Have you ever stopped and thought about the remarkable amount of stunningly beautiful characters in books? If you had never been out in the world (highly unlikely,) but had read your classic literature faithfully, (the situation is doubly unlikely, but, hey, it's hypothetical) you would go out expecting half the world to be stunning, gorgeous, striking, and altogether beautiful. Ophelia, Hero, Anne Blythe, Cora and Alice Mundy, Rebekah, Rowena, Every Single Girl In Any Andrew Lang Tale, and-what-is-the-name-of-the-girl-in-the-Lady-in-White? They are all lovely.
After pondering the topic for quite a while, I have reached the conclusion that this is because it is a million time more jolly to write about a beautiful character. (Or one that grows to be beautiful) The ratio of gorgeous persons to ordinary persons is all the authors' doing. But lately I have noticed a rising of books with more realistic characters.
What do you think? I know that I tend to write about "just pretty" characters, and I do kind of enjoy it. Fellow writers, what do you usually do?
This isn't really a very serious post.
Uprooting
9 years ago
3 COMMENTS:
That's true! It's "cooler" to write about a character who's perfect. But I don't really like doing that. My characters tend to be normal^^
Have you also noticed that the good characters are always gorgeous or dashing, where the evil ones are (almost) always ugly or deformed? What a wonderful message to be sending out to all the little children!
Another thing: have you noticed that not only are character usually very beautiful, but blue or green eyes can't just be blue or green, they must be 'cerulean' or 'emerald'. Hair, too, cannot simply be black, it is 'raven' or 'midnight'. Silky too.
lol, anyway, I usually just describe the characters looks without injecting my own opinion of if they're pretty or not. Other characters might comment on someone's looks, but that doesn't happen often. Although it can be fun to write about people who are prettier than yourself. ;-)
Hello. You don't know me, but I randomly discovered your blog through another blogger's blogger's blog and et cetera. And I like it; hence, I feel inclined to comment.
I am an aspiring writer, and agree with you heartily on this point. I think that authors write about stunningly beautiful people to contrast them with the stunningly ugly people, which is all very well. However, the relation to character is usually too farce for my taste.
It sounds cliche, but I prefer to contrast the beauty of character, while somehow portraying the potential for lack of beauty in all of us.
Post a Comment