Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Beauty and the Beast was originally written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 as part of The Young American or Tales of the Sea. It was rewritten and abridged by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 and Andrew Lang in 1889, and adapted for screen, stage, prose, and television over the years. Many versions and adaptations of the tale have traveled the world over, and anthropologists believe that elements of Beauty and the Beast appeared in the tales of many different cultures from as early as 4000 years ago.