(400 words) Beauty and kindness are two qualities that seemingly unrelated to each other and which, in art, be it literature, cinema or painting, have been debating for many centuries. If a modern person is asked to choose one of two, he thinks and often cannot make a definite decision. But the poet Heine chose kindness for himself, and I agree with him, because this quality determines the inner world of a person, and he, in my opinion, is much more important than the appearance that we inherit. I will try to explain my choice with the help of literary examples.
Beauty usually means attractive appearance that outshines character. For example, the heroine of the epic novel by L. N. Tolstoy “War and Peace” was an unusually seductive woman, conquering everyone with her appearance. But that was just a shell: Helene had a vicious nature. For the sake of money and position, she was ready for her favorite disgusting acts: deceit, theft and marriage of convenience. Napoleon at the meeting called her "a beautiful animal." Kuragin married the wealthy Count Pierre Bezukhov to gain a foothold in society, plotted against him and his loved ones, and then decided to marry a wealthy foreigner, but did not have time - she died due to some illness. Helene is an absolutely negative character, there is nothing positive in her. “Where you are - there is debauchery, evil,” Pierre said to his wife. Behind a beautiful shell concealed debauchery, cruelty and pride. The relationship with this woman brought Bezukhov only grief, because he chose beauty, not kindness. His choice was wrong.
But beauty is not only external. The ugly outside of Quasimodo from W. Hugo’s novel “Notre Dame de Paris” turns out to be the kindest character in the book. He selflessly performs his work as a ringer, because of which he is deaf; not grumble at fate, which awarded him an ugly appearance. He saves Esmeralda from execution because she once felt sorry for him, and he is not afraid to go against society for the good-natured gypsy. He sincerely loves her, but allows himself to admire her only at night when she is sleeping. The hero even offers to bring Phoebe to her, who owns the heart of Esmeralda, because such a thing as jealousy is alien to him, he wants her to be happy. The gypsy did not have to regret meeting the hunchback, he was the only man who treated her in a good way without hope of reciprocity. His kind heart completely leveled outward ugliness.
The great English playwright W. Shakespeare wrote: "You can fall in love with beauty, but love is only a soul." And it happens: a beautiful appearance without inner virtue loses its attractiveness, while good deeds cause sympathy, respect, gratitude. That is why I, like Heine, prefer kindness to beauty.
