What Would Moana Do? Seven Life Lessons From Disney Princesses

Belle: Seeing the goodness underneath the fur.

Belle’s relationship with the Beast in Beauty and the Beast has a lot of similarities to Anna’s with Elsa. Like Elsa, the Beast can be tough to love. Like Elsa, the beast purposefully pushes folks away. Like Elsa, he sees himself as a monster.

But Anna grew up with Elsa. She knew that there was more to her older sister than just her chilly exterior. Belle had no such assurance. As far as Belle can see, the Beast is the sort of, um, beast who would imprison a man (Belle’s father) for simply and innocently stumbling into his castle. Frankly, the guy seems like a first-class cad.

But as time goes on, Belle begins to see underneath the Beast’s furry, fanged exterior. She realizes that there’s a good soul deep down—a soul that she slowly coaxes out into the open. And when the Beast changes back into the handsome prince that he once was, Belle doesn’t immediately trust the newly updated exterior: She looks into his eyes to find the hero she grew to love.

“Do not let your adorning be external,” the Bible says, “… but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” (1 Peter 3:3-4) It takes a while for the Beast to find that imperishable beauty. But he manages … thanks to the story’s Beauty.