Charles Lamb excerpt: 'That handsome is as handsome does,' from Last Essays of Elia
Description:
On Lamb's invented 'Mrs. Conrady,' the unfortunate paragon of female unattractiveness: "We are convinced that true ugliness, no less is affirmed of true beauty, is the result of harmony. No one ever saw Mrs. Conrady, without pronouncing her to be the plainest woman that he ever met with in the course of his life. The first time that you are indulged with a sight of her face, is an era in your existence ever after. You are glad to have seen it – like Stonehenge. No one can pretend to forget it . . ." An "amusing" meditation on physical ugliness.
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