# Beauty John — Poetry character guide

> Beauty John in Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Beauty, John, professional Beauty . St. John, St. John

**First appearance:** 0000-poetry

## Snapshot

A charismatic young man who swaps souls with a reformer and becomes the amphibious king of Prohibition, all in Bierce's gleefully savage political farce.

## Who they are

Beauty John, also called St. John, is the beautiful young man at the center of Bierce's dramatic satire on temperance politics and soul-trading. He agrees to exchange immortal parts with a former president, then is baptized with Vinegar Bitters and sent running as the webbed-footed monarch of aquatical cranks. His flight and the scramble to follow him expose the absurdity of reform movements built on vanity and self-interest.

## In the story

### [In Memoriam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/in-memoriam)

The narrator's beloved Angora cat, now deceased, remembered for her boldness and affection.

### [Metempsychosis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/metempsychosis)

A presidential candidate willing to swap souls to lead the Prohibition cause.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/characters/beauty_john
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/characters