Lao Tzu once mused, "the truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth" (Tzu). Though Grealy idealizes the line "truth is beauty, beauty truth" from John Keats's poem, "Ode on a Grecian Urn," the reality of her unfortunate situation reflects the ideology of Tzu rather than that of Keats's due to the fact that instead of finding a beautiful truth Grealy finds herself trapped with a reality that she believes to be the antithesis of beauty. While Grealy desires to rebel against society's ideals she finds herself stuck in a perpetual cycle of depression and desire for conformity, believing that societal acceptance, within a society that measures a woman's value based on her physical appearance, will make her worthy of love and then, upon finding that no one can meet her unreasonably high expectations of love, she is inevitably dragged into despair. Grealy attempts to rise above society's superficiality and assume a more transcendental interpretation of beauty, however she continuously finds that her actions fail to mirror her ideologies as she attempts to assimilate into society so that she might find love and acceptance. Grealy ultimately comes to believe that beauty is comprised of a conglomerate of factors which she dramatizes through both her writing and her lifestyle. Grealy utilizes compelling pathos, insightful allusions, and potent personification in addition to a sanguine yet cynical tone to reinforce the validity of her claim that beauty is a reflection of society's perception of one as well as a manifestation of one's feelings of self-worth.
In her memoir, Autobiography of a Face, Grealy employs the use of enthralling pathos as well as an auspicious tone to accentuate the fact that beauty is derived from a c...
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... of society's and one's perceptions of beauty. When Grealy mournfully laments, “the world of love wanted nothing to do with me” she personifies a "world of love" to demonstrate that because she viewed herself as worthless and because society reciprocated her feelings Grealy felt utterly alone (Grealy 124). Grealy feels lonesome because she equates beauty with happiness and love and since her beauty is defined by her feeling of worthlessness which is corroborated by society Grealy identifies herself as ugly. By utilizing insightful personification as well as an optimistic yet critical tone, Grealy is able to effectively prove that her claim that beauty is the manifestation of both society's and one's perception of one's beauty is valid by demonstrating that her definition of beauty is applicable to the situation of virtually every person belonging to every culture.
In conclusion, it is true that beauty pleased our eyes and consciousness. People have gone far trying to make themselves look lovely. Consequently most of them end up by getting killed or having some disease such as skin cancer. Instead of having only some people being happier than others, as Morrison introduced Twyla, I believe people should be all equal as Vonnegut advocates in her story, that way there will be no longer such as killings, rapped or even manipulating other because of their beauty. Can beauty help to rebuild our society?
Thus the illusion of beauty is still possible and even Gorgeous displays emotion despite knowing this “she adores her work from a distance for such a long time and it makes her cry”. Therefore, the irony in this story still exists for Gorgeous to end up being in a relationship with an artist. The personification of beauty continues as Wels’ remarks “Their relationship is the usual kind in which beauty and appreciation are dancing partners”. As she becomes a ‘model’, again ‘stillness’ is idealised as the trademark of beauty. As a result, the humour in Wels’ story also becomes tragic with Gorgeous’ realisation that beauty is fabricated and that the most beautiful are those that are
Autobiography of a Face follows the story of Lucy Grealy, who as a child was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer leading to the removal of part of her jaw. With the damage to her face conspicuous to the rest of the world, Grealy struggles with her concepts of beauty and strength in the face of adversity. Her memoir makes a brilliant comment on the nature and definition of strength, and the lengths to which one will go in order to protect oneself from harm.
Many people have different perceptions of suffering. Some of them see sickness and trauma as the main causes of sorrow and anguish in a person’s life. Rarely does a person think that one’s physical appearance can be a cause of sorrow and misery. This is Lucy’s story. She recounts the events of her life in her book Autobiography of a Face. She developed cancer as a young child, and this forced her to undergo surgery and numerous sessions of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She had to endure numerous stares and insults from other people. This was a trying time for the young girl considering what she had to undergo. However, it did not compare to her later years. She spent countless hours in hospitals trying to get the perfect face. She did not want to be different from everyone else. In the end, she realized that the beauty and satisfaction that she was looking for were deeper within her. She could not get what she was looking for in the mirror or in the approval of others. To Lucy, being different from others was worse than the cancer she had. Despite the numerous challenges she faced, Lucy remained resilient.
