Beauty and the Beast and Song of Orpheus by Barbara Hambly
**Concept Overview: "Beauty and the Beast and Song of Orpheus"**
"Beauty and the Beast" is a narrative that centers on Catherine Chandler, a well-educated woman whose life takes a dramatic turn when she is kidnapped and severely injured. After being rescued by Vincent, a unique being who is half-human and half-lion, she discovers a hidden world beneath Manhattan, inhabited by a society of outcasts. This relationship forms the crux of the story, as Catherine grapples with her past and the harsh realities of life Above, while Vincent struggles with his identity and the dangers tied to his visits to the surface.
In "Song of Orpheus," the narrative expands upon these themes through three episodes that delve deeper into the lives of Catherine and Vincent. Their bond grows stronger as Vincent frequently journeys Above to see Catherine, leading to various challenges that test their connection. The episodes explore themes of loyalty, sacrifice, and the complexities of love in the face of societal rejection. Each storyline adds layers to their relationship while highlighting the struggles and triumphs of the Tunnel Dwellers, ultimately illustrating the poignant intersection of two worlds that are often at odds.
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Beauty and the Beast and Song of Orpheus
First published:Beauty and the Beast (1989) and Song of Orpheus (1990)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Fantasy—cultural exploration
Time of work: 1986-1987
Locale: New York City
The Plot
Beauty and the Beast and Song of Orpheus are based on the television program Beauty and the Beast, which began airing in 1987 and was created by Ron Koslow. The story concerns Catherine Chandler, a beautiful, well-educated debutante whose narcissistic, privileged life has begun to lose its appeal. Her job as junior partner in her father’s prestigious corporate law firm has become dull and her performance in that capacity lackluster. While trying to hail a taxi one evening, Catherine is grabbed by a stocky man and forced into a van. Three days later, she is thrown out of the van in Central Park and left for dead. She has been beaten badly, and her face has been slashed.
Catherine awakes Below, in a secret underworld beneath the level of old subway tunnels in Manhattan, having been found by Vincent, a huge half-human, half-lion. She immediately feels a powerful bond with Vincent. She is cared for by Father, patriarch of the secret society of outcasts and refugees from the heartless, profligate society Above.
Despite her own father’s efforts to facilitate her return to normalcy by hiring a plastic surgeon and by remaining patient in the face of her flat refusal to discuss the details of her disappearance, Catherine’s thoughts are not at all on settling back into her old routine. Searing memories of the injustice done to her and to Vincent, an “accident” horribly discarded at birth but rescued by the Tunnel Dwellers, claim her attention. Although she understands that Above remains as closed to Vincent as Below is to her, she knows also that her life henceforth will never be the same. She leaves her father’s corporate law firm and, seeking to aid other innocent victims, becomes a deputy district attorney. She also begins to learn how to defend herself.
Vincent, his thoughts on Catherine, occasionally ventures stealthily into Central Park from the Tunnels, merely to gaze at the light in her room. Neither Vincent’s dreams of Catherine nor his visits Above find favor with Father, who insists that by going Above, the Tunnel Dwellers invite their doom. Vincent appears one evening on Catherine’s terrace and stays with her until dawn.
At the district attorney’s office, Catherine soon discovers information concerning another victim and thereby learns the identity of her assailant, who then sets out to kill her. Vincent, sensing her danger, rushes to her aid with the ferocity of an animal. The book ends as Catherine and Vincent, realizing the strength of the bond between them, bid goodbye for the time being.
In Song of Orpheus, Barbara Hambly develops three episodes previously aired in the television series that intertwine the lives and worlds of Catherine and Vincent. Vincent’s nightly journeys Above to see Catherine have become more frequent. On one of them he brings her a necklace. It is a gift from Mouse, who has discovered, at the end of a remote tunnel, a buried ship laden with treasures. The treasure produces dissent among the Tunnel Dwellers, turning friend against friend. Against the wishes of others, Cullen takes gold items Above to sell but succeeds only in attracting a rapacious intruder who enters the Tunnels, bent on taking all the treasure. Following a fight, during which the intruder falls into the Abyss, the Tunnel Dwellers finally agree to donate the treasure Above to the St. Regina Shelter for the Homeless.
In the second episode, Father receives a message and mysteriously ventures Above. In the office of Alan Taft, an old friend, Father discovers Taft’s body and is promptly arrested for Taft’s murder. Vincent appeals to Catherine for help in locating Father. Believing rightly that his disappearance is linked to his past, Catherine and Vincent peruse microfilm at the public library and learn that Father is Dr. Jacob Wells, a physician called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1951 and subsequently blacklisted. Shrinking from sharing his fate, Margaret, his bride, retreated to Paris with his father. Having never remarried and now dying of cancer, Margaret had sent the enigmatic note to Father noting the “wreck of my memories.” Catherine discovers the identity of Taft’s murderer, and Father returns to the Tunnels. Margaret joins him Below, spending the last seven days of her life with him.
Father recovers slowly from Margaret’s death. One day, a Tunnel child falls into the Maze, a labyrinth of echoing caverns and tiny tunnels. In a rescue attempt, rocks collapse upon Father and Vincent. Above, Catherine immediately senses his peril. She descends into the Tunnels, falling headlong into Mouse’s Mousehole. With Mouse she finds Vincent and Father pinned in a rockslide, their oxygen rapidly running out. Desperate to save Vincent, Catherine secures a drill and explosives from her former lover, Elliot Burch, an architect and construction magnate. Vincent and Father, who is injured, are rescued. At last a real part of life Below, Catherine realizes how much she loves and needs Vincent.