Beauty and the Beast : Gaston is a tragic figure.

Gaston is a tragic figure.

All he ever wanted was the woman he loved to love him back. He could have had any other woman in that town, but he chose to remain single for Belle. He defended her father against LeFou's insensitivity. If Gaston had lived, I'd imagine him like an old Mr. Miyagi getting drunk and crying over his dead wife.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

I'm not certain how serious the Original Poster is but I kind of feel sorry for Gaston on a certain level. Especially when he falls to his death in terror. I know he's a vain, arrogant, jerk but I still kind of feel sorry for him for some reason. He's doing it all for love. There are worse motives for being a jerk.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

Yeah, falling to his death in terror because he went on an epic mission for the woman he loves is very sad. I'd imagine that Gaston and Belle grew up around each other. He seems like the type who was the shy and awkward kid who was completely ignored by Belle. He then devoted all his effort to build himself up in a tragically vain effort to get her to notice him. :'(

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.


Yeah, falling to his death in terror because he went on an epic mission for the woman he loves is very sad. I'd imagine that Gaston and Belle grew up around each other. He seems like the type who was the shy and awkward kid who was completely ignored by Belle. He then devoted all his effort to build himself up in a tragically vain effort to get her to notice him. :'(


I doubt Belle and Gaston knew each other growing up. In the song at the beginning of the film I believe Belle implies she and her father had just moved to the village.

And Gaston doesn't strike me as ever having been shy or awkward. I get the impression he's always been confident, vain, arrogant, spoiled and loved by women.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

The OP is a boring troll who keeps posting a thread like this once or twice a year. No need to take him seriously.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.


The OP is a boring troll who keeps posting a thread like this once or twice a year. No need to take him seriously.


I'm not a troll. I just want people to see how deep this movie really is. Gaston clearly isn't a villain like Maleficent or the evil Queen. He just wants to have a relationship. He represents the guys out there who are ignored by the women they love.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

You've been doing this for years, ofcourse you're a troll.


He represents the guys out there who are ignored by the women they love.


Haha, thankfully he does not!

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You've been doing this for years, ofcourse you're a troll.


Yes, and that dedication has finally paid off. It seems more and more people on this board are finally seeing Gaston for who he really is. In a few years there will be debates called "Team Gaston vs Team Beast".

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.


Yes, and that dedication has finally paid off. It seems more and more people on this board are finally seeing Gaston for who he really is. In a few years there will be debates called "Team Gaston vs Team Beast".


Not really. I said in my initial response that I wasn't certain how serious you were. I don't see Gaston as being as innocent or as noble as I sense you do however I still do feel a little sorry for him.

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Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.


Especially for you, Chrisbc-1:

http://blogs.disney.com/oh-my-disney/2016/01/09/11-gastonishing-gaston-facts/?cmp=smc%7C326955191


Thank you! That list is awesome!

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

The OP needs to get a life sooner or later.

"My precious"-Gollum

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

Not gonna happen, though. He'll probably be back in 6 months.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

*Click* Chris is now on ignore.

"My precious"-Gollum

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

Haha, I don't think you're gonna regret that!

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You guys are always mean to me. I think you'll miss me if I really did fade into oblivion.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

We were doing just fine without you, Chris!

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We were doing just fine without you, Chris!
😢

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

Boohoo, cry me a river!

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

He didn't love Belle, he just wanted her because she was the most beautiful girl in the village. He considered he was entitled to her. He schemed to have her father put into an asylum. He set out to murder the Besat, and nearly succeeded.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

So he was crazy then?

"If this is torture, chain me to the wall"-Oliver and Company

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

That's what I think, that he only lusted over her looks and felt entitled to "the best" Trying to have her father locked isn't a way show love!

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One could make the argument that the society Gaston was a part of were the real villains of the story. Or you could flip it and say the townspeople were the real bad guys. The townspeople were nothing but enablers, stroking Gaston's ego at every turn. They were satiating his ego as opposed to satiating his intellect.

When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness.






Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.


The townspeople were nothing but enablers, stroking Gaston's ego at every turn. They were satiating his ego as opposed to satiating his intellect.


