Smith explores the burdens attached to the labels society imposes on women- ‘mother’, ‘wife’ or as in the case of Kiki, Charlene and Victoria ‘black woman’ and how difficult it can be for women to overcome these labels-although none of the characters ever wholly overcome them any small triumphs they achieve are commendable. In many ways Kiki reminds me of Mrs Dalloway- a selfless but emotionally unfulfilled woman who is haunted at having to give up every single part of herself to other people and like Mrs Dalloway, Kiki is sexually curious about other women. In contrast to the emotional immaturity of most of the male characters, the female characters, such as Kiki or Carlene Kipps, display an emotionally maturity and the ability to put the needs of others ahead of themselves which most of the other characters lack-in fact, the three emotionally strongest characters in the novel are probably the three black, female characters, Kiki, Charlene and Victoria Kipps, all three are Black women trapped within the myriad of prejudices and expectations which society expects or demands from them yet all, with varying degrees of success, are overcome and triumph over these expectations. Howard, who lurches from one infidelity to another, rarely thinks about how is infidelities affect Kiki, but instead is more concerned with how they affect himself-will Kiki stop loving him? Why don’t Kiki forgive him? Or, as in the case of both Howard and his friend, Eskrine, the blame is pushed onto the woman: it is the fault of their wives that they are not beautiful or lascivious enough, hence them pursuing affairs with other women-if only their wives were more beautiful or interesting then they would not need to have an affair-even outside individuals, such as Howard’s children, seek to blame their mother for being highly-strung or of over-reacting over the affair-after all their father is a man and this is what men are supposed to do. The relationship between Howard and Kiki forms the crux of the novel-in many ways their relationships sum up the roles and expectation of men and women within modern, Western patriarchal culture. In fact, it is Smith’s ability to create well-rounded characters is her greatest strength as a novelist, as she is able to expertly draw you into the world her characters inhabit.
All of the characters are struggling beneath the weight of expectations which society places on them-in fact, Smith is able to brilliantly explore dynamics of race and gender in modern day America without resorting to clichéd or hackneyed characters.
‘On Beauty’ explores the lives of the Belsey family-the father Howard, a self-absorbed and somewhat unlikeable academic, his long-suffering African-American wife Kiki and their three children Jerome, Zora and Levi.
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