Forget Religion, Beauty is Another Pull on Society
The apple is sweet and pleasing to humans’ taste buds; it serves the purpose of nutrition and can satisfy us when we are hungry. The cannabis provides pleasure for the mind and can fulfill the desire to escape reality. The potato allows humans to exercise control and, like the apple has a practical nutritional application. As opposed to the apple, cannabis and potato, however, the tulip merely serves as eye candy. The tulip’s appeal stems mainly from the reason that it is pleasing to observe and does not actually serve a practical purpose. Not only is the tulip considered to be beautiful because of its colors and petals but it has such a symmetric and specific structure that its inherent and apparent perfection can captivate many humans who strive on their own to become flawless. In The Botany Of Desire, the author, Michael Pollan uses the tulip as a means of examining the power of beauty.
“The autumn of 1635 marked a turning point” (101) states Pollan, referring to the start of “tulupmania” (101) that transpired in Holland. At this time, the Dutch became fascinated with the “color breaks” (101) of the tulip and began a “year-round” (102) trade that resulted in a major price inflation of the flower. The obsession with the tulip was entirely disastrous to the lives and the economy of the Dutch. “Tulipmania” finally came to a sudden halt in 1637 when “fools” (103) realized that the value of the tulip had become too great and the advantages of buying tulips too small. Pollan describes that “in the aftermath [of “Tulipmania], many Dutch blamed the flower for their folly, as if the tulips themselves had…lured otherwise sensible men to their ruin” (104). The affect of the tulip in Holland in the 17th century is a microcosm of “the nature of beauty” (105).
Pollan has captured the power that beauty can exert on a society. Today, for example, in American society, humans have channeled so much of their energy on physical appearance as a result of their desires to be beautiful: plastic surgery, eating disorders and the production of cosmetics are rampant throughout the United States. While many speculate the source of this superficiality, the power of beauty that Pollan indirectly shows through the situation in Holland can apply to Americans today: people are attracted to the beauty in nature. Today however, people are not limited to simply enjoying the beauty they notice around them, whether in nature or in some other form. Americans are able to control beauty through technological means and so they can attempt to mirror the perfection that they perceive in their surrounding environment. What people fail to realize is that even the tulip is not perfect, it is just always pleasing to the eye which is sufficient criteria to be deemed attractive. Without acknowledging the imperfections in nature, people believe that their own flaws can be rectified.
Pollan first introduces the tulip as having an “orderly arrangement of petals and stamens.” (99) The petals of the tulip each form perfectly around the next so that one can’t help but admire this natural piece of artwork. At Pollan’s first inspection of the flower, there appear to be no superfluous traits: every part of the flower serves a specific purpose and contributes to its eye captivating beauty. Yet as Pollan continues to describe the characteristics of the tulip he acknowledges that not all tulips have the standard six petals or three lipped stigmas, which serve as the basis for the symmetrical structure and appeal of the flower. There were many tulips that Pollan observed that contained “subtle perversities” (99) such as having nine to ten petals or stigmas with six lips. These tulips however were equally (if not more) appealing to Pollan than the tulips without “such eruptions of biological irrationality” (99). Pollan alludes to the larger idea that flowers are rarely regarded as ugly. Humans, if anything, appear to find enjoyment viewing nature’s anomalies when considering plants. This acceptance of irrational beauty does not, however, extend to how humans view one another in American society. At its most basic, the human body possesses a remarkable amount of symmetry (more complex than the tulip): two feet, two legs, two arms etc. The structure of the body should be more aesthetically fascinating to humans than the tulip’s composition is. American society, however, has become so critical of the human form that any deviation from a normal outward appearance is not readily praised while a “chance mutation” (99) in a tulip is not regarded as a defect but rather often as a desirable quality.
