How Does Outer Beauty Not Reveal the Inner Workings of one’s Character?

Humans tend to link beauty to goodness. One thinks that the more attractive an individual is the better their character and morals are. The society back in the Victorian era believe that as well and this mind frame seems to be carried on in modern society today. As individuals of the modern society, one tends to only believe what our eyes see. This makes one limited to how they behave and view other people in their eyes. The novels The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Beastly by Alex Flinn both portray that outer beauty does not determine anything about one’s character, society seems to believe that if you are attractive there is nothing wrong in one’s life and that one cannot escape the inevitable.

In the novel Beastly by Alex Flinn, a young handsome man named Kyle believed that beautiful people have it better. Kyle judged people based on looks only and thought the ugly people like the witch Kendra were dirt under his shoe. He soon realizes the true meaning of inner beauty when Kendra decides to cast a spell and show how ugly Kyle’s soul is on his body. Kyle became to look like a beast just like his soul. Once Kyle learns that it is inner beauty that matter, his soul will be clean and so will his body on the outside. In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, a young and handsome man named Dorian Gray meets a Lord Henry who begins to drastically change the way Dorian thinks. Lord Henry started to make Dorian believe that his physically beauty triumphs everything. Since Dorian was quite easily impressionable, he was quick to adopt Lord Henry’s advice. Dorian soon started to get way too deep into Lord Henry’s way that he threw away all his regard for morality. Soon enough his actions were being reflected onto his portrait. The uglier things Dorian did, the uglier his soul became. Unlike Kyle Dorian’s painting got uglier and uglier to revel his beast of a soul and there was no turning back for him.

The Picture of Dorian Gray was written in the Victorian Era where in society appearances and bank account of a person are all that mattered. They believed that if you are rich and beautiful there is nothing wrong with because they could not look past anyone’s looks. Dorian’s own Aunt Agatha does not seem to notice what Dorian is been up to because she is too blinded by his beauty. Dorian had committed many sins yet no one in his friend circle seem to care or notice. Similarly, Kyle’s friends also believe that Kyle’s life is perfect because he is very attractive, rich and has a famous father. What his friends don’t know is that Kyle’s father never pays any attention to his and works all day. Kyle’s