The Scarlet Flower (#ad) is a variation or sort-of adaptation of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale with a number of differences. This article focuses on one of the main characters in this story – Nastenka, the youngest daughter of the merchant Stefan and the ‘Beauty’ or ‘Belle (if you want to go with the Disney version)’ of this movie.
How is Nastenka different from her 2 older sisters?
When her sisters asked their father to get them expensive and materialistic gifts, which showed how greedy they were, Nastenka merely asked for the scarlet flower that she saw in her dreams.
Of course, she had no idea how much trouble that single request would cost her dad and her family. Stefan must pay the price for taking that which does not belong to him. He is ordered to return to the island where the Beast lives.
Nastenka didn’t need to help; she could be selfish if she wanted
Nastenka learns about what exactly is going on and what exactly is in store for her father by overhearing Stefan and his friend talking. She was understandably horrified by what she’d heard but she didn’t really need to do anything about that.
In short, her help wasn’t needed; at least, her dad wasn’t making her do anything.
She could have stayed in their house and lived happily there. She didn’t need to go anywhere.
How much does Nastenka love her father, Stefan?
And yet Nastenka clearly loved her father and couldn’t just stand by while he intends to return to the island where the Beast was.She didn’t want her father to die or get hurt. As such, she decided to be the one to go to the island instead.
She thought that since this was her fault for asking for the flower, she should be the one to pay the price for it instead of leaving it to Stefan who wouldn’t have gone to pick the scarlet flower if it wasn’t for her request.
This is admirable, to say the least, and really defines Nastenka’s character as a loving, kind and good daughter.
When she got to the island where the Beast was and when she found out that the ring could bring her back home, she didn’t leave even when she had the chance to do so. This was because her father promised and so she stayed to fulfill that promise.
*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by mikanxsakura (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to symbolize the father and daughter, Stefan and Nastenka, from the film
- YouTube video features a scene from the aforementioned movie
- First pic is from Amazon.com; link shown above