Roses play a key role in Beauty and the Beast. In Chapter 1, Beauty asks her father for a rose because she hasn’t seen one since they left the city and misses the flower’s beauty. Here, the rose symbolizes Beauty’s ability to find pleasure in simple things. Although she knows the rose will quickly wilt, she’d rather have something beautiful briefly than something gaudy that won’t fade. In addition, the rose represents how trivial things can trigger large emotions. In Chapter 2, the Beast threatens the merchant because he picked a rose. Although the fairy told the Beast to make this threat, it’s over-the-top and likely worked only because of the Beast’s frightening appearance. Had the merchant been unafraid of the Beast, he might not have taken the threat seriously. Thus, he may not have returned with Beauty.

The rose is also a catalyst for the story’s events. Because the merchant fears the Beast, he tells his children about the deal, which prompts Beauty to take his place because she feels responsible for the merchant being threatened given that the rose was for her. Later, in her dreams, Beauty recognizes part of the castle gardens after exploring them while she was awake.