Beauty: Wish and Bethany Essay
The play Beauty written by Jane Martin is about jealousy of the two main characters. Carla and Bethany are the complete opposite of each other. Carla is beautiful but has neither brains nor personality. On the other hand, Bethany is an accountant with a high income and very successful in writing short stories but is not satisfied with her appearance. Both girls envy one another wanting what each other have, Carla wants to be successful and smart and Bethany wishes to be beautiful. Bethany believes that beauty is everything, that it’s a key factor in life.
She thinks that it will bring her much good than she already has. However, Carla knows the disadvantages of being beautiful and tried to warn Bethany not to wish for it. When Bethany has the power to change what she has and to get what she has always wanted, the writer uses Carla to show that Bethany will be disappointed. Carla is definitely not happy with her and has her own insecurities; meanwhile Bethany is discovering that everyone has different problems with themselves no matter who they are or what they look like.Everyone is envious of someone and wishing they had what that person has.
During the play, Martin introduces the characters through dialogue, which is talking to someone through a conversation. The first character which is Carla is seen talking on the phone with a random guy she met at a bar which she cannot seem to remember. This is proof that Carla is some beauty if she is attracting men at a bar. Another part in the play Carla references that she is modeling meeting with Ralph Lauren, this is more proof that Carla is attractive if she has a modeling meeting.
The second character, Bethany is a very hardworking and busy woman with a high demanding job. Since Bethany is always working she decides to take a break from work and heads to the beach. While she is at the beach she finds a lamp with a magic genie inside. The magic genie grants her three wishes. Bethany gets three chances to have something in her life that she has never had before or something she has wished for.
Martin uses the genie to expose Bethany’s hidden desires and unhappiness in her life.The message hidden in this story is people only see the bad side of them and never look at the positive sides. They always look for what other people look like or what they have and wish upon it for themselves. It also shows that people value a person’s appearance rather than what’s inside of that person. For example, Bethany is a very successful woman.
She has a great job, very intelligent and has a great personality but she still wants more.She wants to be beautiful; she doesn’t realize what she already has and what she has already accomplished throughout her life. She is still unsatisfied with herself. Her being unsatisfied with herself makes her make a petty decision like wishing to be like Carla.
As we can see they are envious of each other’s lives. This story also suggests that being discontent in our life can make us unhappy and that leads to jealousy. We just have to be satisfied with ourselves and look at the positive sides and not all the negative sides. Everyone has imperfections.
