1. I think this is the hardest question to answer. Thus, I am answering it last. I think it is hard to answer for me because I rarely relate literature and beauty. To me, those words never go together. I do not remember any scene in the story where I was like “Oh, so beautiful.” However, since I have no choice but to answer I think I would have to say that I found the passage of Alice and Clara relationship the most beautiful. No, it is not because of the sex they have. I had no idea about the sex until Mrs. Lavender mentioned it so kindly. I had an eerie feeling about the relationship the two had but I did not know it was that intimate.
Anyways, maybe it is because of that eeriness, but I found this passage interestingly captivating and it like felt the closest thing to being beautiful. The way Ondaatje wrote on the way Clara and Alice spirit paints Patrick is just elegant. The feeling that Ondaatje gives through the candle gives it a mysterious aura. Also, I think the fact that I had no idea what spirit painting was added on to the mysteriousness. The way Clara and Alice works is very beautiful. Then, the rain came. I thought this scene was just as beautiful if not more beautiful. Clara and Alice take off their clothes so that they can meet the rain. It is beautiful in the sense that we sort of get a glimpse of their true identities. I guess the setting also adds on the beauty because it is set in the countryside. It completes the typical picture of getting soaked in rain in the countryside.
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I'd have to agree with you to a very high extent in that this passage is a very beautiful passage. This passage reveals the characters of Clara and Alice in a very intricate way and in a way that makes the reader think. Of course, I had no idea that this scene was a sex scene as well. However, after learning about the importance of sex scenes in literature, it was obviously quite clear. The fact that you mention about their bodies meeting the rain is actually quite important. It is important because whenever authors reveal rain or water in their stories, it's about being replenished or 'being baptized'. In this specific scene, it's about Clara and Alice sharing their anxiety or haste from their past and just getting rid of it. And this is beautiful because they are two women who basically control Patrick and the way he finds his identity.
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