Beauty and the Beast (Disney song) author Jerry Griswold believes that the song's opening line "tale as old as time" alludes to the fact that Belle's story is an ancient, timeless one "deliberately situated within the context of other traditional tales;" hers is simply "the newest incarnation" of it. "The Translation of the Songs in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast": an example of Manipulation" author Lucía Loureiro Porto agrees that although the song "does not tell any story, it is made of phrases that imply that love is as old a feeling as mankind." According to Perry Seibert of AllMovie, "Beauty and the Beast" is "as
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast the Beast's past when she slowly starts to hear the voices of the two invisible maids that wait on her. When Beauty becomes homesick, the Beast shows her a magic mirror that allows her to see her family. In it she sees Grace agreeing to marry the local minister, despite still loving Robert. She also learns that Robert himself has recently returned home after years lost at sea, eager to find Grace. Beauty begs to visit her home and tell Grace before it's too late, promising to return in a week and stay with the Beast forever afterwards. The Beast