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The Anatomy Lesson: Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in On Beauty, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Nature of Beauty
Politics in Academia
Race and Identity
The Value of Family
Summary
Analysis
Howard looks at all the students who came to a talk about what he’ll be teaching in his Rembrandt class this semester, knowing several will never come back. He is used to no one asking questions when he’s done with his lecture, but this time, much to his surprise, he gets one: it turns out that Victoria is in his class (although tells him she prefers “Vee”). But all she wants to ask is what time the class is.
The fact that so few students return for Howard’s class is yet another sign that, in spite of his few devoted fans, he struggles to connect with a wider audience. The presence of Victoria in Howard’s class parallels Zora’s presence in Monty’s class. But Victoria also establishes some of the key ways she’s different from Zora, keeping things informal by insisting on a nickname and asking a fairly banal question rather than something difficult and impressive. Victoria, in short, seems less invested in superficial markers of intellectualism.
Themes
Meanwhile, Dean French tells Claire she has to have Zora in her class. Claire protests at first, but she pauses when she hears that Zora used the word “inappropriate.” Dean French says he looked at Claire’s class list and found that three members of the class aren’t even students at Wellington. After Dean French says the whole thing could draw unwanted attention to Claire and how she runs her class, Claire reluctantly accepts Zora.
On Beauty operates in moral gray areas—while Zora uses manipulative tactics to get into Claire’s class, it also seems true that Claire might have a particular grudge against Zora, particularly if she’s willing to take on three non-students before even considering Zora. It also suggests that perhaps Zora isn’t as talented or smart as she thinks she is.
Themes
