KJL |
If the point of the curse was to encourage him to improve, not just to punish, removing talents that would assist that would be counterproductive.
One of the differences in the films is that the new village has a library of the size you would expect (the priest's one bookshelf rather than an entire bookshop). Belle may be the bookworm but it is entirely possible that the Beast's education included a lot more Shakespere (a foreign playwright) than hers.
Tectorman |
Yeah, I didn't have a problem with the Beast being educated and literate. He was beastly in his disdain for others and his manners, and it was that that caused the Enchantress to change his outside appearance. Other than the fact that the original version had him be cursed at the tender age of ten, why would he be stupid?
Tectorman |
One thing I was glad for in the new version. He's confirmed already an adult when his poor behavior lands him the curse; the castle was not cursed for "ten years", just a long unspecified time; and the rose doesn't lose its last petal on his twenty-first birthday, just soon. It makes the curse more justified.