---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Proper deformity shows not in the fiend…"
description: "\"Proper deformity shows not in the fiend So horrid as in woman.\" — William Shakespeare"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8a/william-shakespeare-4_deformity_proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend_2442560.jpg"
---

#  Proper deformity shows not in the fiend So horrid as in…

![“Proper deformity shows not in the fiend So horrid as in woman.” quote by William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8a/william-shakespeare-4_deformity_proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend_2442560.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8a/william-shakespeare-4_deformity_proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend_2442560.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8a/william-shakespeare-4_deformity_proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend_2442560.jpg)

> “Proper deformity shows not in the fiend So horrid as in woman.”

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

True ugliness lies not in outward horror but in the moral corruption of a woman.

**In simple terms:** Moral decay is the real deformity.

Key Takeaway

Judge character, not appearance.

Themes

morality gender perception

Mood

critical thoughtful

Type

analytical philosophical

When to use this quote

- relationship counseling
- gender studies
- ethical training

Key Concepts

ethical judgment social critique

Questions to Reflect On

- How do we address moral failings without gender bias?
- What standards define true deformity?

A Different Perspective

Risk of reinforcing gender stereotypes.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/)

## Related quotes

> [Thou lump of foul deformity!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thou-lump-of-foul-deformity/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [No person who is well bred, kind and modest is ever offensively plain; all real deformity means want for manners or of heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/no-person-who-is-well-bred-kind-and-modest-is-ever-offensively-plain/)

[John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/)

> [Most of the reasons for late-term abortions have to do with severe fetal deformities, but when I found out that dwarfism was also a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-richardson/most-of-the-reasons-for-late-term-abortions-have-to-do-with-severe/)

[John H Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-h-richardson/)

> [We know great Nature's pow'r, Mother of things, whose vast unbounded sway From the deep centre all around extends Wide to the flaming barriers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/we-know-great-nature-s-pow-r-mother-of-things-whose-vast-unbounded/)

[John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/)

> [In such a world as this, with such hearts as ours, weakness is wickedness in the long run. Whoever lets himself be shaped and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/in-such-a-world-as-this-with-such-hearts-as-ours-weakness-is/)

[Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/)

> [Well, I will scourge those apes, And to these courteous eyes oppose a mirror, As large as is the stage whereon we act; Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-these-courteous-eyes-oppose-a/)

[Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/)

> [All our distinctions ire accidental; beauty and deformity, though personal qualities, are neither entitled to praise nor censure; yet it so happens that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/all-our-distinctions-ire-accidental-beauty-and-deformity-though/)

[Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/)

> [He had a head which statuaries loved to copy, and a foot the deformity of which the beggars in the streets mimicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/he-had-a-head-which-statuaries-loved-to-copy-and-a-foot-the-deformity/)

[Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/)

> [In all human love it must be realized that every man promises a woman, and every woman promises a man that which only God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/in-all-human-love-it-must-be-realized-that-every-man-promises-a-woman/)

[Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/)

> [“Information leads to transformation. If you are not inspired by being informed, you will expire by becoming deformed!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/information-leads-to-transformation-if-you-are-not-inspired-by-being/)

[Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/)

> [I refuse the title of artist to those who owe their reputations to a physical deformity. I regard them as buffoons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-bernhardt/i-refuse-the-title-of-artist-to-those-who-owe-their-reputations-to-a/)

[Sarah Bernhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-bernhardt/)

> [Physical deformity, calls forth our charity. But the infinite misfortune of moral deformity calls forth nothing but hatred and vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/physical-deformity-calls-forth-our-charity-but-the-infinite/)

[Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/)

> [What’s with her?” says the painter. “She’s mad because she’s a woman,” Jon says. This is something I haven’t heard for years, not since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/what-s-with-her-says-the-painter-she-s-mad-because-she-s-a-woman-jon/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [By all means, there should be no children when either mother or father suffers from such diseases as tuberculosis, gonorrhea, syphilis, cancer, epilepsy, insanity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-sanger/by-all-means-there-should-be-no-children-when-either-mother-or-father/)

[Margaret Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-sanger/)

> [Rewards and punishments, to speak frankly, are the desk of the soul, that is, a means of enslaving a child's spirit, and better suited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/rewards-and-punishments-to-speak-frankly-are-the-desk-of-the-soul/)

[Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/)