Sarwer, D. B., Grossbart, T. A., & Didie, E. R. (2003). Beauty and society. Seminars in
In Toni Morrison’s story and in real life, beauty is described by people as having blond hair, blue eyes , perfect figure, etc. It’s been said that if you have good looks, you can make it in life with just looks alone. People only strive for becoming beautiful because they want attention. As is the case in Toni Morrison’s story. The characters in her story think that they are ugly , by others opinions of them , and want to become beautiful so they will be recognized and be the center of attention. But the harder both characters try, the worse things get.
In the essay “What Meets the Eye”, Daniel Akst explains scientific facts about the beauty of men and women matters to people. He argues that attractive individuals receive attention, great social status, marries, and gets paid more on a job. One can disagree with Akst’s argument because anyone with the skills and knowledge, despite the appearance, can gain a decent relationship and can get paid well. Akst looks at beauty as if it can lead individuals to an amazing and successful life, but he is wrong. Nancy Mairs’ and Alice Walker’s views on beauty are explained internally and through self-confidence. Both women’s and Akst’s arguments on beauty share some similarities and differences in many ways, and an
According to the article by Dave Barry, "The Ugly Truth about Beauty", the article compares between men and women. Barry illustrate that men think of themselves as average looking unlike women they always think that they are not good enough. Barry think contributes to this difference is that women when they were young they used to play with a Barbie which make them feel that they have to be perfect just like here and that generate low self-self-esteem. On the other hand men used to play by their action figures. Which they are not a good looker. In this article Barry offer advice for both gender. That women must have self-confidence and men should care about their look just a little more. I am a women and I know that we are some times be obsessed
she was pretty and that was everything” (225). This captivation with herself along with the constant looking in the mirrors and thinking her mother was only pestering her all the time because her mother’s own good looks were long gone by now (225) shows a sign of immaturity because she believes everything revolves around whether or not someo...
In this piece, Grealy describes the influence of her experiences of cancer, its treatments, and the resulting deformity of her face on her development as a person. She explores how physical appearance influences one's sexual identity and over all self worth. She also explores how one's own interpretation of one's appearance can be self fulfilling. Only after a year of not looking at herself in the mirror, ironically at a time when she appears more "normal" than ever before, does Grealy learn to embrace her inner self and to see herself as more than one’s looks or physical appearance.
Many people today feel like their faces are hideous, and the same can be said for Georgina from “The Birthmark”. Almost any- physical attribute can be considered ugly to oneself, and to others, depending on what the others
As stated by ‘The Duchess’, Margaret Wolfe Hungerford’s famous quote “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” As a result, beauty can describe as an inspiring view present in everything that can be seen. To begin, beauty can be viewed in a building as large and extravagant as the white house to the small hometown market or even in the sight of a single flower to a field filled with a million flowers. Also, beauty can be seen in the sunrise over the peaks of the mountains and also in the sunset glowing across a calm lake surrounded by the bright colors of the fall trees. Furthermore, people have physical beauty, which can be found in a person’s features, figure, or complexion. In the poem “Beauty & Dress” by Robert Herrick he explains the beauty he sees in his wife. Herrick states,
The definition of beauty is varying among different people in the world. Even though almost everyone knows the term beauty, many people are struggling in defining it and persuading others to agree with their opinions. Beauty is defined by a combination of qualities existent in a person or thing that fulfills the aesthetic feels or brings about profound gratification. Many people define beauty as a term to describe a person’s physical appearance; they often think that beauty comes from magazines, video girls, or even models. Although the term beauty can define a person’s physical appearance, true beauty lies in the way one acts and thinks rather than the way one look.
...storal” (45, p.1848). The urn’s eternity only exists artistically and does not reflect human life because only the urn “shou remain” forever (47, p.1848). Keats contrasts the ephemeral nature of human life with the longevity of the urn. In last two lines, Keats declares, “beauty is truth, truth beauty” (29, p.1848) embodying both sides of his perspective. By establishing a relationship between beauty and truth, Keats acknowledges that like truth, the beauty of the Grecian urn is unchangeable and that the ability accept reality is beautiful.
...e ability to achieve anything in life. Hopefully, readers would learn from this novel that beauty is not the most important aspect in life. Society today emphasizes the beauty of one's outer facade. The external appearance of a person is the first thing that is noticed. People should look for a person's inner beauty and love the person for the beauty inside. Beauty, a powerful aspect of life, can draw attention but at the same time it can hide things that one does not want disclosed. Beauty can be used in a variety of ways to affect one's status in culture, politics, and society. Beauty most certainly should not be used to excuse punishment for bad deeds. Beauty is associated with goodness, but that it is not always the case. This story describes how the external attractiveness of a person can influence people's behavior and can corrupt their inner beauty.