In H. Rider Haggard's novel She, two men go in search of an immortal queen with whom they both fall in love. The men, Holly and Leo, are opposites in nearly every way; one is intelligent but physically repulsive, the other handsome but rather slow and boring. From the beginning, they are nicknamed "Beauty and the Beast," and like Beauty and the Beast, Leo is admired by those around him while Holly is rejected and isolated.
Between them is Ayesha, or She-who-must-be-obeyed: beautiful but dangerous, intelligent and devoted but destructive, all-powerful but isolated by her power. Although She falls desperately in love with Leo, it is clear that her strongest bond, one of mutual understanding, respect, and love, is with Holly. But in spite of the wisdom of thousands of years that Ayesha possesses, it is shallow, physical beauty that leads her to choose Leo, and leads to her destruction.
L. Horace Holly, the narrator of She, is a highly intelligent man, a university professor and a scholar whose abilities do not go unnoticed by those around him. But he is ugly, so ugly that nearly everyone rejects him in spite of the fact that there is "something very pleasing and genial about [his] eye" (2). From the moment the editor meets him, he is struck by Holly's "...dark hair and small eyes, and the hair [that] grew right down on his forehead, and his whiskers [that] grew right up to his hair, so that there was uncommonly little of his countenance to be seen" (2).
The comparision made between Holly and the Beast is a logical one; his ugliness is extremely apelike. His arms are disproportionately long, his chest deep. and his face almost entirely covered with hair. Billali, the Amahagger priest, nicknames him "Baboo...
... middle of paper ...
...ave thereby rejected the superficial desire for beauty that had cursed and isolated her. Instead, she chose to ignore the beauty that existed within Holly and within herself, and so was doomed to die and start again in another life, where she would hopefully find the courage to choose the beauty within.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Cohen, Morton N. Rider Haggard: His life & works. NY: Walker & Company, 1960.
Doane, Mary Ann. Femmes Fatales: Feminism, Film Theory, Psychoanalysis. NY: Routledge, 1991.
Haggard, H. Rider. Ayesha: The Return of "She". 1904-5. NY: Dover, 1978.
---, She. New York: Oxford University Press, 1887, 1991.
---, The Private Diaries of Sir H. Rider Haggard: 1914-1925. D.S. Higgins, editor. NY: Stein & Day, 1980.
---, Wisdom's Daughter: The Life & Love Story of She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. 1923. Amereon House. 1975.
Mrs. Ames from “The Astronomer’s Wife” and Elisa Allen from “The Chrysanthemums”, two women in their best ages, did share similar lives. They were loyal wives, of decent beauty and good manners. They were married for some time, without any children and they were fighting the dullness of their marriages. At first, it looked like they were just caught in marriage monotony, but after the surface has been scratched deeper, it was clear that these two women were crying for attention: but they had different reasons.
The art of Kabuki is something that is very beautiful. The actors take great pride in their work and take many years to develop their techniques. A Kabuki production is one that involves great attention to detail and devotion to the craft. Kabuki is not a form of theatre, but it is an embodiment of the history of Japan, as told by the people, rather than the rulers.
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel illustrating the life of an African American woman that finds her voice through many trials and tribulations. At the heart of the story, Hurston portrays a protagonist who moves from a passive state to independence, from passive woman with no voice who is dominated by her husband to a woman who can think and act for herself. Hurston achieves the greater theme of Their Eyes Were Watching God, of self-expression and independence through her use of three basic southern literary elements: narrative structure, ¬¬¬¬¬allegory, and symbolism. A brief inspection of these three basic elements will reveal how Their Eyes Were Watching God achieves its inspiring effect.
