Beauty

In her novel The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison writes, "Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.” In this thematic collection, we have gathered texts that explore the promises and problems of beauty.

Sir Orfeo

by Anonymous

Publication year 1329

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Love, Loyalty & Betrayal, Grief, Beauty, Music

Tags Narrative Poem, Fairy Tale & Folklore, Classic Fiction, Medieval, Education, Education, British Literature, Fantasy

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Small Pleasures

by Clare Chambers

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loneliness, Love, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Mental Health, Sexual Identity, Midlife, Marriage, Mothers, Community, Beauty, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, LGBTQ+, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

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So Big

by Edna Ferber

Publication year 1924

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Beauty, Perseverance, Loneliness, Love, Regret, Gender Identity, Food, Place, Family, Marriage, Self Discovery, Social Class, Art, Literature

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, American Literature, Poverty

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Sonnet 1

by William Shakespeare

Publication year 1609

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Beauty, Birth, Hope, Masculinity, Sexual Identity, Death, Food, Daughters & Sons, Future

Tags Lyric Poem, Education, Education, World History, Romance, Classic Fiction

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Sonnet 130

by William Shakespeare

Publication year 1609

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Gratitude, Love, Beauty, Truth & Lies

Tags Lyric Poem, Comedy & Satire, Relationships, Love & Sexuality

William Shakespeare is the author of “Sonnet 130.” The sonnet is one of 154 sonnets that Shakespeare published in 1609 under the title Shakes-spears Sonnets. The first 126 sonnets address a young man, while Sonnets 127-152 focus on a mysterious woman. As with “Sonnet 130,” the sonnets about the enigmatic woman concern ideas of love and beauty and directly undercut typical representations of both. Thus, “Sonnet 130” is satire; it makes fun of how adored... Read Sonnet 130 Summary

Sonnet 18

by William Shakespeare

Publication year 1609

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Love, Beauty, Environment

Tags Romance, Arts & Culture, Elizabethan Era

William Shakespeare is the best-known author of the English Renaissance—also known as the Early Modern Period and the Elizabethan Age. Though readers’ attention tends to be more riveted toward his plays, Shakespeare published 154 sonnets during his exceptionally prolific career, in addition to the longer-form poems Venus and Adonis (1593), The Rape of Lucrece (1594), and The Phoenix and the Turtle (1601). Fifteen editions of Venus and Adonis—a poem in the form of 199 six-line... Read Sonnet 18 Summary

Sonnet 55

by William Shakespeare

Publication year 1609

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Memory, Death, Beauty

Tags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, Lyric Poem, Religion & Spirituality, Relationships

“Sonnet 55” (1609) is an English love sonnet by renowned poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The sonnet is part of Shakespeare’s Fair Youth sonnet sequence, which makes up the first 126 of his sonnets. This sonnet follows a number of the Fair Youth sonnets in the way it praises the fair youth’s beauty and claims his beauty is eternal. In this sonnet specifically, Shakespeare claims that the subject’s beauty will outlive all monuments of princes and... Read Sonnet 55 Summary

Specials

by Scott Westerfeld

Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Future, Environment, Politics & Government, Beauty

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy

Tally Youngblood has been transformed many times over. First, she was an ordinary Ugly, awaiting the cosmetic surgery that will make her into a more socially acceptable Pretty. Now, Tally has become a Special, or a surgically enhanced super-human, as well as a member of an elite group that call themselves the Cutters. In Scott Westerfeld’s Specials, a young adult novel published in 2006, Tally is tasked with upholding the conventions of her socially stratified... Read Specials Summary

Spinning Silver

by Naomi Novik

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Shame & Pride, Beauty

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tale & Folklore

Published in 2018 by Nebula Award-winning author Naomi Novik, Spinning Tales is a modern take on coming-of-age fairy tales. The novel explores the dangers of pride and the complexity of responsibility set in a Slavic fantasy world made of the familiar and the fantastic alike. While the story centers around Miryem Mandelstam, other character perspectives demonstrate the quintessentially human experiences of life—frustration, longing, confusion, and growing up.Plot SummaryThe teenage Miryem finds herself in a do-or-die... Read Spinning Silver Summary

Starfish

by Lisa Fipps

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Mental Health, Family, Shame & Pride, Childhood & Youth, Self Discovery, Beauty, Mothers, Friendship

Tags Realistic Fiction, Free Verse, Bullying, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness

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Starters

by Lissa Price

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Aging, Siblings, Death, Social Class, Childhood & Youth, Community, Memory, Science & Technology, Future, The Past, Guilt, Family, Appearance & Reality, Trust & Doubt, Fear, Politics & Government, Power & Greed, Beauty, Truth & Lies, Good & Evil, Conflict

Tags Science Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Action & Adventure

Lissa Price’s Starters is a young adult science fiction novel set in the near future after the Spore Wars, during which biological weapons were used against the United States and wiped out much of the unvaccinated middle-aged population. As a result, many teens were left without families, and the elderly feared for their place in society. Starters without grandparents were barred from essentially every type of work. This led to teens being rounded up to... Read Starters Summary

Steppenwolf

by Hermann Hesse

Publication year 1927

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loneliness, Masculinity, Mental Health, The Past, Self Discovery, War, Art, Beauty, Literature, Music, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Life-Inspired Fiction, Philosophy, Existentialism, German Literature, World History, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

Steppenwolf, originally published in German in 1927, then translated into English in 1929, is the eighth novel published by Swiss German novelist Hermann Hesse. The novel was commercially successful upon publication, and it remains a popular novel to the present day. However, Hesse remarked that whereas his intention was to find humor in life and resist despair, Steppenwolf has often been misunderstood as a glorification of suffering. Much of Hesse’s body of work addresses spiritual... Read Steppenwolf Summary