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A Review of "The Tale of the Rose" by Emma Donaghue

 A Review of "The Tale of the Rose" by Emma Donaghue

- Mayura Bhandari

“The Tale of The Rose” is a retelling of the popular children’s fairy tale, “The Beauty and The Beast”. It is one of the short stories in the collection by Emma Donoghue, called Kissing The Witch.

The story is narrated from the point of a young woman who describes herself as having an appetite for magic. She doesn’t desire suitors, finery or riches. When her father’s ships get lost at sea, her cushy life disappears. But without despair, she gets to work. She washes her father’s clothes, finding peace and satisfaction in it. When fortune smiles upon their family, her siblings ask for riches and finery, but she desires a red rose bud. Her father returns and hands her the rose, explaining that the price of that flower was that he had sold her to a Beast.

Obediently, she heads over to the castle, nervous and excited for a new chapter in her life. She recalls the lore the villagers told her. About a young queen exiled, imprisoned and devoured by the Beast. Upon entering, the Beast was courteous, gentle and charming. She got accustomed to reading in the library, being waited upon and wearing furs and riches.

When her father fell ill and she returned, promising the Beast she would return in eight days’ time. But she delayed her visit and overstayed. When she got a hint that the Beast was gravely ill, she rushed back.

Finding the Beast collapsed on the ground, she began removing layers of clothing so that she could warm him. Upon removing the last layer, it was revealed that the Beast was a woman. The same rumoured dead queen had been posing as the Beast. It was a mechanism to deflect persuasive suitors who expected her to wed and become a queen of the land. Overtime she began wearing a mask to hide her true identity, waiting in search for an ideal suitor of her choosing.

With this reveal our narrator found herself relearning everything about the queen, who was now her companion. After months of searching for beauty in the Beast, she found it in the queen’s face. This started a new chapter in their life, together. As the years flew past, the villagers now recounted stories of The Beauty and The Beast in the windows. Some recounted seeing two Beauties and others, two Beasts. 

This story offers a new twist to the original tale. It highlights the independent and hardworking nature of our narrator. It also has the theme of lesbianism as opposed to the heterogeneous relationship in the original. This story explores new themes and doesn’t portray the heroine in a stereotypical ‘helpless lady in need of a man to save her’ trope.


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