Beauty on the Inside...

First of all, I'm really proud of myself for posting this on time. And I can't believe there's only two more blogs left?!?

     This month, we read The Picture of Dorian Gray and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, both of which I think relate to things that happen in modern society, regardless of how far-fetched they seem.

     Dorian Gray becomes obsessed with the way he looks and never wants to age or change. He becomes uglier and uglier on the inside, which shows in the changes of the appearance of his portrait. Today, a common lesson that is taught is that true beauty comes from the inside, not the way you look on the outside. The way you act and treat others is more important than how you look.

     The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells the story of a doctor who discovers potions that literally help him transform into another human being, one who acts very differently from how Henry Jekyll himself used to act. There are lots of people today- in school, on TV, etc.- who try to change the way they act to fit in with certain groups of people. Although none of them drink potions that literally change them into another human being, for some reason I saw a sort of correlation between the way Jekyll changes to Hyde and the way some people change their personalities depending on who they are hanging out with.




"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone." - Audrey Hepburn

Societal Expectations...and Something Unrelated

First of all, I'm sorry this is so horribly late!

This month, we read "The Yellow Wallpaper" to evaluate eighteenth century marriages. The short story revealed the emotional toll the stresses of daily life took on a woman in that time period. The narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is suffering from  a nervous breakdown as a result of her stressful married life. Instead of being treated sympathetically by her husband, he brings her to a "vacation" home, where he keeps his wife trapped in the highest room, with a "nailed-down bed," "barred windows," and dingy yellow wallpaper.

It's crazy to think that a lifestyle, such as being a married woman in the eighteenth century as seen here, can take such an emotional toll on someone. Today, people may feel similar pressures because of the societal influences for them to feel or look or act a certain way. Young people especially are often pressured to change themselves to conform to what is "normal" in society.

Because a majority of the reason this blog is being submitted so late is due to the fact that I was completely consumed by the musical for the past couple weeks, I feel the need to relate this to that. In the show "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," Mrs. Potiphar is the wife of the rich Potiphar. She is expected to be pretty and perfect for her husband. But, despite having all the money she could ever desire, she is not happy with her husband. She is, in fact, so unhappy that she reaches out for the attention of other men. (I realize that doesn't totally correlate with the lesson but I just had to talk about the show a little bit!)


"I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus--but John says the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition…" - Narrator, "the Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman