The themes of this short story include jealousy, obsession with narcissism and the emergence of another identity. In this short story, jealousy is displayed when Monica has the narrator choose between the real her and the Monica in the mirror. In the story, “Once, she said, “You know, sometimes I think you like me better there”—she pointed to a mirror—“than here”—she pointed to herself. She said it teasingly, with a little laugh, but in her look was an anxious question.” The Monica in the mirror was described in this excerpt: “a fresh Monica, a vibrant Monica, a Monica with a glow of pleasure in her face. She was dressed in clothes that no longer seemed a little drab, a little elderly, but were handsomely understated, seductively restrained.” The real Monica is depicted in the excerpt “Not for a moment did the mirror make her look young, or beautiful, for she was not young and she was not beautiful. But it was as if some inner constriction had dissolved, some sense of her drifting gradually into unhappiness.” Jealousy is what drove the…
Jealousy doesn’t appear out of the blue. It doesn’t just show up one day. Jealousy is like a cloud. It builds up with “water” over time, and eventually downpours onto everyone standing in its way, just like in the book written by John Knowles, A Separate Peace. The three main characters involved with jealousy are Gene, Finny, and Brinker. Every riveting scene of jealousy, changes the mood of the book completely. Jealousy causes friendships to be destroyed, and hatred to form in this novel. Jealousy is the new form of self-destruction.…
Genie's childhood of going to the beach gave her the exposer of Sealife and exploring fish.…
The girl apologizes for not being what they want her to be and she tries to change herself into what they would like. The poem says “She was advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile, and wheedle,” this explains that she tries her hardest to change herself and fit in. Eventually she figures out that no matter how hard she tries she still can not become what they want of her. Imagery is shown by the standards of the people and that the Barbie doll is not a real person and no one can live up to her, but they have not realized that.…
The play "Violet" takes place in the mid-1960's and focuses on a young woman in search for a miracle, and who bears a horrendous scar on her face from an accident when she was a child. The musical opens with Violet boarding a Greyhound bus that is traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she hopes to be physically healed by a famous TV preacher. On her journey of self-discovery, she meets several people, including two soldiers, who soon become her friends. As the young adults traveling advances, so does their understanding of many important lessons and choices about life and growing up. Throughout the play, Violet flashes back to her childhood memories, especially those moments with her father, whom she condemns total responsibility for the accident. Ultimately, Violet experiences a form of healing that is truly more important than the physical miracle she was searching for.…
On Sunday, April 9, I attended a production of A Heroine Free Summer, written by Dr. Janet Lowery. This production was held at Spring Street Studios, and directed by Chesley Krohn of Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Company. Set at a lake house in upstate New York, this play explores what happens when a family of four sisters becomes divided - the result of two teenage sons confessing to drug use. The piece explores ideas of drug addiction, family history, and determining where your allegiances lie. Although I would have liked to have seen more vocal control from one of the actors, I felt that this piece overall had strong acting, well conceived scenic design, and well thought out costuming choices.…
Both “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “Eye of the Beholder” by Rod Serling are both short stories that introduce two young, beautiful women who, despite their beauty, are castigated by positions of power for their uniqueness. While Hawthorne uses symbolism and third person omniscient storytelling to create an allegory in which perfection among the common is what’s desired by its characters, Serling tells of a world in which the thing that’s unacceptable by society’s standards is non uniformity. However, each author suggests that society’s obsession with supremacy and unattainable standards of beauty results only in the conflict and segregation of peoples.…
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak shows through the midst of brutality, beauty can still be shown. The main characters Liesel Meminger, Rudy Steiner and Hans Huberman, prove this statement they are all faced with perilous situations, but still manage to show beauty throughout the situations. Liesel Meminger display beauty during the air raids, as she manages to read to people in the basement. Rudy Steiner displays beauty he jumps in the river to get Liesel’s book. Through Hans Huberman nobel character he displays beauty as he risks his life to hide a Jewish man in his basement.…
Because “Beauty” is a play, Martin introduces the characters through dialogue. The first character, Carla, is first seen talking on the phone with a random suitor that she met at a bar and she cannot seem to remember. This is evidence that Carla has some type of beauty that attracts male attention, even without any actual interaction. Later in the play, Carla references the fact that she has a modeling meeting with Ralph Lauren, reiterating the fact that she is physically beautiful.…
By convention, artwork – both in the illustrative and written medium – serves as a literal representation of an idea. Brush strokes paint vivid colors in hopes of capturing an iconic moment, and words are deliberately structured to tell a moving story. At its core, any form of art fulfills the capacity to capture life; yet it is the hope of true artwork to not only represent, but rather provide meaning. Artwork, and in particular ekphrastic descriptions of that artwork, serve as a recurring theme placed at the forefront of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. The novel uses Jane’s myriad occurrences with various forms of artwork to provide insight into the understanding of the semantics of emotional expression, and rather than project art through…
In the cases of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice and Emily Bronte's Jane Eyre, the ideals of romantic love are very much the same. In both 19th century novels, women's wants and needs are rather simplified. However, this could also be said for the roles and ideals of the male characters. While it was obvious that this era was responsible for a large amount of anti-female sexism in society and the economy, can it also be said that male-female partnerships were simplified from the male perspective?…
Morrison's use of imagery in this passage strengthens the sense of irony and illustrates the girl's immense disdain and morbid curiosity towards the doll. This "blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll" was the perfect gift which, even though she could not love it, she could "examine it to see what it was that all the world said was lovable." This doll represents the world's stereotypical view of beauty. The little girl, who wants desperately to understand this view, seeks to understand its appeal by physical means. Even the sounds made by the doll, those heard by others as "the sweet and plaintive cry "mama'," made the girl…
In Alissa Nutting’s “Model’s Assistant” the focus on beauty comes up as well. The main character, the narrator, ends up meeting another girl, Garla, from “model-land” as she says. The narrator first speaks of Garla and her beauty after she first meets her. The narrator…
The mystery and complexity of women were not lost on Charles Dickens, however this tenacity and strong will to overcome obstacles was misconstrued in his novel. Dickens’ view of women as portrayed in Great Expectations was as dependent. Women are dependent on the limits society places on them, dependent on men for happiness, and dependent on the class level they were born into and their upbringing.…
“Fantastic Ideals” by Jennifer Worley discusses beauty and the dangers of trying to reach certain standards for women. Her claim is every person, specifically woman, are beautiful in their own way. The evidence she uses to support her claim comes in the form of references from other sources such as an article from The New York Times and a description of an advertisement from Adbusters. Also, Worley mentions Marilyn Monroe and her status as a beauty icon to transition into a quote from an essay about a short story called “The Birthmark”. Worley focuses on bringing facts to support her claim which makes the whole article logical. Her argument transitions from beginning to end easily, and she makes it clear how she comes to her conclusions.…