watching Beauty and the Beast again

It's just hit me how gaslighty Mrs. Potts is to Chip: he reports Belle's presence, she immediately tells him to stop making things up, and does not believe him until another adult confirms his story.

Gaston must own the pub. Else it would hardly be his decorating.

...the bit where a villager is pulling out Babette's feathers is probably onscreen sexual assault.

So is Gaston an example of fragile masculinity (evidenced by when the Beast is holding him off the roof edge, because Gaston's behavior there is out of character for the rest of his persona) or just cunning and counting on the accuracy of Belle's assessment of the Beast to get the upper hand?