De Los Santos Perfect dress and Hoaglands Beautiful: Critical Analysis - Essay Example

? s De Los Santos’ ‘Perfect dress’ and Hoagland’s ‘Beautiful Critical Analysis The poems titled ‘Perfect Dress’ and ‘Beautiful’ were written by Marisa De Los Santos and Tony Hoagland, respectively that deals with the perception and notions of beauty. Tony Hoagland and Marisa De Los Santos explain their own experiences and thoughts about beauty using captivating vocabulary; the poem is encouraging and determined but also, sad and nostalgic words. In the first poem, "Perfect dress" by Marisa De Los Santos, the poet tries to express her longing of wanting to feel beautiful and perfect. She admits that she wants to wake up one morning, being beautiful with no imperfection. She also speaks about how much she wanted herself to be elegant and graceful and in the last she presents her desire to not only be beautiful but also longed for her beauty to be greatly acknowledged by people around her and wanted them to be in awe of her. In the beginning of the poem De Los Santos states, "…a blue confession in smudged, erasable link: "I can't stop hoping I'll wake up, suddenly beautiful...” (2000, 2-3, p. 52). Through the aforementioned lines, it is evident that the poet is trying to underline the heartfelt desires of all women that no matter how much we say otherwise, all women possess an innate desire to be beautiful and loved. These thoughts always pre-occupy women and remain in the back of their minds no matter what they do. She also mentioned looking at a certain magazine which had a title that reads, "How to find the perfect dress for the perfect evening…” (2000, 12, p. 52). The magazine title is used to describe the current state of society that has instilled an insatiable desire in people to achieve physical perfection. The society that only knows how to judge people based on their sense of clothing, talking, behaving and eating. The poet highlights the fact that no matter how beautiful and charming a woman tries to present herself to the people around her, she will always be judged. The poet shows us that the society nowadays has been so blinded that it lets other people tell them what is right and what is wrong; what should a person wear and what one should not? Particularly for women, the contemporary has defined a strict criterion for superficial beauty that everyone tries extremely hard to adhere to, they do not understand other pursuits other than beauty. Near the end, the poet states, "What I wanted was ordinary miracle, the falling away of everything wrong…"(2000, p. 53, 23) it is apparent that she wishes to be blessed with beauty, which is an ordinary trait but she wants it so badly that she has elevated it to the status of a miracle. The poet finally states in the end, "…one day I'll slip into it, say floor-length plum charmeuse. Someone will murmur, ‘She is sublime’, will be precisely right, and I will step with incandescent shoulders, into my perfect evening…” (2000, p. 53, 27-28) in which she clearly shows us her determination and optimism that one day she will have the perfect outfit that exudes grace and beauty. She firmly believes that one day she will walk past the crowd with elegance and honor that will have everyone in the room stare at her in awe. In the end she feels confident enough to walk her way to the world of beauty and finally steal the spotlight for herself to be seen for all eternity. Throughout the poem the narrator has used fantasy as an important theme; she recognizes the wantonness of every woman’s pursuit of but in the end she concludes the poem with a hope that she will be able to attain. This aspect is epitomized through her allusions where she states, "Nothing haute about this couture but my hopes for it, as I tugged it on and waited for my one, true body to emerge…"(2000, p. 52, 18-20). The aforementioned statement indeed sounds like an allusion to puberty when a woman goes through drastic changes in her body, which is also considered to be a transition into womanhood. The narrator expresses her dissatisfaction with her looks and even after puberty, she was not happy with the ‘true’ form she achieved. The poet also uses a lot of clear adjectives to describe her determination and dream to someday be beautiful enough. On the other hand, the second poem titled "Beauty" by Tony Hoagland was inspired by the experiences of the poet’s sister. Hoagland’s sister had spent most of her life trying to be beautiful and attractive. She was so blinded by her pursuit of immaculate beauty that she became dependent on pills that later on elicited harsh side-effects, which was rapidly causing her beauty to fade away and being replaced by the opposite of what she had desired. The poem relates that how the poet’s sister had matured because of this setback in her life. She tries to convince her brother that she is relieved and her life is much less complicated now that she does not have to make any effort to turn look beautiful thereby, pretending to be someone she is not. As her pursuit of beauty has now ended she now finds more time to become familiar with her true sel. She now realizes that the people that she attracted using her beauty just liked her for her superficial appearance and not for her personality or traits that are nobler than an individual’s level o attractiveness. With the loss of her beauty she is also coming to terms with the loss of several, who she once thought were loyal and faithful to her, which is now causing her to feel lonely. The poet then tries to describe beautiful women, who are always trying to become attractive and beautiful, and then he compares such women with the circumstances his sister is facing now. Hoagland also discusses the constant preoccupation of individuals with the way they are perceived by people, who do not even matter in one’s life. Everyone wants to be liked and accepted, but in order to achieve acceptance one must try hard to fit into a certain mold that is deemed desirable by the general masses. We have preoccupied ourselves more with what other people think and have forgotten that it is what we think that is most important. We all long to feel beautiful and regard ourselves as perfect and the poet has pointed out in his poem that our view of perfection has been distorted by the media. We rely far too heavily