WHAT IS CHARM ?

Evening Star, Issue 22249, 29 January 1936, Page 17

WHAT IS CHARM ?

“ Charm,” says Sir Janies Barrie, “ is the bloom on a woman.” In a recent competition held by an overseas paper, when • readers were asked to define, in 50 words the qualities that make a charming woman, most of them enumerated the attributes which they believe go to make up this queer, elusive quality. Kindness was one important essential, sympathy another. and humour a third. Nearly all said frankly that beauty does not count, although some, contended that poise and beauty of voice and expression help to make a charming woman. A few went further, and insisted that a charming woman must not only have opinions or her own—and should know how to keep them to herself when necessary—but be an intelligent conversationalist and an interested listener. The following entry won the first prize:—“To my husband, Janet is the personification of charm. _ She puts colour into life and magic into love. She turns boredom into peace and makes him as interesting to himself as he is to her. Janet is the woman my husband thinks I am.” And here is an unusual definition from a man:—“ A charming woman is she who is genuinely elusive, fickle, coy, and hard to please. This brings out the fervent wish in any real man to fathom, understand, and win her over to his side.”