The Frog King vs. The Pig King

In class we read several fairy tales that abide by the same basic plot where a beautiful woman is married to an ugly beast. Two of these were The Frog King and The Pig King. These stories both had several differences, as well as rather complementary titles, but there is one particular facet of these stories that I wish to focus on and how it differs between them: the transformation of the beast.

In The Pig King, the beast is a prince born a pig who will only become human when he has married thrice. The catch? No one knows about this condition, not even the beast himself or his mother, as the curse was placed on the pregnant queen while she slept. No one knows this curse can be lifted, and no one expects it to be. At the same time, everyone knows the pig's status as the prince and treats him accordingly, even as he acts like a pig. Twice he marries and twice he kills his bride, but the third time the marriage works and the curse is lifted. But rather than tell others that he has been transformed and is now a man,  he keeps it secret even from his wife, hiding in his pig skin and acting as if nothing has changed. He reveals the truth to his wife several days later, and only when she goes against his wishes is his transformation revealed to others.

In the Frog King, the beast is a prince who has been transformed into a frog. He knows the circumstances of his curse and the nebulous circumstances that may release him from it. Unlike the pig, no one else knows he is anything more than a frog, and there are no details behind the breaking of the curse besides that the princess may do it. He is freed from the curse when the princess throws him into a wall in a fit of pique, at which point his true nature is immediately revealed to all.

Of these two, I prefer the transformation of the Pig King. Unlike the Frog King, where the truth is immediately revealed to all, he gets to reveal the truth to his wife on his own terms even if the secret is later revealed outside of his control. Additionally, the pig's transformation came about after time and tribulation in a good relationship, while the frog's was revealed when his "love interest" tries to kill him.