There was lack of professional bands of actors. Therefore those bands which found most success were patronized by the court. The Earls of Essex, Pembroke and others all had their own bands. Certain troops became so famous that people thronged to see them, therefore leading to the opening of theatres. The first playhouse "the theatre" opened in 1577 and the famous "the Globe" opened in 1599.
story points out that beauty has its cost as well, the power of being beautiful holds a great
"Elizabethan Theatre Audiences." Elizabethan Theatre Audiences. Strayer University, 16 May 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Competition of other theaters was high in 1906 when The Bijou Theater, now known as The State Theatre, first opened on the “third floor of [the] Ridotto Building, located at the corner of Center and Madison Street in Bay City” (Greene). There was the “Alvarado, Lyric, Grotto, Temple, Roxy, Regent, Empire, and various Opera Houses, all located on [the theaters present day road], Washington Avenue, between the years 1870 and 1960” (LaLonde). On September 6, 1908 “the Bijou Theater was opened in a new building on Washington Avenue” where they joined the higher ranks of competition, and vaudeville was soon to be the main entertainment offered (LaLonde). “The building was owned by Worthy L. Churchill, and managed by Dan Pilmore” (Do you remember...?). In August of 1920 the Theater was renamed the Orpheum Theater, and in 1926 they began showing motion pictures (Green...
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.
life-affirming, and Sally seems to begin to face, but also unleash, the harsh truth whenever
Kabuki Theater in one of four main types of traditional theater in Japan (“Japanese”). The four types are Noh, Kyogen, Kabuki, and Bunraku (“Japanese”). This theater combines drama, dance, and music. It is also the most well-known form of Japanese theater around the world (“Japanese”). It is a very lively type of theater. Until 1680, plays used real swords as their props (“Japanese”). The art of Kabuki was created in opposition to the Noh Theater (“Japanese”). Common things in Kabuki Theater are sword fights and wild costumes (“Japanese”). Men would sometimes play the women’s roles (Bayley). The eerily beautiful effects of Kabuki derive from the deeply traditional aspects (Bayley). These aspects include a combination of dancing, acting, music, and elaborate costumes and scenery (Bayley). Early Kabuki borrowed aspects from other theatrical forms to create their own traditions (Bayley). Borrowed some aspects form Noh theater and...
Campbell, Hilbert H., Ed. The Sherwood Anderson Diaries; 1936-194?. Athens, GA: U of Georgia P, 1987.
However, as Walker discovered, beauty is when someone learns to love him or herself. No matter how perfect a person can seem they may have insecurities about the smallest physical things. As seen in Walker’s narrative, the definition of beauty changes over a lifetime, however, once a person is thankful it is easier to find the true definition of beauty. True beauty is learning to dance through like with oneself and not focusing on the physical fleeting things but on qualities of character that matter. Beauty is in finding oneself
There are many misconceptions about beauty and its importance, in todays society. In a time when physical beauty can be of utter importance, we seem to be at a loss of it. What is beauty and where can it be found? Can we see it in the air we breathe, the brilliant oceans, in the striking sunsets, or even in one another? With the weight of beauty in today's society, the common use of expressions used to describe life's brilliance is expected. The many expressions used to discuss beauty such as "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder" and "beauty runs only skin deep" all stimulate different opinions and create controversy, but the most notorious of all, being that "beauty doesn't last forever." Sheri S. Tepper's Beauty reinstates the many questions regarding beauty and it's value, regardless of the time in which it is present. As time goes on, all that is beautiful and magical in the world will eventually become extinct. In her web review of the novel, Amanda Holland-Minkley, a professor at Cornell University, argues that the guiding theme throughout the novel is "the presence of magic and beauty in the world, and the risk we run of allowing them to disappear." As Beauty lives through the 20th century, her new experiences cause her to view life from a different perspective. Her once peaceful and simple life in the 14th century at Westfaire was now changed into a life where famine, drugs, violence, disease, overpopulation, and pain were all too common. In this world, beauty and magic are non-existent, so much so that the standards of beauty have minimized to almost nothing. Beauty says, "The worst part of living here is that nothing is beautiful. Magic doesn't work" (101). The time in which Beauty is living through is completely voi...
...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.
The theater was one of the primary forms of entertainment in Elizabethan England, as anyone, rich or poor could attend the plays.The rich would sit in boxes or galleries, while the poorer people would have to stand for the entirety of the play (Haigh). The poor would stand in front of the stage which would normally be raised about 4 to 6 feet and the theater could hold on average 3,000 people (Trumbull). The rich however usually watched plays in indoor private theaters, but sometimes would watch the plays in the outdoor public ones. Performances ...