Nathanial Hawthorne's,"The Birthmark"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the ideals of symbolism and analogies in comparison to Modern day America that are found in Nathanial Hawthorne's novel, "The Birthmark." The author examines some of these different themes including feminism, discrimination, physical and spiritual imperfection, decay and duplicity. The author feels that this is a very well-written commentary on society at the time.

From the Paper:

"From this perspective we may argue that the birthmark is used as a symbol of the inability of men to accept women on equal terms for themselves. Instead they need an idealistic visions of what they believe a woman should be, complete with all of the relevant social and societal trappings. A woman here is not a person, but an object or worship, and as such she is no longer a real person, but a non person that is the creation of the man's mind. This is a feminist perspective, but a valid notion on the way that men of the time sought to perceive women and reduce them to objects rather then accept them as equals."

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