Literary Analysis

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What he means by this statement is that anything that is not smooth or seen as the norm in what is beautiful is in fact picturesque beauty. If it has its ridges and its imperfections it is more beautiful. Burke uses imagery in making the reader see that a person would have to change who they are to make themselves fit whatever society describes as beauty. He makes the reader understand that a person is not truly happy with themselves until they change who they are to be accepted, and then it’s possibly only temporary. The happiness that the altered beauty brings is only temporary, and that is what makes it so dangerous.

Each writer tells their own opinions about ideal beauty and picturesque beauty. They each give a little bit of who they are in each article and you can kind of tell what type of character traits they have. For example, the reader can tell that William Gilpin is the type of person who doesn’t necessarily appreciate the ideal standard of beauty but that things have to be altered to be considered beautiful. His idea of beauty might tell his readers that he’s out of touch with society. What this means is that he’s constantly looking for things to make something beauty when all around him is natural beauty waiting to be appreciated. Burke is the type of person who doesn’t look for beauty but finds it in everything he sets his eyes upon. He believes beauty is whatever a person believes it is and that tells the reader a lot about his character.

Gilpin and Burke both used character, point of view, and imagery to gain the reader’s attention and get them to see things from a different perspective. Picturesque beauty is more of an aesthetic; it’s meant for those who don’t mind altering themselves to achieve a certain look. As far as Burke is concerned he doesn’t believe that real beauty should take too much effort. Beauty is simple and easy and smooth, it isn’t hard to look at or for an acquired taste. Society is still dealing with the same ideals and things that Burke and Gilpin introduced many years ago as far as what beauty is and who it belongs to.