## More by William Shakespeare

> [Let us kill all lawyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-us-kill-all-lawyers/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-tiger-s-heart-wrapped-in-a-woman-s-hide/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Divers philosophers hold that the lips is parcel of the mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/divers-philosophers-hold-that-the-lips-is-parcel-of-the-mouth/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs; Being purg'd, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/love-is-a-smoke-made-with-the-fume-of-sighs-being-purg-d-a-fire/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Ask God for temp'rance. That's th' appliance only Which your disease requires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/ask-god-for-temp-rance-that-s-th-appliance-only-which-your-disease/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [“Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies Which busy care draws in the brains of men; Therefore thou sleep’st so sound. Julius Caesar (2.1.248-251)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thou-hast-no-figures-nor-no-fantasies-which-busy-care-draws-in-the/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Truth needs no color; beauty, no pencil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/truth-needs-no-color-beauty-no-pencil/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Have you not heard it said full oft, A woman's nay doth stand for naught?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/have-you-not-heard-it-said-full-oft-a-woman-s-nay-doth-stand-for/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Omittance is no quittance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/omittance-is-no-quittance/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [“Yes, madam: yet I cannot choose but laugh, To think it should leave crying and say 'Ay.' And yet, I warrant, it had upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/yes-madam-yet-i-cannot-choose-but-laugh-to-think-it-should-leave/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-take-thee-at-thy-word-call-me-but-love-and-i-ll-be-new-baptized/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

[Explore all 5,604 William Shakespeare quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

## More Deformity quotes

> [Rewards and punishments, to speak frankly, are the desk of the soul, that is, a means of enslaving a child's spirit, and better suited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/rewards-and-punishments-to-speak-frankly-are-the-desk-of-the-soul/)

[Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/)

> [By all means, there should be no children when either mother or father suffers from such diseases as tuberculosis, gonorrhea, syphilis, cancer, epilepsy, insanity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-sanger/by-all-means-there-should-be-no-children-when-either-mother-or-father/)

[Margaret Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-sanger/)

> [What’s with her?” says the painter. “She’s mad because she’s a woman,” Jon says. This is something I haven’t heard for years, not since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/what-s-with-her-says-the-painter-she-s-mad-because-she-s-a-woman-jon/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [Physical deformity, calls forth our charity. But the infinite misfortune of moral deformity calls forth nothing but hatred and vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/physical-deformity-calls-forth-our-charity-but-the-infinite/)

[Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/)

> [I refuse the title of artist to those who owe their reputations to a physical deformity. I regard them as buffoons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-bernhardt/i-refuse-the-title-of-artist-to-those-who-owe-their-reputations-to-a/)

[Sarah Bernhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-bernhardt/)

> [“Information leads to transformation. If you are not inspired by being informed, you will expire by becoming deformed!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/information-leads-to-transformation-if-you-are-not-inspired-by-being/)

[Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/)

> [In all human love it must be realized that every man promises a woman, and every woman promises a man that which only God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/in-all-human-love-it-must-be-realized-that-every-man-promises-a-woman/)

[Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/)

> [He had a head which statuaries loved to copy, and a foot the deformity of which the beggars in the streets mimicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/he-had-a-head-which-statuaries-loved-to-copy-and-a-foot-the-deformity/)

[Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/)

> [All our distinctions ire accidental; beauty and deformity, though personal qualities, are neither entitled to praise nor censure; yet it so happens that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/all-our-distinctions-ire-accidental-beauty-and-deformity-though/)

[Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/)

> [Well, I will scourge those apes, And to these courteous eyes oppose a mirror, As large as is the stage whereon we act; Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/well-i-will-scourge-those-apes-and-to-these-courteous-eyes-oppose-a/)

[Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/)

> [In such a world as this, with such hearts as ours, weakness is wickedness in the long run. Whoever lets himself be shaped and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/in-such-a-world-as-this-with-such-hearts-as-ours-weakness-is/)

[Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/)

> [We know great Nature's pow'r, Mother of things, whose vast unbounded sway From the deep centre all around extends Wide to the flaming barriers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/we-know-great-nature-s-pow-r-mother-of-things-whose-vast-unbounded/)

[John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/)

> [Most of the reasons for late-term abortions have to do with severe fetal deformities, but when I found out that dwarfism was also a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-richardson/most-of-the-reasons-for-late-term-abortions-have-to-do-with-severe/)

[John H Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-h-richardson/)

> [No person who is well bred, kind and modest is ever offensively plain; all real deformity means want for manners or of heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/no-person-who-is-well-bred-kind-and-modest-is-ever-offensively-plain/)

[John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/)

> [It seems to be a law of nature that no man, unless he has some obvious physical deformity, ever is loth to sit for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beerbohm/it-seems-to-be-a-law-of-nature-that-no-man-unless-he-has-some-obvious/)

[Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/)

Browse all 92 Deformity quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Proper deformity shows not in the fiend So horrid as in woman.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "William Shakespeare"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend-so-horrid-as-in-woman/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Deformity"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend-so-horrid-as-in-woman/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8a/william-shakespeare-4_deformity_proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend_2442560.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8a/william-shakespeare-4_deformity_proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend_2442560.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8a/william-shakespeare-4_deformity_proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend_2442560.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Proper deformity shows not in the fiend So horrid as in woman.” — William Shakespeare",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "William Shakespeare",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Proper deformity shows not in the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend-so-horrid-as-in-woman/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/proper-deformity-shows-not-in-the-fiend-so-horrid-as-in-woman/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```