Brief Summary Of The Play 'Beauty' By Jane Martin

The play “Beauty” by Jane Martin is about two drastically different friends realizing they are not so different after all. Carla, the beautiful friend, tells Bethany, the smart friend, about the trouble of being beautiful. Bethany wants to be like Carla and even thinks she would enjoy the “problems” of beauty. She only expresses her true feelings because she has the opportunity to have what Carla does. Bethany had found a lamp containing a genie and had one wish remaining. She intended to use this final wish to become beautiful, like Carla. She comes to Carla because she was conflicted on how to use the last wish. After hearing Carla tell the “problems” of being beautiful; Bethany decided she would love to have such “problems”. After much

We think this because she is on the phone with an unknown man at the opening of the play. He is professing their love for her after only meeting her once at a bar. Soon Carla’s friend Bethany arrives with exciting news. She has found a lamp containing a genie who grants wishes. Bethany wants to share her fortune with Carla and get her to acknowledge her great finding. As it states on www.enotes.com Bethany does not have a problem with Carla, and values her friendship, but is extremely jealous of the life she has because of her beauty. We do not discover what Bethany has found, or her jealousy of Carla’s life until Carla ends the phone call. Her jealousy of Carla’s beauty grows as she is ignored while Carla deals with one of the problems of her great beauty. Rightly annoyed with the man’s marriage proposal Carla ends the call with him to speak with her friend. This call exhibits the trouble of Carla’s beauty but is also what Bethany would like to have. Men at her feet ready to have sex with her when she pleases, and not having to get to know them first. When Bethany begins to tell of her opportunity to wish for anything in the world Carla thinks she’s joking. Something like this is completely ridiculous, but she is forced to believe it when she is shown undisputable proof. Bethany shows her one of her wishes, a bag full of money. Carla now believing in the wishes after much discussion asks what she will wish for. Bethany, nearly controlled by her jealousy, tells Carla about her idea to become beautiful. This sparks a slight argument about the value of beauty versus the value of knowledge. The holder of beauty seeks knowledge, just as in reality, and the holder of knowledge seeks beauty. They argue over the good and bad aspects of beauty, but what Carla thinks is bad is what Bethany wants. Bethany wants men at her feet