Text Analysis of Oscar Wilde "Birthday of the Infanta"

The main idea of the ´Birthday of the Infanta´ is to show how society standardizes the perception of what is beautiful or ugly. Although the Dwarf has the qualities which are considered to be that of a kind hearted and good person, he is treated as something less and is put to humiliation because of the fact that he is ugly while the evil spirited princess is seen as the symbol of beauty and all that is good, she is spoiled and only cares about her own satisfaction. ‘The Birthday of the Infanta’ is to demonstrate the harsh reality of someone who is not the same as everybody or in some way is ugly, treated with disgust and used for entertainment. This problem is in fact a topical issue in nowadays society. Unfortunately, ages from then people with certain disabilities and features considered to be ugly are treated in the same matter, no matter how kind hearted they are. As in that story, all surrounding the Dwarf were oblivious to what good qualities he embodied and focused only on what they saw, which was ugliness. There is a certain level of unfairness displayed in that situation in the story. Society fails to look beyond the surface and sadly will continue to do so for a long time.…