Summary:
When Elle falls through the ceiling of the chateau she is spying on, she assumes her job is done for and her cover ruined. When she meets the chateau master, she is even more disheartened; he is a man in a beast's body. She had heard about the cursed Prince Severin but was never supposed to actually meet him. He is distant, refers to her as "intruder," and she hates him with a passion. He is, after all, the one responsible for cruelly indenturing her to the crown so she could support her family, but he has no idea who she is. In order to fulfill her duties, she needs to continue spying on the chateau with her newly broken leg, first by befriending the staff. As she heals, she creates lasting relationships with the staff and starts to warm up to Prince Severin, despite her reason to hate his whole family. As the servants pressure her to get to know the prince, Elle learns that the only way to break the spell is to fall in love. After much pride, the servants convince her that she is being unreasonable for holding a grudge against him. When Prince Severin learns of an assassination attempt coming his way, he sends Elle home, who is barely healed enough to travel. Sensing the danger, she doubles back just in time to save Severin's life. In order to break the spell, Elle blurts out that she loves him and the curse is broken. He learns that she is a high ranking ranger intelligencer assigned to watch his chateau and assumes everything she said and did was a lie. She goes away on a deadly mission and Severin discovers that most of what she said was the truth and she did what she could to save herself. He rushes after her a begs for forgiveness.
When Elle falls through the ceiling of the chateau she is spying on, she assumes her job is done for and her cover ruined. When she meets the chateau master, she is even more disheartened; he is a man in a beast's body. She had heard about the cursed Prince Severin but was never supposed to actually meet him. He is distant, refers to her as "intruder," and she hates him with a passion. He is, after all, the one responsible for cruelly indenturing her to the crown so she could support her family, but he has no idea who she is. In order to fulfill her duties, she needs to continue spying on the chateau with her newly broken leg, first by befriending the staff. As she heals, she creates lasting relationships with the staff and starts to warm up to Prince Severin, despite her reason to hate his whole family. As the servants pressure her to get to know the prince, Elle learns that the only way to break the spell is to fall in love. After much pride, the servants convince her that she is being unreasonable for holding a grudge against him. When Prince Severin learns of an assassination attempt coming his way, he sends Elle home, who is barely healed enough to travel. Sensing the danger, she doubles back just in time to save Severin's life. In order to break the spell, Elle blurts out that she loves him and the curse is broken. He learns that she is a high ranking ranger intelligencer assigned to watch his chateau and assumes everything she said and did was a lie. She goes away on a deadly mission and Severin discovers that most of what she said was the truth and she did what she could to save herself. He rushes after her a begs for forgiveness.
Themes:
Beauty is on the inside - Elle repeats multiple times that she couldn't love Severin because she is not physically attracted to him, and the servants have learned first hand that isn't true. In fact, beauty on the outside doesn't matter at all.
The end doesn't justify the means - Elle is angered with Severin because he does whatever he can to protect his family and she had to pay that price once. She believes that while your family comes first, you should not put others in danger in the process.
Love comes from friendship - Elle did not fall in love with Severin for his looks, but for his heart that she got to know. Love that starts as a friendship last longer.
Beauty is on the inside - Elle repeats multiple times that she couldn't love Severin because she is not physically attracted to him, and the servants have learned first hand that isn't true. In fact, beauty on the outside doesn't matter at all.
The end doesn't justify the means - Elle is angered with Severin because he does whatever he can to protect his family and she had to pay that price once. She believes that while your family comes first, you should not put others in danger in the process.
Love comes from friendship - Elle did not fall in love with Severin for his looks, but for his heart that she got to know. Love that starts as a friendship last longer.
Essay:
One of the biggest disagreements between Severin and Elle is about the end justifying the means. How far should we go to protect those we love?
One of the biggest disagreements between Severin and Elle is about the end justifying the means. How far should we go to protect those we love?
Means and Ends
Everyone has a certain group of people that they would “die for” or maybe “kill for,” but the truthfulness of those statements could be dangerous. The author KM Shea discusses topics like these in her books. In Beauty and the Beast, she discusses how far someone should go to protect those they love. The likelihood of being put in a position where death is involved is not very likely, but dishonesty and lashing out are also hurtful. The protagonist thinks that the end does not justify the means, her enemy thinks that loyalty means doing anything to protect, but there is a safe middle ground.
