you become sultan!" "Marry the shrew? I become sultan. The idea has merit!" "Yes, merit! Yes! And then we drop papa-in-law and the little woman off a cliff! Kersplat!") Jasmine is merely a pawn in Jafar's plans for power. But once he has said power, and has Jasmine under his thumb, I think another case of 'its lust, not love' comes into play as he realizes he could have this desert rose all to himself. Because he's the Sultan, and he can have whatever he wants... even the proud princess. It's also a matter of power here... Jasmine has always spoken down to Jafar, and now he has the chance to put HER in her place.

Hades and Meg... I don't see Hades being romantically interested in her at all. She's a pawn to him, little more. ...but of course we fangirls love seeing that relationship anyway, just because it makes Meg's situation all the more perilous. xD But yeah. Hades IS a god, with no limitations like Jafar does with the Genie. So if he really wanted Meg, he could have her. I think he just likes toying with her to rile her up, personally. xD

.......wow I wrote a lot. *shot* XDDD But I love these sorts of topics. So yeah, there's my two (or 1196) cents there... great topic! XD I enjoyed thinking this one through.
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Mozenrath [1]
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I concur with Kat. What Gaston wants is his image of who Belle should be. He has no respect for her personhood, her wants, and her interests. When she turns him down his immediate response is to try and figure out how he can control and subjugate her. He's a textbook abusive personality.
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Marie [1]
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-carries over from old thread-

Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie; I've watched and re-watched it so many times both over the course of my childhood and recently. While the Belle-Beast-Gaston theory does create an interesting love triangle, I don't really see it. From what I've gathered of Gaston's personality, he really doesn't seem 'in love'. When one loves, they tend to become selfless. Had he really cared deeply for her, he would have been more worried about her well-being than the reasons behind her decision to love the beast over him. I have to agree with Kat on this one; I think this matter involved more of a wounded ego than jealousy on Gaston's part.

First of all, Gaston has confidence. When going to ask for Belle's hand, we see that he has no fears or insecurities whatsoever in putting himself out there so forcefully. While most men become frightened or unsure when proposing, Gaston never once imagined she would turn him down. And so when she did-it was likely the biggest shock of his life. He had made a huge fool out of himself, bragging of what a good couple they would make and practically begging her acquiescence. Surely he didn't want to lose his reputation, and yet the whole scene did leave him seeming a trifle pathetic at best.

And so, I'm sure, to preserve his ego Gaston likely made an attempt at convincing himself Belle wasn't interested in marriage in general. I'm sure it tickled his fancy to think that-had she actually wanted to get married-he would have been her best bet. And yet then she confesses her love for a beast? All of his protections come crashing down around him. She turned him down not because she didn't want to marry, but because she specifically did not want to marry him.

I think most of Gaston's actions in the movie were fueled by his wounded pride. Like Kat said, he even states in his part of the lyrics to 'Belle' that he wants her because they're the two most beautiful people in the village.

I don't believe JafarxJasmine or MegxHades have any promise romantically, though they're two totally different relationships. Honestly, I think Jafar just implemented Jasmine for his own purposes. If he had any feelings for her at all, they were shallow and likely solely involved her looks.

As for Meg and Hades, I don't think they had a romantic relationship per se-but they had more to them than Jasmine and Jafar did. Like our own Hades said on here-they DID seem to have almost a half-hostile, brother/sister thing going on. The interactions don't strike one as a slave speaking to her master. In fact, when they do speak, it seems as though Hades and Meg view each-other on the same intellectual level. While Hades teases Meg, she has no qualms about spitting back her own catty remarks despite that he 'owns' her. It seems to me as though throughout the years, they've come not quite to a friendship but more a mutual understanding with one another.

Quite honestly, though I don't think Hades quite LIKES Meg, I think he has a sort of grudging respect for her. After all, Pain and Panic are as much slaves of his as Meg is, and yet look at the differences in how he treats them. Pain and Panic would never dare say half the condescending things Meg's said to Hades-they'd be terrified of how he would react. And yet it seems almost as though Hades allows her to get away with things. Although I don't think this is due to romantic reasons, I definitely think they have some kind of mutual friendship figured out, even if they do their best to deny it.
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