The Lost "Beautifulness"

“The Lost Beautifulness” by Anzia Yezierska was a very powerful story. It captured the reader’s attention and emotion. The reader is brought into Hannah Hayyeh’s life and really experiences at first her joy and beautiful artistry, and then later her murder and turmoil. For me, this portrayal of life in these tenements and the unfairness and cruelty inflicted on these people was more real and more powerful than Riis’s pictures or descriptions. Yezierska captures Hannah Heyyeh’s emotions and brings them to life, which makes the story seem more real than Riis’s words and descriptions, or even his photographs.

An interesting character in “The Lost Beautifulness” was Mrs. Preston, the woman Hannah Hayyeh worked for. Mrs. Preston embodies the kind of person Riis was trying to get the attention of, someone who is of the middle class and sympathizes with the poor. Riis was trying to persuade people like Mrs. Preston to bring about change. The interesting thing is, though, that like Mrs. Preston, Riis’s middle class views got in the way of his helping the poor. Mrs. Preston see’s Hannah Hayyeh’s sadness and anguish, and seems to want to help, but at the same time is unwilling to help. She makes excuses for why things are they way they are, instead of trying to change them: “these laws are far from just, but they are all we have so far. Give us time. We are young. We are still learning. We’re doing our best” (7).

People like Hannah Heyyeh were being robbed by their landlords, and many of the middle class felt like there was nothing they could do to stop it. What would be some ways a middle class person could help someone in Hannah Heyyeh’s situation?