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Content snapshot
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Violence
None
No violence
Language
None
No strong language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief romantic interest arising from the premise
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Barely any
Mild; the psychological revelation of how beauty changes one's treatment in society
What this book is about
Harriet Stark's 1900 satirical novel follows a plain woman who receives an experimental injection of a 'beauty bacillus' and is transformed into a great beauty. The novel then tracks how every aspect of her life — social, romantic, professional — changes based on her new appearance, using the premise to critique the shallow valuations of women's worth in Victorian society. An early work of feminist social satire.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Satirizes beauty standards and their social effects
Reader Verification
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