There are many differences in the two stories of the French story "Beauty and the Beast." The two stories begin differently when the person that casts the spell on the prince is not actually a witch in the movie. Also there is justification for the woman to turn him into the beast because he was very mean to her. .
Another major difference is the character development of Beauty. There are no sisters, and she is not at first seen as the unselfish one until she wants to take her father's place as Beast's prisoner. Disney did however keep in the story the idea of the rose, but it is used in a very different way. Instead of the rose being a gift for Beauty, the rose is the beast's curse. They are, however, used in the same fashion because they both represent why Beast keeps Beauty in captivity. .
Another major difference in the two stories is where Beauty and her father lived. In the literary version, it seems that they live in the middle of the woods surrounded by no one. In the movie they are in a town of many and they have a good amount of social interaction. .
Disney makes the women in this story a little more powerful and accountable for their actions where in the story women were definitely treated as the weaker sex. They make her smart and loving as well as omitting the evil sisters.