Viewing Beauty

 Viewing Beauty

            “…like beauty, my friend, ‘tis in the eye of the beholder” (13) translates to beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This phrase is exceptionally prominent around the world. It's a phrase that many parents use to teach their children one of the most important life lessons. The lesson is not all that you see is beautiful everyone will see it in the same way. To simplify this, if you observe something that you find lovely not everyone will observe it in the same manner. So might find it beautiful just like you and others might not. 

            A great example of this is in the play the Man of La Mancha. The phrase “…like beauty, my friend, ‘tis in the eye of the beholder” (13) is spoken at the point in the narrative when Don Quixote turns to face Sancho and they are discussing a roadway. This route resembles "the road to El Toboso where you can get chickens for cheap," according to Sancho. He was blind to the road's wonder. Don Quixote, on the other hand, has a radically different perspective and claims that there would be "knights and countries, warlocks, magicians... and a cavalcade of gigantic, infinite armies" along the way. While Sancho regarded the street as being shabby and unclean, he thought it was a great thing. This shows how differently each of them viewed or observed the beauty of the road. Don Quixote saw the good and the potential of the road, while Sancho looked at it in a realistic way. 

            I personally have the same experience as Sancho when observing situations. For example, when a friend of mine and I get involved in something adverse or something adverse happens to us, I always look at it in a bad and realistic way. While he looks at the potential of this experience. He observes the possible lessons and values that we can take out of this experience. Then later on when I look back at this moment I remember that he was correct and there was a potential at this moment that we could have exploited. So always remember who do you want to be like when observing a situation, Sancho or Don Quixote.