• To reiterate, Miss Abbott says if Jane “were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot care for such a little toad as that,” in which Bessie responds with, “Not a great deal, to be sure. At any rate, a beauty like Miss Georgiana would be more moving in the same condition.” (Bronte, Ch. IV).
  • Other writers echo this sentiment, but without the social critique Bronte offers. Instead these works focus on how beauty is an advantage in society.
    • “If a woman is run over in the street, you may be sure she was either old or ugly. For the gifted and the beautiful, our sympathies are always in play; our pity and our charity inexhaustible” (Neal, 77).
    • Neal presents this information as if it is a fact of reality that everyone must realize and teach their children
  • Because Jane was plain, her poor and orphaned position was made all the worse. As both Neal and Bessie from Jane Eyre agree, a girl who has beauty will be pitied and assisted.
  • Additionally, Fern writes, “all the world knew it was quite unnecessary for a pretty woman to be clever” (Fern, 16).
    • “Nonsense, and even ill-natured nonsense, when uttered by rosy lips while a gracefully turned head adorned with glossy ringlets  inclines in real or affected bashfulness will generally draw the attentive ear away from good sense” (“The Relative Advantages of Beauty and Accomplishments,”164).
    • The author acknowledges and agrees with moralists that it is sensible and moral to pursue intelligence above beauty. However, he claims that thinking this way is unrealistic, considering people are shallow and prefer beauty over intelligence. 
    • Philip Hamerton writes about this ("Young Woman in an Interior") painting in his 1895 essay, "Painting in France after the Decline of Neoclassicism." He is a moralist that disagrees with the portrayal of wealthy, lazy, beautiful women, believing there is no substance to such depictions. He did not like how such images promoted this type of "empty" lifestyle.
  • Therefore, when a young woman is beautiful, it does not matter if she is clever or speaks nonsense, as long as she does so charmingly.
  •  Furthermore, a young woman secures a husband with her appearance, not her intelligence.

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Coming of Age in the 1800s
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