Perspective

It's all a matter of perspective: I used the illustration of 'The Ugly Duckling' many years ago. It's a strange story when you know the ending. The title character wasn't actually a duckling; he was a cygnet, and, as cygnets go, he wasn't ugly. Those other ducklings, who said, 'Quack! Get out of town", (allegedly) had obviously never seen a cygnet grow into a swan. The point is that from their perspective he didn't look right, because he wasn't one of them.

Ugliness (and beauty) is something that has fascinated me for a long time. Think about Cinderella and her Ugly Sisters (step-sisters to be precise). Their mother didn't think they were ugly; and as they are always portrayed as looking like their mother, presumably Cinderella's dad didn't think they were ugly either - would he choose to marry an ugly woman?

And what is that glass slipper all about? Prince Charming dances with Ella all night, until she runs away at midnight, and he can't remember what she looks like! He has that glass slipper and so he sends his minions around the kingdom to see who the slipper fits. He doesn't know what her face looks like, but he knows her shoe size!! Is that a good basis for a Happily Ever After marriage?

Are we to assume that she has such beautiful feet that the Prince can't resist her? If one of the Ugly Sisters had small feet would he have cared?

Perspective is always necessary when encountering people. They are not always what they first appear!