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So, you want me to throw her father into the asylum unless she agrees to marry you? (groans) Oh, that is despicable. (chuckles evilly) I LOVE IT!
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~ Monsieur D'Arque upon learning of Gaston's plan to make Belle his wife.
Monsieur D'Arque (also simply known as D'Arque) is a supporting antagonist in Disney's 30th full-length animated feature film Beauty and the Beast (which is based on the 1756 French fairytale of the same name by the late Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont) and its 2017 live action adaptation of the same name.
He is the head of the local insane asylum called Asylum D'Loons who was called in by Gaston LeGume and LeFou to lock up Maurice as part of Gaston's plan of blackmailing Maurice's beautiful daughter Belle into marrying him, a request D'Arque complies with despite knowing that Maurice isn't harmful.
In the 1991 animated film, he was voiced by the late Tony Jay, who later played Lickboot in Tom and Jerry The Movie, Judge Claude Frollo in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Transcendent One in Planescape Torment and Shere Khan in TaleSpin and The Jungle Book 2. In the musical, he was portrayed by Gordon Stanley. In the 2017 live-action adaptation, he was portrayed by the late Adrian Schiller, who also played Magnus Völler in Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings and Mr. Gryle in Going Postal.
Although he doesn’t have much screen time compared to the film's other villains, Monsieur D'Arque is seen enough for people to judge him as a stingy, callous, enigmatic, duplicitous and self-absorbed man who will do anything for money, to the point that he even notes that Gaston's plan to blackmail Belle into marrying him is despicable, only to claim immediately afterwards with an evil laugh that he loves it indeed, clutching a gold coin tightly in his fist. Also, when he arrives with the lynch mob to take Maurice away, he promises Belle with a wicked smile that they’ll "take good care" of Maurice in the madhouse, possibly implying that the patients there are subjected to forms of abuse, and D'Arque himself takes pleasure in watching it. However, although it is shown off-screen, he’s willing to pardon anybody whose sanity has been proven to the public, as Maurice was released after Belle proves the Beast's existence to everyone; even D'Arque himself admitted earlier that he considered Maurice to be very harmless in nature.
Biography[]
Beauty and the Beast (1991)[]
When Belle turns down Gaston's marriage proposal, Gaston feels mad but when Belle's father Maurice comes into the tavern telling everybody Belle has been locked in the dungeon by the Beast and everyone starts laughing thinking Maurice is crazy, Gaston comes up with a plan to make Belle his wife.
Later that night after everyone goes home, Gaston and his clueless lackey named LeFou remain in the tavern to meet up with Monsieur D'Arque, who runs the local madhouse (or "Asylum for Loons"). To gain D'Arque's attention, Gaston gives him a bag of gold before revealing his plan to make Belle marry him by exploiting Maurice's crazy ravings about an unnamed Beast holding her prisoner in his castle. D'Arque is quite hesitant at first as he truthfully states that Maurice is quite harmless in general (despite his claims). However, when being told by Gaston that he only wants to have Maurice thrown into the asylum unless Belle agrees to marry him, D'Arque happily accepts. When they go to Belle's cottage to find out that neither Belle nor Maurice are there, so Gaston has LeFou stay there on guard until Belle and Maurice come home.
When Belle and Maurice return home, LeFou rushes to get Gaston and D'Arque, who both rallied up much of the villagers (including Tom, Dick, Stanley and Gramps) for support. D'Arque himself appears at Belle's doorstep and spitefully promises her they’ll "take good care" of Maurice, showing her the madhouse's carriage. D'Arque has his men carry Maurice to the carriage, despite Belle's protests. Gaston promises to have Maurice released if Belle will marry him, but Belle turns down Gaston's proposal one more time and manages to prove that her father's sanity by proving the Beast's existence with the Magic Mirror, resulting Maurice's release. D'Arque and his men are not seen after this since they weren’t among the rioters ambushing the Beast's castle, so it’s likely that they only went home, knowing that Maurice was being completely honest the whole time and there was no reason to take him into custody. It’s unknown what happened to D'Arque afterwards.
Beauty and the Beast (2017 remake)[]
D'Arque appeared in the 2017 live action adaptation of the film, where he was portrayed by Adrian Schiller and has a smaller role. However, unlike in the animated film, it’s left in question to believe whether D'Arque is mindful of Gaston's plan to marry Belle or not, as he has not been shown to accept a bribe from Gaston to lock Maurice up.
D'Arque appeared in the climax as he was taking Maurice to the asylum under Gaston's orders for a very short time. As it turns out, Gaston previously left Maurice to pass away in the woods after the latter refuses to let him marry Belle for good, and Maurice has returned after being rescued by the local beggar woman Agathe before he accuses Gaston for attempted murder. To that end, Gaston plans to have Maurice detained in the asylum for his silly cravings about the Beast in order to cover his crime and blackmail Belle into marrying him. Fortunately, an arriving Belle foils this by using the Magic Mirror to prove the Beast's existence, which made D'Arque and the villagers realize that Maurice was being completely honest.
Despite this turn of events, Gaston (being envious of Belle's relationship with the Beast and not wanting to be exposed of his crime) infuriatingly steals the magic mirror and convinces the townsfolk that the Beast is a threat to the village that should be put down. As Gaston rallies the villagers to ambush the Beast's castle, he madly orders D'Arque to lock both Belle and Maurice up in the carriage and watch the two of them on guard until he and the villagers return after slaughtering the Beast. However, D'Arque is forced to move back from the carriage as the villagers march off to raid the Beast's castle, which buys Maurice enough time to release himself and Belle from the carriage by unlocking the padlock with Belle's hair pin.
As D'Arque comes back to the carriage, he is shocked to find it empty with Maurice standing next to it. Maurice stalls D'Arque by returning his padlock to him, which allowed Belle to get away on horseback, much to D'Arque's shock and bewilderment. Maurice then asks D'Arque if he has any kids, but D'Arque remains speechless as he watches Belle running off to the Beast's castle. It’s unknown what happens to him afterwards.
In other media[]
Beauty and the Beast (musical)[]
In the musical, D'Arque's role is the same as it was from the film. However, he tends to be more humorous than his animated counterpart, and his asylum is called the Maison Des Lunes, which is French for "House of Lunatics". He, Gaston, and Lefou even sang about Gaston's plot in the song called "Maison Des Lunes". Also, unlike in the film, D'Arque took a role in raiding the Beast's castle (mostly out of greed), but was later warded off by several of the enchanted servants, causing him to flee with the other rioters in defeat.
I don't usually leave the asylum in the middle of the night, but you said you'd make it worth my while. (receives a bag of gold coins) Ahhhh.... I'm listening.
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~ Gaston presents him with a bag of money with Monsieur D'Arque
“
Maurice is harmless.
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~ D'Arque stating that he can't lock up Maurice in the asylum since he's harmless in nature.
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Monsieur D'Arque: I've come to collect your father. Belle: My father? Monsieur D'Arque: Don't worry, Mademoiselle. We'll take good care of him.
Villains