on other people to tell us how much one should weigh and what should be worn; as a result, the individual ultimately gives society the right to determine who or what one should be. Hoagland’s poetry contains a strong message, according to which an individual is only capable of gaining true beauty if he or she develops the power to negate societal judgments and criteria. The poet uses the word 'knowledge' (12) to indicate that his sister was completely aware of her condition and realized how dull her skin and looks had become. His poem has steady nostalgic tone as Hoagland takes a walk down memory lane to describe what her sister was and how different show had become then. Hoagland describes her attitude as mere ‘Disinterested glances…” (33), as during this stage of her life nothing seemed to matter to his sister except for the idea of self-grooming; she was a typical teenager who was satisfied ad obsessed with her own self and life. The poet does not speak too fondly of his sister throughout the latter part of the poem, but in the beginning he starts off with the revelation of his sister, who fully realizes that she will “never be beautiful again” (5). The poet realizes the grief that his sister feels and he uses her emotions to underline the misconception of many girls that beauty automatically brings happiness in one’s life. However, by the end, the poet genuinely uses the word beautiful to describe his sister, as her loss of her physical beauty had somehow made her into a better person. Although, her face will not be conventionally beautiful again, but the kind of liberation and self-satisfaction that she has now achieved is also uniquely beautiful. His sister has finally found worthier pursuits in her life and continues to live it without having to worry about anyone else judging her. Hoagland’s tone throughout the poem shifts from nostalgia to sadness; he expresses his worry over his sister and then the end part is marked with satisfaction and relief, which shows that in the end his sister found a way to come to terms with her situation. The poet uses a lot of adjectives and rhyming words that creates a stable flow of events that are being related. He describes the feelings he got whenever he would see his sister staring at her reflection; her view of herself had changed drastically. In the past, she had extremely narcissistic tendencies but now she saw herself as a completely different person. The two poems have many overlapping elements; for example, 'Beauty' is a recurring theme for both the poets and both of them try to highlight the perceived importance of this trait in society. De Los Santos and Hoagland underline the fact that beauty can only be gained through a person's own desire and determination, however it is not something that can be preserved. Eventually it will disappear, leaving a girl's worst nightmare to cover her body for the rest of the eternity, however if she accepts it as her true self then it can also be titled as true beauty, which is the happiness of a person's own judgment. One of the greatest disparities between the two poems is how they describe the significance of the beauty. In the latter poem, Hoagland’s sister suffered from the side effects of various beauty products that she once used to attract people to her; in order to be loved, adored and accepted by the society. Initially, his sister is heartbroken but later on she comes to term with it and realizes that not being beautiful is less of a burden and less cumbersome in nature. On the other hand, De Los Santos describes her desire to be beautiful and let others see her beauty. She is desperately waiting for the day when she will be considered the most beautiful and will be able to enjoy the luxury of having surrounded by people fawning over her. The narrator of the ‘Perfect Dress’ sounds very juvenile, for she aims to achieve superficial beauty and does not realize that there are other ways of becoming beautiful as well. Beauty is indeed a desirable characteristic, but not everyone is fortunate enough to be blesses with it. Therefore, one must try to overcome this flaw by becoming a better person, instead of hopelessly wishing for a miracle. Beauty can also not be used to gain happiness but if that person desires to be beautiful just so that she/he can he adored by society then he/she will never gain the true beauty. In conclusion the poem, "Beauty" by Tony Hoagland gains the outmost strength and outshines the other because in this poem he honestly and thoroughly describes his thoughts. He gives a valid perception of beauty and also emphasizes that sooner or later physical beauty fades away. This poem made realize the beauty on the inside is more important than what is outside. His poem is a story of a person, who only cared about her physical appearance. She received attention from the boys that further reinforced the significance of beauty in her head, but eventually they only like her for her beauty, not for herself. However, her nightmare turned out to be a blessing in disguise, for the poet's sister can be herself because she does not have to worry about being superficially beautiful anymore. He realized that now she was more beautiful because she was herself. As his sister had finally rejected the burden of trying to meet an arbitrary standard of beauty, he notes that her attitude to the situation changed; for the poet, her newfound freedom from this burden was in fact beautiful. The poem means to me that beauty in the contemporary society is only defined as competing for attention or measuring up to a random criterion of beauty. However, it cannot be denied that these standards have made the people quite oppressive; perhaps it is better to free themselves from it. A person can be beautiful by having a talent, a personality or anything else that can make her a person that is well-liked by others. Imagination has no boundaries. Beauty on the outside does not matter in life, but what the person is like on the inside matters most in one’s practical life and it is what really counts. Works Cited Hoagland, Tony. ‘Just Spring and Beautiful’. AGNI Poetry, Web Issue 3. 2013. Web. http://www.webdelsol.com/AGNI/ag3-th.htm. 8th April. 2013 De Los Santos, Marisa. ‘From the bones out: Poem - Perfect Dress’. University of South Carolina Press. 2000. Print. P.p 52-53 Read More