The purpose of this thesis is to analyse if there are values of beauty within cultural heritage, not existing in the Western secular-rational evaluation. Three different heritage objects are separately analysed, by a discourse analytic approach, to examine signs that refers to beauty. Beauty is defined according to the Oxford Dictionaries definitions of both beauty and the sublime. Three case studies are chosen: The Vaxholm Fortress, The Haga Park and The Royal Opera, all situated in Stockholm and well known to me. 

The research questions examine the possible definitions of values of beauty in these cultural heritage objects, as well as how and for what reasons values of beauty are activated or ignored in the discourses surrounding them. If beauty as a value can provide a critical alternative to the Western secular-rational valuation of heritage, discussed by Denis Byrne (2014) and Laurajane Smith (2006), is also examined.  

The thesis also examines the reasons for the forbidden value of beauty, claimed in this thesis. The gendered spaces are visible in the theories and practice of heritage. It may be an outcome of the connection between beauty and femininity and the sublime and masculinity, and its long tradition in aesthetics.  

Sökord: Beauty, Heritage, Sublime, Secular-Rational Worldview, Heritage Values,  Gendered Spaces, Critical Heritage Studies, Aesthetic Values, Heritage Values, Discourse Analysis, The Vaxholm Fortress, The Haga Park, The Royal Opera of Stockholm.