Beauty by Jane Martin

Comprehension Check

At the opening of the play, what does the person on the phone probably say to elicit that response from Carla (541)?
How is Bethany's uncle doing at the time the play takes place?
What does "Look, a screaming eagle from shoulder to shoulder, maybe" tell us about the tattoo of the caller (541)?
What does Bethany's comment "Naturally. Who else would I meet" tell us about how she views herself and her love life (541)?
What gesture does Bethany make to illustrate why the genie has a high voice (541)?
What does Carla's "Uh-huh" mean in response to Bethany saying that there is a genie in the lamp (541)?
What does Bethany plan to do with $25,000? (541)
What does Carla's "Oh sure" mean in response to Bethany telling her that money rains down from the sky (541)?
What does Carla suggest is the reason for Bethany acting "really strange lately" (541)?
Is Carla 100% naturally beautiful? (542)
Carla says that "Half the time, it never occurs to them [men] to start with a conversation" (542). What does her description suggest men "start with" the other half of the time?
What meaning of "sign" does Carla understand when she puts down Sagittarius instead of her signature in the application form (542)?
Why are there exclamation points after Bethany/Carla's "Thanks a lot" (543)?

Study Questions

Of the benefits of beauty that Bethany lists, which is the most freeing?
Of the drawbacks of beauty that Carla lists, which is the most limiting?
What limitation seems the most pressing for Carla because of her lack of beauty?
Why do the problems from beauty that Carla lists fail to dissuade Bethany from her desire?
What is better than beauty for Carla who used to be Bethany?
What is better than brains for Bethany who used to be Carla?
What stereotypes of beauty and of brains are used in the play?
What is the difference between being Carla and being beautiful?
What slip up happened that Bethany's initial statement "I want to be like you" (542) eventually results in the wrong wish granted?
"Beauty is the real deal," claims Bethany (542)? How real is Carla's beauty? Is this the same kind of real that Carla asks for with her multiple expressions: "Very funny" (541), "You're not kidding what?!," "Is this some elaborate practical joke," or "These look real"?
Why is it significant that the day is Carla's birthday?

Bethany – "You're the one with the $40,000 job straight out of school" (542); "you're only twenty-three" (1248); "I'm a public accountant" (543)

genie – "twenty-foot-high, see-through guy in like an Arabian outfit" (541)

Bethany's uncle – "in Intensive Care after the accident [...] he was hit by two trucks" (541)

Martin, Jane. Beauty. Lit, edited by Laurie G Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, Wadsworth, 2012, pp. 541–43.

Martin, Jane. Beauty. The Literary Experience, edited by Bruce Beiderwell, and Jeffery M. Wheeler, Thomson Wadsworth, 2008, pp. 1245–51.

Martin, Jane. Beauty. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, edited by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, 10^th ed., Pearson Longman, 2007, pp. 1269–73.