Is height a beauty standard?

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Is height a beauty standard? Written by Mary Ellen (9/27/2006 6:22 p.m.) in consequence of the missive, But..., penned by Barbara

I'm not sure that we can say that height is part of the beauty standard. Nothing in this novel or the other novels implies this. And everything presented in this thread seems purely speculation.

From the particular quotation being discussed I would guess that proportion might be important. And from the quote from P&P I might guess that symmetry might be important also. But JA does say 'the advantage of height' which does not make height sound like a bad thing.

And I'm not sure if curvy or thin were more popular at the time either. JA might not have been refering to either height or girth. She might have even been saying that Elinor had better posture and that Marianne tended to slouch.

Certainly I believe that JA is saying that beauty is not something that can be catagorically defined; beauty is rather something one knows when one sees it. And she is saying that Marianne had a little more of that undefinable quality.

Whether JA intended either Marianne or Elinor to be taller seems like a debatable point.

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JA's way with words teri-mc (9/25/2006 1:37 p.m.)

'His name was good', Mandy N (9/28/2006 9:36 a.m.)
- The Particular Spirit of Marianne Robbin (9/28/2006 3:22 p.m.)
  - Willoughby's name Maisy (9/28/2006 7:18 p.m.)
    - Clement Willoughby Barbara (9/28/2006 8:12 p.m.)
      - Thanks again! nfm :D Robbin (9/29/2006 7:41 a.m.)
      - Thanks! -nfm Maisy (9/29/2006 6:40 a.m.)
My personal opinion Mary Ellen (9/26/2006 1:51 p.m.)
- But... Barbara (9/26/2006 2:21 p.m.)
  - Is height a beauty standard? Mary Ellen (9/27/2006 6:22 p.m.)
    - I don't think it's that ambiguous Barbara (9/28/2006 5:14 p.m.)
      - Great points, Barbara Maisy (9/28/2006 6:48 p.m.)
    - I don't infer so; who's taller; plumpness Tom P2 (9/28/2006 3:31 a.m.)
L&T: What was considered a "correct" form? Line (9/25/2006 7:15 p.m.)
- I read this as Marianne being taller than Elinor Barbara (9/25/2006 8:52 p.m.)
  - Proper height: "a running joke in JA's fiction" Maisy (9/26/2006 1:40 p.m.)
    - Which sister is taller? Maisy (9/26/2006 1:52 p.m.)
      - Does the "in" make a difference?   Ann2 (9/26/2006 5:55 p.m.)
        
        Not only to a foreign ear :-)   Barbara (9/26/2006 8:26 p.m.)
        
        Punctuation   Maisy (9/27/2006 6:58 a.m.)
  - That's how I read it Rae (9/26/2006 9:37 a.m.)
  - Oh! Amy Marie (9/26/2006 7:12 a.m.)

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