The quote," The beauty of the world, which is soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder," by Virginia Woolf describes the effects beauty has on the mind, soul, and heart. Beauty is a theme repeated throughout the book Mythology, timeless tales of Gods and heroes, by Edith Hamilton. The effect beauty has on people in society today and in the stories of mythology have many similarities and differences, which is going to be explored in depth.
             The similarities that the two stories of Britney Spears & Masahiko Shizawa and Pygmalion & Galatea share are undeniable. A businessman named Masahiko Shizawa became infatuated with pop stars Briney Spears beauty one day while flipping through a magazine. He fell in love with Spears' appearance without ever having the chance to have a conversation with the star. Masahiko started off as an innocent fan turned stalker. Masahiko went to extremes by sending Spears love letters and photographs and even tried to break into her Los Angeles home. He stated, "I will definitely see you again at any cost, and I hope that your bodyguard doesn't prevent me from catching you this time (3). He even put his life on hold in order to travel cross-country with her from her parent's house in Louisiana to her New York digs. In the story of Pygmalion and Galatea, Pygmalion fell in love with a statue with relentless beauty, which was later named Galatea. Firstly, he was determined to never fall in love but just as Masahiko fell in love with the sight of Spears Pygmalion fell in love with the sight of Galatea. This is expressed through the quote, "he had fallen in love, deeply, passionately in love, with the thing he had made (114)." Pygmalion's obsession reached to extremes when he commenced to woo the statue with gifts and love. This was expressed in the quote, "He kissed those enticing lips-they could not kiss him back; h...