Le sacrifice de la beauté is a scholarly work of literary and aesthetic criticism examining how beauty, embodiment, and the face are treated in literature. Through attention to women’s representation and intertextual patterns, the study considers how literary texts construct, challenge, or transform ideals of feminine beauty. Its focus on the body and the face suggests an inquiry into visual, symbolic, and cultural meanings rather than a purely formal account of aesthetics. The book is best understood as a specialized critical study for readers interested in French literary analysis, gendered representation, and the relationship between beauty and textual interpretation. It offers a focused investigation of how literary tradition can both preserve and unsettle inherited ideas about appearance, identity, and artistic value.