ladybusiness | (Reply)

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I didn't really go into the details of Taura's appearance because it's a sci-fi novel and therefore the explanations are long and universe-specific, but: she's an engineered supersoldier, and her DNA contains bits of nonhuman DNA; her "jaw shape" is an abbreviated wolf muzzle, and her canine teeth are visible (I think) even when her lips are closed -- pretty sure that she doesn't meet any time period's definition of attractive in a convential sense. :D When Miles (the main character) first meets her, he assumes she can't speak and that her IQ is subhuman...

It's been so long since I read Jane Eyre that I really don't remember anything about Jane's appearance, alas.

Sarah, Plain and Tall probably -- from what I recall -- falls into the "may be mostly a function of time period"; at least, I suspect that what colonial Americans would consider "tall" (and even "plain") might be considered attractive today; but at least within the novel, set as it is in that period, Sarah is judged to be unattractive.