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Beauty standards effects on society
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Beauty Standards
No matter what era or location, beauty standards affect all individuals. Society affects the individual in this way by setting a bar for how one should look, whether male, female, young or old. Although beauty standards vary by region and change over time, they appear in novels such as Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Tempest by Shakespeare. In today’s society, beauty standards are still very relevant and are even more manifested through social media. The poem Mirror written alongside the visual aspect of the project, analyzes how makeup is a big standard. One must know how to properly apply beauty products to achieve the result of the ‘perfect’ face. From experience, it is evident that teenage girls spend much of their free time watching makeup tutorials and sitting in front of the mirror. Society has shaped how we make ourselves appear physically. When one rebels against the standards they are usually frowned upon.
In the year 2017, for a teenage girl, tan skin, high cheek bones, big lips, dark eyebrows, and a smokey eye are some standards
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Prospero has enslaved this creature, even though Caliban was rightly on the island first. He is mistreated because he does not connect or resemble the others. Prospero describes Caliban in scene II when he says, “A freckled whelp hag-born--not honour'd with a human shape” (Shakespeare). Caliban is treated with less respect because he does not meet the requirements humanity has set, causing him to be enslaved. Caliban is a solid example of someone who is a victim of social injustice.
Beauty standards are a problem that affect society and individuals. The theme of beauty standards is seen all around. As described through characters such as the monster in Frankenstein, Caliban from the Tempest, and human beings around the world today, we are pressured to such high standards that are impossible to
Caliban the deformed savage on the island from his first appearance in the play is more animal than human. Prospero first refers to Caliban by calling him a, "tortoise" (1.2.318). This sets the tone for Caliban's character in the play as he is labeled as a semi-beast in the play. But interestingly despite Caliban's deformed body and animal like appearance he possess remarkable eloquence that gives him power. Prospero, a renaissance prince even with his velvety language only equals Caliban in eloquence. In some ways this dichotomy between Caliban's appearance in the play and his remarkable gift for language creates a magical and mysterious atmosphere in the play. It complicates the relationship between Caliban and Prospero for although Prospero claims to own his savage his savage speaks not like one who is owned.
Except for his plot to kill Prospero, which can be explained as his vengeance for years of torment, the crime used to justify this torment is that Caliban had once sought “to violate / the honour” of Miranda (1.2.348-349). While this is indeed a heavy charge against him, this reaction can be traced to others’ visceral reaction to his form. Caliban justifies his attempt to rape Miranda as an effort to populate the island by revealing “Thou didst prevent me. I had peopled else/ the isle with Calibans” (1.2.350-351). The tone of this response does not show the beast’s inclination to propagate for propagation’s sake nor to violate for the sake of pure malice. Caliban wants to people the island, which he considers his own, with more of himself. It is a reaction to loneliness, a reaction that defies a cognition, not only that he is unique in his appearance, but also that his appearance makes him the “Other” in normal people’s eyes. This urge to reclaim his own, moreover, comes from the understanding that Prospero has disenfranchised him. One must note, moreover, whether his crime fits the punishment that has been bestowed upon him. While he tried to rape Miranda, the others had plotted to kill both Miranda and Prospero. Still, Prospero forgives the others, but not him. In fact, Prospero could have simply exiled Caliban from his presence and his daughter’s, given that he has the magic to do so. Instead, he enslaves Caliban and expends magic to torture him constantly. The only difference between Caliban and the others is that he does not bow down to Prospero’s
Sarwer, D. B., Grossbart, T. A., & Didie, E. R. (2003). Beauty and society. Seminars in
In this whimsical play, Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, after being supplanted of his dukedom by his brother, arrives on an island. He frees a spirit named Ariel from a spell and in turn makes the spirit his slave. He also enslaves a native monster named Caliban. These two slaves, Caliban and Ariel, symbolize the theme of nature versus nurture. Caliban is regarded as the representation of the wild; the side that is usually looked down upon. Although from his repulsive behavior, Caliban can be viewed as a detestable beast of nature, it can be reasonably inferred that Shakespeare’s intent was to make Caliban a sympathetic character.
Caliban is, of course, the "salvage and deformed slave" of Shakespeare's dramatis personae in The Tempest, son of the deceased witch Sycorax, servant of the mage Prospero, consort of and bootlicker for Stephano and Trinculo, failed plotters and drunken buffoons. "As disproportion'd in his manners / As in his shape" (V.i.290-1), he has tried to ravish Prospero's daughter Miranda before being exiled to his cave, and in the course of the play attempts to overthrow Prospero himself and install Stephano on the throne of the island. At last, though, Duke Prospero comes to pardon even Caliban -- "This thing of darkness I / acknowledge mine" (V.i.275-6), and his drudge promises to "be wise hereafter, / and seek for grace" (V.i.294-5) or favor with his master.
