Fair of face

The text “Fair of face” has been written by Cyril Hare whose real name is Alfred Gordon Clark. He was an English crime writer mostly known for his great detective novel “Tragedy at Law”. “Fair of face” is an intriguing short story about the theft of a pair of Degas statuettes. As any of his works, he presents different types of characters and how important is the role of each other in the text.

The intrigue of the text is the moment when Aubrey meets Deborah and is astonished by her beauty, but mostly he finds resemblance between her and the portrait Warbeck Titian. The development of the action continues with the exhibition where the entire visitor had the chance to admire the portrait hanging on the wall and the image of Deborah standing next to it. The climax of the action is the moment when she leaves suddenly the gallery with tears in her eyes. She realised actually that she has been framed, by seeing the thief stealing the statuettes and understands that she was nothing more than a beautiful cover girl. The outcome of the action gives the reader the chance to discover that the real thief is Rosamund.

One of the main themes of the text is appearance and intelligence that is shown in Deborah’s character. The naivety (Deborah) and the selfishness ( Rosamaund and Audrey) of people. Love between Rosamaund and Audrey that can make people to do crazy things.

The idea provided in the text is that people often take advantage of girl’s beauty, or in general of vulnerable human beings. People who are doing that are not concerned about the feelings of the others; their only goal is to receive what they want. Another idea in the text is the fact that a girl cannot be beautiful and intelligent at the same time. It’s either one thing or another, but I do think that it’s a stereotype that has evolved into a creed for some people. Throughout history there have been a lot of examples that proves the opposite like Amelia Earhart (the first woman who flew), Michelle Obama, Hilary Clinton, Madonna etc. Those women are an inspiring example of a balanced human being, who can combine both beauty and intelligence.

The message of the text is that we should be more careful who we trust, because people are trying often to use us in their own purposes. We must learn to distinguish people with a good heart among those who have no soul, to be attentive and not let ourselves fooled. In a world where a sincere person is like a pearl, we need to try and find that one and unique person in order to be safe and happy.

The main characters of the text are Deborah and Aubrey.

Deborah is John Franklin sister who was a real beauty. The author describes her as “the beauty sheer of her face took your breath away” and of course as any beautiful woman she was aware of her remarkable looks. Besides being beautiful, she is also a naive creature that has easily fallen into the Audrey’s trap. Her naivety is also seen when she decides to give the statues without “much fuss” trying to protect Audrey. We are also observing that she does not possess a high intelligence because during the theft, instead of admiring the painting, she was staring at herself.

Aubrey is taking charge of a local museum that apparently seemed to be a very polite gentleman. Unfortunately at the end of the text, we discover his real nature and we see that he profited of her and we see that he profited of her beauty and naivety.

The title of the text “Fair of faces” shows the diversity of appearances and characters that exist in our world. A fair is always something funny and interesting, but we never know how it might end up for us, so is with people that we encounter. Even if at the first sight they might seem perfectly normal, deep down might be hiding a completely different person.

The style of the text is colloquial with a figurative language. A simile “Deborah as a local phenomenon”, “pick –squeak like Aubrey”, “she looked like an angry goddess”, a metaphor “the serene beauty of her face”.

In my humble opinion, I think that as any detective story, it shows us the nature of the human beings and provides a soulful message for the readers.