Actually you have a very good point. While Gaston is selfish to the bone himself, it was in his character, townspeople also played a part in his turning into such an egomaniac. They sucked up to him too much, thus approving all he did. Like women in the village either found him too hot and successful, drooling over him, and most likely ignored his horrible attitude to women (the irony) or just never stood up to him - because he was such a star. And men in the village just were fawning over him as well, over that cool guy they would've loved to be. "Women want to be with him, men want to be him" kinda thing. But that created a perfect environment for him to be this huge (and dangerous) jerk. Because there was no "No" for him there, no stops or limitations, he knew this, he got accustomed to this and he was using this to his full advantage.

It also explains why he was so after Belle - not only because she was beautiful and charming, but because she was like the only one in this perfect environment of his who didn't suck up to him, who didn't do what he wanted unlike others, it was a big challenge for him. To "hunt" this outstanding girl and make her his - partly because it was so intriguing, partly because Gaston wanted to restore the balance of his perfect environment so nobody could be saying "no" to him anymore. It also shows how Belle clearly didn't have a case of "mob mentality" which thrived in this village (no wonder that people from this village broke into "Mob Song" in the end of the movie, but the sad thing is they didn't become mob just then, they already became a mob long ago by being such enablers to Gaston).

It also invites interesting parallels with all those in the Beast's castle. They were Beast's servants, they were turned into objects (literally), their Master was beastly (literally), but they actually had an ability to stand up to him and say "no" to some of his attitudes or acts (like Mrs.Potts or Lumiere did).

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

The thing that irks me is that ANY character with a gun in a Disney movie these days will be evil and fall to their deaths. Just wait till winter, when the village starves and freezes without meat and fur.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.


The thing that irks me is that ANY character with a gun in a Disney movie these days will be evil and fall to their deaths.

Well John Smith in Pocahontas comes to mind. As to Gaston I think he's an unsympathetic jerk who deserved to die.

Green Goblin is great! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1L4ZuaVvaw

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

I agree. I mean what kind of beast would threaten to lock up a girl's father unless she agreed to be his?

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.


I agree. I mean what kind of beast would threaten to lock up a girl's father unless she agreed to be his?

Yeah. And what does Gaston do when her father comes to him claiming she's been kidnapped? That's right. Makes fun of him, refuses to believe it, throws him out, then decides to use it against him in order to make Bell marry him. Gaston is such a great guy! Isn't he?

Green Goblin is great! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1L4ZuaVvaw

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

Let me rephrase that since you missed the irony:

What kind of


>>>Beast<<<


Would threaten to lock up a girl's father unless she agreed to be his?

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

the villagers have cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks etc. They will have those animals to sustain them in winter. And thr pigs can be made into bacon, sausages etc. And they have the wool from the sheep and leather from the cows to make clothing.

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That's a good point that I read in a fanfic once: using an axe to kill an animal that you've brought up, and doesn't stand a chance is "good" but using a gun is "evil."

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

I don't remember gaston using a gun on the beast, as far as i can remember he stabs him - after the beast has let him go. i don't think Gaston's gun is an issue in the film at all as far as i can remember.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

Maybe not directly, but this blog post does make a case regarding Gaston's gun being an issue in the film framing him as a villain (and be warned, there is some foul language in the title and the post): https://writingthemagic.wordpress.com/2014/02/06/belle-is-a-bitch-and-gastons-all-right-beauty-and-the-beasts-character-problems/

And yeah, he never used his blunderbuss during his final fight with Beast in the movie we saw. He DID, however, attempt use it against Beast in one of the earlier drafts (long story short, it's the same one that had Belle throwing a rock at Gaston and causing him to tumble down a ravine, with him surviving with a broken leg, and then getting mauled by wolves. In other words, the same ending that eventually got reused for Scar's death at the hands, or jaws rather, of the Hyenas in The Lion King.).

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I did feel kind of bad for him when Belle chose a Beast over him. A Beast. You can see the jealously and hurt in his expression. Lord have mercy if the girl I wanted would rather date a Beast over me.

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he wasn't hurt, just incredulous that Belle could prefer anyone to him. He was extremely stupid.

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Hahahaahahaha! You're kidding right? Cause I always saw him for what he is... a great big jerk. Belle is too good a person to live with someone who indulges in self-praise. Like some wise man or a woman once said... "Self praise is donkey praise" Is Belle supposed to feel pity for someone who staged an event to send away her father to an asylum so he can trick her into marrying him?? I dont think so.