The first charge against Caliban is his shape. Prospero beckons him come by shouting, "What ho! Slave, Caliban!/ Thou earth, thou, speak!...Come thou tortoise!" Prospero does not even deign to place him among humankind; instead he is called "earth" as if he is part of the very ground-- the dirt that Prospero rules. Later, Trinculo calls him "A strange fish" and Stephano refers to him as a "monster of the isle with four legs." (2,2) Indeed, Caliban is never spoken of without some dehumanizing adjective added to the address. I would, however like to challenge the notion of his ugliness. During Shakespeare's day, there was a very narrow, very specific concept of beauty. For example, a woman was usually considered most beautiful if she was very fair. This showed that she was not exposed to the sun through any type of common labor and thus signified her gentility. To most of Elizabethan England, this concept of beauty was the only concept of beaut...
Caliban is treated in a highly demeaning manner since Prospero is a man of magic and has infinite power to control Caliban in every aspect. It is seen early on in the play the amount of control that has been placed over Caliban, to the extent that memories make him cringe and satisfy all of Prospero’s needs. Prospero is obviously the Duke of that island similar to how he was Duke of Milan before being usurped and banished to the island, which is Caliban’s home. In general, the relationship of Prospero and Caliban is a model of early colonization into the New World considering Caliban is it’s only inhabitant. In reality, colonization is the chief reason slavery was implemented which was to maintain laborers in order to prosper in the New World.
Caliban's plot to murder Prospero and take over the island mirrors both Antonio's previous usurpation of Prospero and his current plot to help Sebastian murder Alonso. Obviously, one should not turn their back on Antonio, as he too shows no remorse for his actions. Caliban represents the native cultures that were "civilized" by Prospero's influence. He performs all the work, including gathering food and wood for Prospero and Miranda. In fact, without his assistance, they would have probably starved, similar to the American Pilgrims.
People are always complaining about how they aren’t as pretty as models on billboards, or how they aren’t as thin as that other girl. Why do we do this to ourselves? It’s benefitting absolutely nobody and it just makes us feel bad about ourselves. The answer is because society has engraved in our minds that we need to be someone we’re not in order to look beautiful. Throughout time, society has shaped our attitudes about appearances, making it perfectly normal and even encouraged, to be five feet ten inches and 95 pounds. People have felt trapped by this ideal. Society has made these beauty standards unattainable, therefore making it self defeating. This is evident in A Doll’s House, where the main character, Nora, feels trapped by Torvald and society’s standard of beauty. The ideal appearance that is prevalent in society is also apparent in the novel, The Samurai’s Garden, where Sachi is embarrassed of the condition of her skin due to leprosy and the stigmas associated with the disease. The burden of having to live up to society’s standard of beauty can affect one psychologically and emotionally, as portrayed in A Doll’s House and The Samurai’s Garden.
Throughout The Tempest, Caliban is seen as being wicked, brutal and being ruled all the time, but is very keen with his senses. Prospero, however contrasts this and is very powerful, intelligent, and is a natural at ruling and having control over others. When Prospero and Miranda first arrived on the island where Caliban is a native they got along quite well, however after Caliban tried to rape Miranda, so things went down hill. This is symbolic of women who lose their virginity. It also shows how women are weak compared to men and how men are stronger and more powerful then women. Because Caliban tried to rape Miranda, Prospero imprisoned Caliban. As Prospero says to Caliban:
The perception of the "ideal beauty" is an arbitrary and abstract concept that is constantly being modified as a result of the times. People are influenced by the images they see in the media to determine what the ideal beauty is. The media is manipulative and deceptive in nature, and it continues to carry harmful suggestions about ideal beauty despite the concrete evidence of damaging effects to people of all ages. Fortunately, it seems there may be shifts in the media that are beginning to portray men and women more realistically.
Caliban is evil is the fact that he tried to rape Miranda, Prospero’s daughter as states by Barbara Fuchs in her article Conquering Islands: Contextualizing the Tempest where it says, “Caliban’s attack on Prospero’s daughter once more genders the colonizing impulses” (61). This suggests rape and it is not inhuman and it shows that Miranda is not the first woman who this has happen to. It not right, it’s evil. Caliban’s character in this book is horrible in the things that he does, he starting off has an evil monster that was born from an evil parents and he goes around causing trouble wherever he goes. As a servant, he does evil deed and by himself he is evil.
When Prospero and Miranda first arrived on the island, Caliban was welcoming of the two strangers: “And then I loved thee, / And showed thee all the qualities o’ th’ isle [...] Cursed be I that did so!” (1.2.402-406), suggesting that Caliban was once amiable and cooperative, but his attempt to rape Miranda shows his stronger evil side. Just like as Prospero appears mostly good and respectable, with a hint of evil in his actions, Caliban seems mostly evil and monstrous with just a hint of humanity left in him. His shred of goodness and appreciation actually shows through his worship of Stephano: ““These be fine things, an if they be not sprites.
Beauty, how do we define it? Why is beauty so important among us? These are some of the questions that will be discussed in this paper, leaving a clear understanding of what “beauty” is and the many qualities which define “beauty”. We are regularly challenged with “beauty”, trying to define what it is and what it’s supposed to be, who is and who is not, and what is and what is not?
First, women spend huge amounts of money to improve their looks. So here we are unable to escape the reality that we can never be flawless or blemish free; moreover, as long as women have the belief that all greatness de...