Beauty is the titular protagonist of the novel. Her given name is Honour Huston, but as a child she saw little value in the virtue of honor and proclaimed she’d rather be Beauty. She’s aptly suited for the hero archetype, a role defined by courage, strength, and honor. The archetypal hero leaves the world she knows to enter an unfamiliar and challenging world, which Beauty does twice in this story; upon leaving the city for a humbler life in the country, and upon leaving her family to become the Beast’s willing captive. She also endures hardship and risks her life for the good of others, just as the archetypal hero does.

Beauty is characterized by her thoughts and observations via first person narrative, by other characters’ interpretations, and most of all by her choices and actions. She describes herself often as being plain—even ugly—in appearance. She loves books, is considered clever, and dreams of one day being a scholar. According to her sisters, horses and Greek poets are her greatest passion. Though frightened of what the future will bring when the family’s city life is upended, Beauty says she isn’t afraid of hard work and sees it all “in the light of an adventure” (18).