Illusions of Beauty and Status: Clara Dillingham Pierson’s Short Story for Children ‘The Night Moth With a Crooked Feeler’

Illusions of Beauty and Status: Clara Dillingham Pierson’s Short Story for Children ‘The Night Moth With a Crooked Feeler’
Clara Dillingham Pierson shows that the illusions of beauty and status tend to hide a lack of character. Colored copper engraving from Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, Plate XLIX, 1705 by Maria Sibylla Merian Public Domain
Kate Vidimos
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Too often we worry about looking perfect and beautiful, impressing people, and fitting in. However, beauty and status are not things worth seeking.

In her short story, “The Night Moth With a Crooked Feeler,” Clara Dillingham Pierson shows that, when we get caught up in beauty, looks, and status, we lose sight of character, kindness, and bravery. Pierson shows how the young moth, Miss Cecropia, learns that good character brings better, truer friends than beauty and status.
Kate Vidimos
Kate Vidimos
Author
Kate Vidimos holds a bachelor's in English from the liberal arts college at the University of Dallas and is currently working on finishing and illustrating a children’s book.
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