DELIGHTFULLY BEAUTIFUL: Male Beauty in Literature and Culture

THOUGH the Goddess of Beauty is, famously, female (Aphrodite or Venus, in Latin) male beauty is also spectacular. 

In Homeric epic, the beauty of the man is at least as important as the beauty of the woman; there is also the suggestion that beauty was a quality women indeed appreciated in a man. Paris is scorned at some point by his brother, wise Hector, for being too pretty --"you pretty boy", Hector calls him; yet Paris's famous (or infamous) success with the ladies is never in doubt.

In later centuries, male beauty was often upstaged by the female, but men were beautiful too: Romeo is so beautiful Juliet compares him to a rose; Sir Tristan from Arthurian Legend is a knock-out, Hamlet was admired for his looks and style, while Orlando, in Shakespeare's As You Like It is also lovely.

In the 19th century, men did not have to be beautiful -- beauty was considered to be the province of woman. Still, the ideal of male beauty exists in books such as Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and in many of the novels of Charles Dickens, such as in David Copperfield and Our Mutual Friend. In Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth, hero-villain Henry Bellingham is also absolutely beautiful -- his beauty impresses even the men.

Nowadays, male beauty fares well in books and in the runway too (see Sean O'Pry, Mariano Di Vaio, Adrien Sahores, the models for Abercrombie and Fitch). In the first picture in this piece have a look at actor James Preston modelling for this (in)famous jeans brand!

I meant to write about Christian Grey from Fifty Shades, Jace Wayland from Mortal Instruments and some other delightfully beautiful young men from literature, but I think that this must wait and go to another post all on its own!