There are many physical characteristics which, when used in storytelling, have ingrained concordances with less tangible traits. It's a code we imbibe through fiction starting with folktales and continuing through ever possible genre and storytelling mode. Beauty is one of these characteristics and as real life push back spills over into how fiction is written, descriptions of physical beauty are being scorned. At least by a small very vocal contingent. So just what are you saying when you incorporate physical beauty in your character make up? The dragons are willing to bet you're saying more than you perhaps realise. This week Jules and Madeleine explore what associations come package with this characteristic, why you might want to use it (despite the naysayers) and how to do it in a way that enriches your character, rather than detracts from them.
On the slab this week: The Picture of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde, Rouge - Mona Awad, Fairest - Gail Carson Levine and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Episode 415: Seafarers, Swashbucklers and Chaotic Archaeologists - the evolution of Adventure Fiction
Episode 414: Seasons May Change - Stars Farmers & Wild Weather Calendars
Episode 413: Dragon riders & wolf speakers - the Animal Soul Bond in Speculative Fiction
Episode 412: By the Blade - the Evolution of Heroic Fantasy
Episode 411: Kitchen Heroes - Humble Protagonists who get Things Done in Speculative Fiction
Episode 410: In a Rural Dream - The Rise of Cottagecore
Episode 409: Pitched Perfectly - The Film was Better than the Book
Episode 408: There’s good news and...more good news - 2023 in review
Episode 407: Jingle Bell Rock - Storytelling through the medium of songs the Christmas edition
Episode 406: A Picture Says a Thousand Words - The Rise of the Graphic Novel
Episode 404: It was Great Apart from the Ending - Beloved Fiction that Wobbled on the Dismount
Episode 403: The Old Family Business - Gangster Witches and Legacy Monster Hunters
Episode: 402 Of Gold and Hubris - Tracing the Origins of Rumpelstiltskin
Episode 401: Girls on Ice - a History of the Fridging Trope
Episode 400: Strange Fruit in the Gallant South - Exploring the Southern Gothic
Episode 399: This Set is Cursed - Strange Events Behind the Scenes at Horror Films
DD Episode 398: Joyous Companions Forever - examining the queerness of the vampire genre
Episode 397: The Beautiful and the Damned - examining the Queerness of the Vampire Genre
Ep 396: It Came from Out of the closet - The Queer Relationship with Horror
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
Just So Stories
Anne of Avonlea
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends