Solving Problems In The Play 'Beauty' By Jane Martin

We all have something about ourselves or our lives we wish we could change, be it our beauty, our intelligence, our wealth, etc. However, what is it we truly desire? What we have causes us problems that we do not want, and having something else would get rid of those problems. That is what everyone believes, but the people who have what we want say that it is not what it seems, and they would much rather have what we have, as it would solve their problems. While we tend to believe that having something someone else has will solve our problems, the drama “Beauty” by Jane Martin suggests that what we truly want is to get rid of the problems we have, even if it means gaining different problems along the way. It is in human nature to want to fix

Bethany explains how she wants to be beautiful like Carla, but Carla explains how it is not as glamorous as it appears to be. This is the truth of our world. Those who are not traditionally referred to as “beautiful”, long to be admired and fawned over, but those who are “beautiful”, often describe it as exhausting. Carla explains, “I can’t have a conversation without men coming on to me. I have no privacy. I get hassled on the street. They start pressuring me from the beginning. Half the time, it never occurs to them to have a conversation” (Page 1003). Carla does not like being so beautiful that men hassle her on the street. However, Bethany does not consider Carla’s perspective. Bethany responds later with, “I knew you’d say something like this. See, you’re ‘in the club’ so you can say this. It is the way beauty functions as an elite. You’re trying to keep it all for yourself” (Page 1003). We, as a society, do not believe the “beautiful ones” when they tell us that we do not want to be like them. People often assume that they are lying to “keep all the beauty for themselves”. Bethany even points this out later by arguing that “none of you tell the truth” (Page 1003). We crave something we do not want, and in “Beauty” they use the example of beauty, but neglect to consider the problems that those who have it