On Beauty Themes

At the center of On Beauty is a longstanding feud about Rembrandt and how to judge his body of work. Monty Kipps is a traditionalist who believes that Rembrandt is a genius and that beauty comes from God. His rival, Howard Belsey, is a skeptic who believes that Rembrandt is overrated and that almost all paintings of human subjects lack aesthetic value. But while the question of beauty divides Howard and Monty, it unites their…

Zadie Smith’s On Beauty is a novel about politics at all levels, from a broader examination of liberal versus conservate values to more local issues like the office politics of running a university. The mixed-race Belsey family embodies liberalism, with Howard in particular defending traditionally liberal values like education and skepticism. By contrast, the Kipps family represents conservatism, with Monty being an ardent defender of Christianity and a critic of affirmative action, welfare, and homosexuality…

On Beauty is the story of two families who have very different values but whose paths keep crossing: the frequently dysfunctional Belsey family and the seemingly close-knit (but secretly dysfunctional) Kipps family At the beginning of the story, Jerome Belsey stays with the Kippses while studying abroad and finds himself longing to be a part of their family, admiring how they eat meals and go to church together. But Jerome’s efforts to become a part…