Behind the Formaldeyde Curtain

Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain by Jessica Mitford This process analysis essay is explaining the process of embalming a body Embalming is preparing the body for the funeral (perfecting it, filling it with liquids, putting on tints/cosmetics, etc.) Mitford uses the phrase "Alas, poor Yorick" from the play Hamlet because she is "lifting the formaldehyde curtain" by showing us the truth about embalming and how us humans are so obsessed with appearances, even after death. Her tone is sarcastic. Quote to prove it: "How true; once the blood is removed, chances of live burial are indeed remote." Uses repetition in her style of writing. "How surprised he would be to see how his counterpart of today is whisked off to a funeral parlor and is in short order sprayed, sliced, pierced, pickled, trussed, trimmed, creamed, waxed, painted, rouged, and neatly dressed--transformed from a common corpse into a Beautiful Memory Picture" (Mitford 326).

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