Point of View

The Beautiful is mainly written in past tense, limited third-person point of view. Most of the chapters focus the third-person narration on Celine, although there are a few exceptions where the perspective shifts to Bastien’s perspective. For example, when Celine is kidnapped in the end of the novel, there are several chapters focused on Bastien’s limited point of view. In “A Pound of Flesh,” the chapter begins in Bastien’s perspective. Ahdieh writes, “Something was horribly wrong. Bastien had known it the instant his uncle had come to him, a warm smile on his face and an unsettling light in his gaze” (390). This narration clearly demonstrates that Bastien is unaware of Celine’s recent conversation with Nicodemus and the fact that she has just been kidnapped. The following chapter, called “The Final Nail,” returns to Celine’s limited perspective. Ahdieh writes, “Celine woke...