INFP 2w1 Characters
Even though Belle has a pleasant way with people and doesn’t go out of her way to offend them (even softening her response to Gaston’s proposal by insisting “I don’t deserve you”), she doesn’t really attempt to mold her behavior to that of the townspeople or change herself in any way to fit into their lives (despite wishing she had someone to talk to). She also puts her own curiosity ahead of the wishes of the Beast and his companions when she enters the castle – because she is curious about the west wing, she persists in going there after being told not to, despite all attempts by Lumiere and Cogsworth to dissuade her. She tends to make decisions from her heart; because she loves her father, she trades herself as a prisoner for him, out of concern that he has fallen ill (and then mourns that she has now given up her ‘dreams’ for him). She refuses to come down to dinner with the Beast, or to associate with him, until she has changed her mind about him, and seen his inner goodness – then, she welcomes him into her heart, and admits that her feelings are undergoing a transformation (“he was mean / and he was course / and unrefined / and now he’s dear!”). Belle’s complete change of heart toward him comes from her idealism, her ability to see the good in most people, and to change her mind even though she had made it up. Belle knows the castle is enchanted, because it’s obvious, and because she has spent her entire life reading books about princes in disguise and magic. She feels torn between “wanting much more than this provincial life,” and her routine of reading books, staying in the village, and dreaming rather than doing. Belle can be naïve and impulsive, trading her life imprisonment for her father, going home to tend his wounds, then innocently defending him against Gaston – and being horrified to realize he would hunt the Beast down like… well, an animal, despite knowing he hunts creatures like the Beast for fun. Belle is attentive to the small details of her village (“every day just the same”) and tired of it, but does not really leave until her father turns up missing. Though she shares her feelings of alienation and not feeling understood with her father, she is not forthcoming with her feelings to the villagers – and is oblivious to their whispering behind her back. She maintains an air of calm most of the time, but can deliver biting criticisms when challenged by Gaston or the Beast. She tends to act on her feelings, while not thinking through the potential repercussions – because she wants to explore, she doesn’t consider the Beast might become angry; she’s so eager to save her father and prove the Beast exists, she shows off his appearance to Gaston, never thinking he might want to hunt her friend (inferior Te).
Enneagram: 2w1
Belle makes decisions with her feelings, yes, but all in the name of being the heroine who saves people, even if it involves being a “martyr” by insisting on taking her father’s place in the Beast’s castle. Only she can save him. Later, when the Beast frightens her, she runs away, and gets attacked by wolves, Belle feels duty-bound to take the injured Beast back to his castle and tend his wounds; as if he had to get hurt to elicit her sympathy, and kick in her natural “mothering” instinct. 2s don’t just love everyone, and they don’t care about everyone liking them; they find people who need them to rescue them. Belle always is in the business of rescuing people—her father, the Beast, her friends in the castle. She also shows a lot of rejection stance behavior—she knows instantly Gaston is trash and wants nothing to do with him; she doesn’t care about the townspeople who live boring lives and instead daydreams optimistically about a better life somewhere else (but doesn’t leave to find it, because her father needs her to look after him). Even though she agreed to stay with the Beast, she has nothing to do with him and isn’t afraid of his temper, because she has her own to match. She labels him a “monster,” and says she wants nothing to do with him, then does an about-face, and starts to see the positives in him as she chooses a more optimistic outlook. Belle can handle people delicately (firmly shoving Gaston out the door, using flattery to make him leave) or she can disintegrate into 8 and let people have it, with the full force of her temper, which gets as hot as the Beast’s. She also shows 1 wing tendencies in how she lectures the Beast on his behavior (his bad manners, his overall self-centered actions, etc), but then self-corrects to meet him “halfway” once she decides to help, love, and respond to his romantic attentions.
