The Enchantress ("Circe" in the Serena Valentino novelization and Agathe in the 2017 live action remake) is a minor, but pivotal character from Disney's 1991 film Beauty and the Beast and its first midquel.
Background[]
Personality[]
The Enchantress is the one who placed the spell on the Prince and everyone inside the castle for the Prince's cruel ways. She is cunning, taking on the disguise of an old, helpless woman seeking shelter to test the Prince's heart. How kind or good she actually is, however, is up for debate, particularly because of the debate over the Beast's age when he was cursed, and how she cursed everyone in the castle rather than just the guilty party, as well as being implied to have cursed the entire forest surrounding the castle to become too dangerous for anyone to attempt to go nearby.
It seems to be the mission of the Enchantress is to punish the selfish and guilty.
Powers and abilities[]
The Enchantress is a most powerful and wise being, who uses a wand. She has the power of shapeshifting, or at least glamouring (an illusionary disguise) to hide her true form, she can cast powerful spells or curses, and transform anything into almost anything - the prince into a beast to match his cruel, unfeeling heart, his servants into objects, an entire castle into a bleak fortress, presumably transforming the entire forest surrounding the castle into a foreboding place, etc. She may also have teleportation abilities, due to her appearing before the Prince in The Enchanted Christmas after he closed the door on her, as well as disappearing in owl form when Maurice trapped her in a bag. In addition to transformation abilities, she apparently also has the ability to grant sentience to otherwise inanimate objects, as she was implied to have done to the Music Box.
Furthermore, she has the ability to enchant objects with magical abilities of their own: The rose she offered was enchanted to bloom and serve as a reminder to the Beast of both how much time he had to break the spell and as a reminder of what got him into his predicament to begin with, she presumably created the Enchanted Mirror that she gave the Beast as his only window to the outside world, and she can enchant things to come to life and move with a will of their own.
She also has the power of empathy as she could see that the prince's heart showed no love or true beauty, superficially giving him a chance to evolve into a beautiful and full of love person.
It is also implied that the Enchantress can also transform herself into various animals, with her right eye shining in the Disney Comics serial New Adventures of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
Appearances[]
Beauty and the Beast[]
Disguised as an elderly beggar woman, the Enchantress went to the castle of Prince Adam on a cold winter's night (and possibly stormy, due to the presence of lightning and elements of rain on the stained glass windows depicting the event), and she asked if she could stay overnight to be protected from the cold in exchange for a beautiful rose she was carrying. The Prince, unimpressed by the beautiful gift and repulsed by her appearance, refused and shut the door in her face cruelly, despite her warning not to be deceived by appearances for beauty is found within. Then she knocked on the door again and this time she revealed her true form to the Prince. Seeing how powerful she was, Prince Adam sought her forgiveness, but the Enchantress put a curse on him: for being so selfish, mean and cold-hearted, he would become a Beast until he both supplies love for another and finding someone who loved him in return at the same time. She also cursed all the servants turning them into anthropomorphic objects, the castle became dark and lonely and the woods became infested with wolves. In addition, she also gave him a time limit that would enact upon his twenty-first year: After that period, the enchanted rose, which will have fully bloomed by then, will start losing petals, and if the last petal falls without the Beast getting love in return and experiencing love, he will be doomed to remain a beast for all eternity, and his staff, the palace, and presumably the forest will likewise remain cursed. Ten years later, her spell was broken by Belle, and Prince Adam learned of his errors thanks to the actions of the Enchantress.
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas[]
The Enchantress as seen in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
The Enchantress made a brief appearance in the midquel as part of a flashback experienced by both the Beast and Forte relating to the circumstances behind the curse, specifically that it occurred on Christmas Eve (thus explaining why the Beast hated the holiday). The prince, who was shown as already being irritated at having a book for a present from Lumiere, and the poor playing of Forte's pipe organ beforehand, opened up the door to find the Enchantress's hag form outside. She asked for shelter and tried to give a rose, although the prince refused, citing he didn't need a rose, and told her to leave before closing the door. The Enchantress, however, transformed and teleported inside, told him of his cold heart, and proceeded to curse him and his servants. Interestingly, the film omitted the Enchantress's warning that he not be deceived by appearances beforehand.
Beauty and the Beast Musical[]
The enchantress largely has the same role as in the original film, although with a few differences, specifically regarding the nature of the curse: First, the Enchantress had the spell be slow-acting, with all affected, or at least the servants, gradually changing further into their current forms. Second, the deadline for the blooming of the rose is omitted. Lastly, it stated that the reason the Enchantress cursed the entire inhabitants of the castle instead of just Beast was because of their acting as enablers of the prince's bad behavior.
Beauty and the Beast (2017 film)[]
The Enchantress will appear in upcoming live-action musical remake of the first film. She will be played by Hattie Morahan and will possibly have a much larger role than in pervious incarnations. According to the film's IMDb page her real name is Agathe.
Printed Media[]
Beauty and the Beast Marvel Comics[]
The Enchantress appeared in the first and thirteenth issues in flashbacks at the beginning of the issues. In the first issue, it relayed the events from the prologue of the film before Beast woke up and discovered he hadn't returned to his human form, causing a tantrum from him. In the thirteenth issue, an alternate take on the prologue was shown (implied to be the Beast reflecting how things might have turned out differently) where the prince let her inside and even placed the rose in a vase.
New Adventures of Disney's Beauty and the Beast[]
The Enchantress appeared in some flashbacks pertaining to the Beast's transformation. Besides her most recognizable form, she also briefly appeared in the disguise of an old lady that Prince Adam told off, and transformed into a crow and flew off before Lumiere had a chance to apologize to her, causing Adam to (correctly, as it turned out) suspect she was a witch. The crow landed nearby where Belle witnessed the prince's behavior and asked her father if all men were monsters. An indeterminate amount of time later, the Enchantress in her crow form also interfered with a shot by Adam, and then became a weasel after he left. In addition, during the present day events of the comic (set a few years before the events of the film proper), it is heavily implied that the Enchantress used shape-shifting to attack Belle at various points, including as a Bear, an Owl, and a Wolf, the first one near a cellar, and the last two while on the way back to the village with Maurice capturing the owl form only for her to disapparate.
The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince[]
The Enchantress, here named Circe, was expanded upon in the Serena Valentino novel The Beast Within with a more sympathetic role. She was revealed to have sisters (who are strongly implied to have been the same characters who manipulated Queen Grimhilde in the earlier novel Fairest of All), and that she had cursed the Prince as revenge for earlier blowing off her request for marriage, and that the beggar disguise was to ensure it. While Circe was against her sisters' antics and did not want to interfere with the Beast, the sisters prevent her from obstructing their trickery by sending her to Ursula to convincing her to give up her deal placed on the Beast's second fiancé in exchange for something else. Her sisters then sent the wolves after Belle with the intention of murdering Belle and ensuring the curse can never be broken, though this ironically resulted in Belle and Beast actually developing a romance. When she returns, her sisters trick her into falling into an enchanted sleep. Eventually, her sisters manipulated Belle into returning to her father and for Gaston (a former friend of the Prince) to lock Maurice up and for Belle to expose the Beast to ensure the Beast died and thus the curse was unbroken. They were also revealed to have manipulated Gaston into stabbing the Beast, although Circe eventually removed the curse due to being touched by Belle and Beast's last moments.
Image gallery[]
