About The Enchantress

The Enchantress is featured in Walt Disney's Motion Picture Beauty and the Beast. An Old Woman knocks on the Prince's door one dark and rainy night, and offers The Prince a rose in exchange for shelter from the rain. The selfish and vain Prince, unable to bear her appearance, denies her shelter. The Old Woman then reveals herself as a Beautiful Enchantress, and the Prince asks for forgiveness. But it is too late. She has seen his cold and bitter heart, and curses him to remain as a Beast, and turns the servants of the household into enchanted objects. She changes the appearance of the beautiful castle into a dark and dreary castle. The Enchantress gives the Prince (now a Beast) the Rose she had been offering him in exchange for shelter. The Rose is in fact an enchanted rose, and it would bloom until his twenty-first birthday. If he had not loved and been loved in return before the last petal fell, he would be doomed to stay a Beast forever.

The Prologue, featuring The Enchantress

NARRATOR: Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away, but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart, and as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year. If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?

The Significance of The Enchantress

The Enchantress is an extremely important character in the movie, Beauty and the Beast. Without her, the Prince would have remaind spoiled and selfish, and Belle would not have been able to fall in Love with him. Becoming a Beast changed the Prince, and led to him changing into a better person. Without The Enchantress, perhaps there might not have been a Happily Ever After.

Facts about The Enchantress

  1. The Enchantress never speaks in the movie.
  2. The Enchantress is not animated, she is only shown in a series of progressive pictures or images at the beginning of the movie.
  3. The Enchantress is also shown in Beauty and the Beast : The Enchanted Christmas. Here, she is shown quite differently from how she is shown in Beauty and the Beast. She wears pink, has straight orange hair, and floats. She also speaks and her eyes glow brightly. (The Prince is also dressed differently).