<p>Prompt:<br>
Quote #1: “ I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may -- light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful.” - John Constable<br>
Quote #2: “If there is one thing worse than being an ugly duckling in a house of swans, it’s having the swans pretend there’s no difference.” - Teena Booth<br>
Assignment: Is is true that there are no ugly things?<br>
In both objects and situations, beauty seems to always be classified within positive parameters,never once being negative due to the adulation that beautiful things receive. Constable takes this idea and turns it into his own hypothesis that with “light, shade, and perspective” the “form of an object’ is always beautiful. This same idea can be applied to scenarios, for every seemingly appalling event in life can be proven to be beneficial in the big picture. Through my literary studies and personal experiences, I have seen that sometimes the worst moments in one’s life can be one of the greatest as life unravels.
Jane Austen's Persuasion tells the Romantic story of Anne Elliiot and Captain Wentworth, an eight year struggle until they finally marry. Upon first encounter, Captain Wentworth offers Anne his hand in marriage to which she refuses. He then leaves to go off to war, leaving Anne still loving his despite their abrupt, depressing exchange. Eight years later, Wentworth returns with fortune and esteem back to Anne's inner familial circle. However, he is initially very curt with her and in fact is searching for another wife in Anne's family. As the story progresses it is revealed that Wentworth has been in love with Anne all along, and that that denial eight years prior was the fire that drove him back to Anne. Although their ugly ending eight years ago was devastating then, is is that exact thing that made their love for one another so incredibly durable and persistent.
Along with Anne and Wentworth's lives together, the trauma of me tearing my ACL three months ago has proved to me that not all gifts come wrapped ornately. With over six years, over ten season, and three years of varsity football under my belt, I was convinced that this junior year was mine to go all state as our team was on track for the State Championship. However, two games before playoffs, I tore my ACL on the second play of the game. My love for football diminished for weeks, not being able to sleep because of my confusion and anger. However, then I started walking normally and running normally, a feeling that released so much weight off of my shoulders. Now, I look back and realize that though the injury was deleterious then, it has matured me and made me much stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Through my literary studies and personal experiences, I have com to realized that bad things do not always turn out to be destructive to one's life. Anne and Wentworth persevered through a marriage denial and I have through a devastating injury. As John Constable states, "light, shade, and perspective" of any thing or event in life is all that is needed to realize the inner beauty that it holds. </p>