Wow, that went in a whole other direction than I was expecting, and I love it for that. Poor Beauty. Sure, this no doubt teaches her to be self-reliant, but I think it also explains why she was so quick to go off to the Beast without letting anyone know. Also, I reread the first chapter, and I love how Virtue's character is defined. She's motherly, but at the same time she's very vulnerable. In the first chapter, she exclaims about how she can't bear for the world to be swept out from under their feet--AGAIN. Here, she says, "Oh, Beauty. Can't you at least try to fit in? This is hard enough on all of us already." I feel like this shows how Beauty really does have a bit of a disconnect with her sisters, and perhaps her father as well. Even Virtue has her own desires, and that leads her to blame the victim of the situation. Beauty may very well be close with her sisters, but there still seems to be a barrier there. Or maybe something else will be revealed to change my opinion.
Admirable as it is that you don't want to tattle, Beauty, how will those girls learn to be less nasty if they don't get called out on their actions? Temperance places her concern on their father, first and foremost...while Virtue places it on the family at large, as opposed to specific people in it. Now I'm not sure what Beauty could have done - ignored the bullying or rolled over, I guess, but somehow I don't think that would have worked very well. I like that she stood up for herself like she did, even if it didn't end well. I just wish Virtue was a bit more sympathetic, given that it really wasn't Beauty's fault. (Sighs.)
