‘The Death of Venus’: Analysing the Connecting Depictions of Beauty and Tragedy in Literature

Two major themes that have been depicted in literature of nearly all periods, through various symbols and characters, have been ‘beauty' and ‘tragedy'. From ancient to contemporary authors, these concepts have intrigued psyches and have made their way into many stories, be it classics or folk tales. This paper analyses four major instances where these two predominant subjects have overlapped, from the works of Homer and Ovid to the more recent Oscar Wilde; highlighting the concurrence of the two major ideas.