Throughout The Botany of Desire, Pollan is able to illustrate human nature through the evolution of four very distinct plants. The apple, tulip, cannabis and potato do indeed represent desires common to most (if not all) humans. Pollan’s anecdotes on the tulip subtly chastise humans pull towards beauty yet at the same time shows the relevance of beauty in science. Without the desire to strive for perfection or to find beauty, science itself may not have progressed as fast as it has. People, not only try to find excellence within themselves, but for centuries have been propelled into science in an attempt to find symmetry, order and perfection in the universe. A balance, therefore, should be struck between the advantages of being motivated by beauty and the idea that beauty can be nothing less than the embodiment of perfection.
“The autumn of 1635 marked a turning point” (101) states Pollan, referring to the start of “tulupmania” (101) that transpired in Holland. At this time, the Dutch became fascinated with the “color breaks” (101) of the tulip and began a “year-round” (102) trade that resulted in a major price inflation of the flower. The obsession with the tulip was entirely disastrous to the lives and the economy of the Dutch. “Tulipmania” finally came to a sudden halt in 1637 when “fools” (103) realized that the value of the tulip had become too great and the advantages of buying tulips too small. Pollan describes that “in the aftermath [of “Tulipmania], many Dutch blamed the flower for their folly, as if the tulips themselves had…lured otherwise sensible men to their ruin” (104). The affect of the tulip in Holland in the 17th century is a microcosm of “the nature of beauty” (105).
Pollan has captured the power that beauty can exert on a society. Today, for example, in American society, humans have channeled so much of their energy on physical appearance as a result of their desires to be beautiful: plastic surgery, eating disorders and the production of cosmetics are rampant throughout the United States. While many speculate the source of this superficiality, the power of beauty that Pollan indirectly shows through the situation in Holland can apply to Americans today: people are attracted to the beauty in nature. Today however, people are not limited to simply enjoying the beauty they notice around them, whether in nature or in some other form. Americans are able to control beauty through technological means and so they can attempt to mirror the perfection that they perceive in their surrounding environment. What people fail to realize is that even the tulip is not perfect, it is just always pleasing to the eye which is sufficient criteria to be deemed attractive. Without acknowledging the imperfections in nature, people believe that their own flaws can be rectified.
Pollan first introduces the tulip as having an “orderly arrangement of petals and stamens.” (99) The petals of the tulip each form perfectly around the next so that one can’t help but admire this natural piece of artwork. At Pollan’s first inspection of the flower, there appear to be no superfluous traits: every part of the flower serves a specific purpose and contributes to its eye captivating beauty. Yet as Pollan continues to describe the characteristics of the tulip he acknowledges that not all tulips have the standard six petals or three lipped stigmas, which serve as the basis for the symmetrical structure and appeal of the flower. There were many tulips that Pollan observed that contained “subtle perversities” (99) such as having nine to ten petals or stigmas with six lips. These tulips however were equally (if not more) appealing to Pollan than the tulips without “such eruptions of biological irrationality” (99). Pollan alludes to the larger idea that flowers are rarely regarded as ugly. Humans, if anything, appear to find enjoyment viewing nature’s anomalies when considering plants. This acceptance of irrational beauty does not, however, extend to how humans view one another in American society. At its most basic, the human body possesses a remarkable amount of symmetry (more complex than the tulip): two feet, two legs, two arms etc. The structure of the body should be more aesthetically fascinating to humans than the tulip’s composition is. American society, however, has become so critical of the human form that any deviation from a normal outward appearance is not readily praised while a “chance mutation” (99) in a tulip is not regarded as a defect but rather often as a desirable quality.
Throughout The Botany of Desire, Pollan is able to illustrate human nature through the evolution of four very distinct plants. The apple, tulip, cannabis and potato do indeed represent desires common to most (if not all) humans. Pollan’s anecdotes on the tulip subtly chastise humans pull towards beauty yet at the same time shows the relevance of beauty in science. Without the desire to strive for perfection or to find beauty, science itself may not have progressed as fast as it has. People, not only try to find excellence within themselves, but for centuries have been propelled into science in an attempt to find symmetry, order and perfection in the universe. A balance, therefore, should be struck between the advantages of being motivated by beauty and the idea that beauty can be nothing less than the embodiment of perfection.
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