One of the reasons Elle, the protagonist, hated Severin so much was his indifference with those he used in his military strategy. As a victim of the treatment, Elle felt that abusing those under someone else’s power, even for a good cause, was “compromising one’s morals” and heartless (181). Ruthlessness is never necessary because collateral damage should be avoided at all costs. This doesn't make sense because she works as a spy and kills multiple people in the book, so she doesn’t quite embrace her stance. If someone had remarkable emotional control, they might be able to see all humans as the same, not prizing their family’s lives over others, but this is not realistic.
Sometimes, fear takes the wheel and extreme measures are taken to protect. Severin is a member of royalty and therefore faced grave danger on a daily basis. He used those that worked for him to protect his brother and family. This makes sense seeing as they were signed up for the job and were being paid. Even though people are “born to die,” measures can be taken to prevent that (181). Compromising one’s morals allows them to fully protect those they love. It may seem ruthless, but all's fair in love and war. If you have the power, you can use it, the question is whether you should, and Severin did.
While both Severin and Elle have strong arguments, neither of them are approaching the reality of the situation. Trying to protect everyone and protecting only those you love are extremes on a very unstable scale. Humans are heavily influenced by emotion and will do what they need to protect. However, this does not mean that every measure should be taken. Before Severin knew Elle, he used her like a toy. It was only after that he started caring for her and those like her. The truth is that we will do almost anything to protect only those we love and understand. We will be ruthless at times and we will be understanding at others, but the rules set up by these two characters are inaccurate.
When it comes down to specifics, there are no rules when emotion is involved. People do things for those they love, and the extremeness of it depends on how much danger that person is in. KM Shea knew that both Elle and Severin were right. If someone has the power to save someone they love, they will take it, and if they have the power to save those they don’t know but understand, they will take it. There is no mercy for everyone else. Luckily, humans are empathetic creatures and understanding is common. There is no answer to how far someone should go to protect someone they love, you just have to act.
Everyone has a certain group of people that they would “die for” or maybe “kill for,” but the truthfulness of those statements could be dangerous. The author KM Shea discusses topics like these in her books. In Beauty and the Beast, she discusses how far someone should go to protect those they love. The likelihood of being put in a position where death is involved is not very likely, but dishonesty and lashing out are also hurtful. The protagonist thinks that the end does not justify the means, her enemy thinks that loyalty means doing anything to protect, but there is a safe middle ground.
One of the reasons Elle, the protagonist, hated Severin so much was his indifference with those he used in his military strategy. As a victim of the treatment, Elle felt that abusing those under someone else’s power, even for a good cause, was “compromising one’s morals” and heartless (181). Ruthlessness is never necessary because collateral damage should be avoided at all costs. This doesn't make sense because she works as a spy and kills multiple people in the book, so she doesn’t quite embrace her stance. If someone had remarkable emotional control, they might be able to see all humans as the same, not prizing their family’s lives over others, but this is not realistic.
Sometimes, fear takes the wheel and extreme measures are taken to protect. Severin is a member of royalty and therefore faced grave danger on a daily basis. He used those that worked for him to protect his brother and family. This makes sense seeing as they were signed up for the job and were being paid. Even though people are “born to die,” measures can be taken to prevent that (181). Compromising one’s morals allows them to fully protect those they love. It may seem ruthless, but all's fair in love and war. If you have the power, you can use it, the question is whether you should, and Severin did.
While both Severin and Elle have strong arguments, neither of them are approaching the reality of the situation. Trying to protect everyone and protecting only those you love are extremes on a very unstable scale. Humans are heavily influenced by emotion and will do what they need to protect. However, this does not mean that every measure should be taken. Before Severin knew Elle, he used her like a toy. It was only after that he started caring for her and those like her. The truth is that we will do almost anything to protect only those we love and understand. We will be ruthless at times and we will be understanding at others, but the rules set up by these two characters are inaccurate.
When it comes down to specifics, there are no rules when emotion is involved. People do things for those they love, and the extremeness of it depends on how much danger that person is in. KM Shea knew that both Elle and Severin were right. If someone has the power to save someone they love, they will take it, and if they have the power to save those they don’t know but understand, they will take it. There is no mercy for everyone else. Luckily, humans are empathetic creatures and understanding is common. There is no answer to how far someone should go to protect someone they love, you just have to act.