Walt Disney Animation has been responsible for some of the most iconic and influential films over the past several decades. A great example of this can be found during the Disney Renaissance, which included films like The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. While the latter teaches important lessons in patience, acceptance and unconditional love, one topic regarding the Beast's curse feels more brutal than other curses.
In the film, an enchantress curses the young prince to remain in the form of a beast until his 21st year. At which point, he must find love that is reciprocated equally or be doomed to remain a beast forever. To make matters worse, the house's caretakers are also turned into sentient furniture and are susceptible to the curse as well, but the stipulations surrounding the curse paint two different but equally brutal pictures.
One explanation brings Beast's curse into question because of a line from Lumiere in the song "Be Our Guest." The candelabra mentions the time they've been furniture during the song by stating, " Ten years we've been rusting," which means that the Beast was likely cursed when he was 11, so his punishment was a little more than excessive. In reality, an eleven-year-old Prince would inherently be unaware of how to conduct himself around guests and would likely not want to let a stranger into his home. Another critical item to note is that his parents weren't in the house because they weren't turned into furniture. This means that an eleven-year-old prince was simply trying to keep strangers out of his home on Christmas Eve.
It's also important to note that the portrait of himself that the Beast destroys shows a much older prince. This would have to mean that if he was a child when he was cursed, the face in the picture couldn't be him, but if it is, that implies he hasn't aged since he was cursed.
If the Beast didn't age during the curse, then that means he and the staff have been waiting for ten years, hoping that someone would warm the Beast's heart. Therefore, the rule of him needing to find love before turning 21 is unnecessary. There are also other factors to consider, like Chip, who, if assuming Beast was a boy when he was cursed, would have to be conceived and born while everyone was still furniture.
Ultimately, it shows that someone, perhaps in the Disney writer's room, missed a key detail that would help explain the inconsistencies in the Enchantress' curse. While this doesn't hinder the overall impact of the story, it does create a curious situation with the inner workings of the curse. That being said, even if an answer is never given, the curious case of the Beast's curse will remain one of Beauty and the Beast's most interesting mysteries.