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

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Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

Did he really love Belle? I don't think so, he didn't come across that way, to paraphrase Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red October: There's little room in Gaston's heart for anyone but Gaston.

In other words, the only person he loves is himself. He only saw Belle as another conquest, or a trophy, just another way of saying to everyone "Look how amazing I am!"

I hope the live action remake goes a bit deeper into his character and why he is like that. He's not really evil, just arrogant and closed minded: Been the big fish in the small pond for too long!

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

Exactly. Though he does cross the line into evil when he threatens to have Belle's father locked up unless she marries him and then when he becomes murderous against The Beast.

Let's be bad guys.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

i think he does a couple of things that are definitely evil - trying to get belle's father commited to an insane asylum, and stabbing the Beast after his life had been spared.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.


i think he does a couple of things that are definitely evil - trying to get belle's father commited to an insane asylum, and stabbing the Beast after his life had been spared.


Gaston only threatens to lock Maurice up. He didn't actually go through with it. It was a bluff. The Beast, on the other hand, actually locked Maurice in a dungeon. Maurice would still be there if Belle hadn't gone looking for him.

Gaston was just trying to protect his beloved townspeople. He did invite all of them to his wedding, so he cared about them. He didn't know how dangerous The Beast was, or if The Beast would snap one day. He was taking no chances. He died a hero.

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gaston was trying to blackmail belle into marrying him, you don't consider that evil? And it was no bluff, maurice would undoubtedly have been committed, gaston arranged it, we see him doing it, he had no qualms about accusing a man of being insane when he knew perfectly well it was a lie, i

gaston was not trying to protect anyone when he stabbed the beast, the beast had spared his life and let him go, stabbing the beast was simply an act of pure spite and revenge. Gaston did not love the townspeople, he did not love anyone but himself. he invited them to his wedding so he could show off to them about how he was marrying the most beautiful girl, belle. he wanted to be the centre of attention, as always. Someone like gaston would never have a quiet wedding, he's too much of a showoff.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.


gaston was trying to blackmail belle into marrying him, you don't consider that evil? And it was no bluff, maurice would undoubtedly have been committed, gaston arranged it, we see him doing it, he had no qualms about accusing a man of being insane when he knew perfectly well it was a lie, i

gaston was not trying to protect anyone when he stabbed the beast, the beast had spared his life and let him go, stabbing the beast was simply an act of pure spite and revenge. Gaston did not love the townspeople, he did not love anyone but himself. he invited them to his wedding so he could show off to them about how he was marrying the most beautiful girl, belle. he wanted to be the centre of attention, as always. Someone like gaston would never have a quiet wedding, he's too much of a showoff.


Gaston was just looking out for Belle's best interest. He didn't want her to end up single, lonely, and alone. She was much too much of an introvert to initiate a relationship and Gaston knew it. He had to figure out something to save Belle from a life doomed to loneliness. Desperate situations, call for desperate measures.

Gaston wanted to save Belle from the clutches of a monster. Gaston did have a right to be mad at the Beast. The Beast denied Gaston an honorable death. It was like when Forrest Gump rescued lieutenant Dan. Dan just wanted to die with honor and Forrest cheated him out of it. The Beast cheated Gaston out of an honorable death. Shame.

Gaston was not a show off. He was nice to all the townspeople, even LeFou.

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Gaston had no interest in anything other than himself. He cared nothing for Belle except as a matrimonial prize. He didn't want an honourable death, trying to kill the Beast was pure spite, because Belle had chosen the Beast over him.

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ahahaha these posts are amazing thank you

Oh my God, what a horrible photograph. My first wanted poster and I look just awful.

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

Lol!

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The prequels have done more damage than I thought.

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What prequels? I thought Enchanted Christmas and Belle's Magical World were midquels/interquels, not prequels (in fact, the only prequel I can think of was The New Adventures of Beauty and the Beast).

Re: Gaston is a tragic figure.

One thing I first thought about watching again is that Gaston is basically the Beast the way the Beast was at first. In that sense Gaston is a tragic figure because he probably also could change for the better.
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