Dear helpful flist...

[partly]

Myria is doing a "farrago" piece for forensics this year. In Farrago you take excepts from different literature that all address a common topic. Her topic is "vanity" and she had several very nice pieces picked out, only her poem by Sylvia Plath "Vanity Fair" is a very difficult piece and the thought is that it will go over most of the audience's head and may be considered a drawback by most of the judges. Plus it's the second poem and it would be best to have a different form of literature.

My request:

Does anyone out there know of an except from a book or essay or movie where vanity leads to a bad end? The except should be only about two minutes long when read (although she can edit it down if needed).

Currently she has a poem (more of a children's tale really) where the main character succumbs to flattery and comes to a bad end and she ends with Ovid's tale of Narcissus. We're kinda looking for something between those to extremes.

Can anyone help? We're drawing a blank right now, even though I know there's examples out there.

Comments

[imbri6.livejournal.com]

It's been more than 25 years since I read it, and it's probably a very "out-there" sort of idea, but what about something from The Picture of Dorian Gray? The painting was pure vanity, and there was definitely a bad end to the story. Wasn't there some sort of madness-fueled rant somewhere near the end? It's been absolutely forever since I read it, though. Approx 1982!