Popular Culture Review Vol. 16, No. 1, Spring 2005 | Page 134

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Popular Culture Review
especially Gaston, the most handsome man around. She mocks his proposal of
marriage (‘“Madame Gaston!’ Can’t you just see it? ‘Madame Gaston!’ His
little wife. No sir, not me. I guarantee it. . .”), and in the process mocks the
institution of marriage itself. True, Belle is a bit of a tom-boy, though she still
dresses rather “girlie.” Most interesting, though, are the comments the townsfolk
make about Belle being . . . different. The townspeople have an eye for these
things, and they will not accept any deviation from their established moral
norms. They once ran the prince out of town—out of humanity, even—and they
now have their eye on Belle:
Look there she goes that girl is strange, no question.. . . Never
part of any crowd. . . . No denying she’s a funny girl that
Belle. . . . Look there she goes that girl is so peculiar. . . .
What a puzzle to the rest of u