Summary of Anza Yezierkas The Lost Beautifulness - Book Report/Review Example

The short story was written by Yezierka entitled “The Lost ‘Beautifulness’” definitely stirred one’s sympathy to the main character, Hanneh Hayyeh. There were mixed emotions that were apparently exhibited by Hanneh: from being proud and jubilant after she successfully painted her kitchen white; to being anxious and worried after her landlord raised her rent for the first time; and to eventually being enraged, vengeful and distraught after the landlord raised her rent for the second time; and finally, being remorseful, distraught, almost at the verge of losing her mind when she furiously destroyed the beautifulness that apparently caused her misery.

In Janaro & Altshuler’s (2012) book, the epiphany was explicitly noted as providing an “insight into life or human nature” (97). In Hanneh’s story, epiphany, which also means a sudden realization, was demonstrated at the climax of the story when she realized that ironically, the cause of all her misery is her desire to emulate the possession of beauty and elegance from the white kitchen she envied from Mrs Preston and to hope for democracy as she was expectantly made to believe that she could be capable of availing.