The Strength Of Women In Hawthorne's The Birthmark

In addition to his other works, Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark” is another example of female inferiority in society. Unlike The Scarlet Letter and “Old Esther Dudley,” which focus on the strength of women, “The Birth-Mark” focuses on the importance society places on female beauty. Aylmer, a scientist, marries the beautiful Georgiana, but she has one flaw: a red birthmark resembling a “human hand, though of the smallest pigmy size.” Aylmer asks Georgiana if she has ever considered having it removed since he feels that she “came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature, that this slightest possible defect…[is] the visible mark of earthly imperfection” (419). It can be observed that Georgiana is already a pretty woman, but Aylmer is obsessed with her being perfect. Georgiana was never concerned about the mark until Aylmer mentions it. After months of Aylmer obsessing over the birthmark, Georgiana becomes self-conscious and confronts him about the matter. She asks him if he thinks he could successfully remove the mark, and when he says that he could, she replies, “let the attempt be made at any risk. Danger is nothing to me; for life—while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust—life is a burthen which I would fling down with joy” (421).

This shows the obsession over beauty, and how detrimental it is to a woman’s health. It also shows society’s wish for women to be submissive and willing to do whatever their husbands tell them to.
Aylmer goes on to remove the birthmark from Georgiana’s face, but “[a]s the last crimson tint of the birth-mark—that sole token of human imperfection—faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight,” and with that Georgiana was dead (429). The pressure for Georgiana to be perfect caused her to submit to be the subject a fatal experiment.
“The Birth-Mark” is a slightly extreme example of how society views women, but it definitely gains attention and shows society’s unhealthy obsession over beauty. It is true that women are expected to be beautiful to be successful. This is an issue that has grown even larger in today’s society. Today women are pressured into thinking that they need to be beautiful to be successful, and if they are not beautiful enough they are feel that they are forced to hide behind makeup to be beautiful. There are even some professions where women are judged on their beauty. For example, almost every news station has a beautiful young weather forecaster, and only skinny and pretty women are on the covers of most magazines.
An even more extreme example comes from Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” which addresses the ability to control women.

Rappaccini’s Daughter, Beatrice is essentially the Eve of the nineteenth century. As soon as Giovanni, a man who recently moved to Padua, notices Rappaccini’s garden outside his window, he questions is “this garden, then, the Eden of the present world?—and this man, with such a perception of harm in what his own hands caused to grow, was he the Adam?” (433). Giovanni refers to Rappaccini as Adam, but neglects to mention the fact that Beatrice is Eve—a woman coerced into submission without being aware of it. Unfortunately, Rappaccini should have been compared to the serpent instead of

Adam.
As time goes on, and Giovanni observes Beatrice, he notices something unusual about her—whatever she touches dies. This was first seen when Beatrice plucks a flower as a small lizard crawls toward her. Then, “a drop or two of moisture from the broken stem of the flower descended upon the lizard’s head. For an instant, the reptile contorted itself violently, and then it lay motionless in the sun” (436). Beatrice saw the lizard died, “and crossed herself, sadly, but without surprise” (436). At first it would seem that only the flower itself was poisonous, and not Beatrice, but later on the latter is confirmed. Giovanni tosses Beatrice a bouquet of flowers, but as soon as she picks them up, and walks toward the house, “his beautiful bouquet was already beginning to wither in her grasp” (437). This confirms that something is awry with Rappaccini’s Daughter.
It is obvious that there is an external force working against Beatrice to make her unable to touch an object without it dying, but it is not until the end of the story that her father has been the one controlling, and ultimately poisoning, her all along. When Beatrice questions her father, he replies by asking if she would have “preferred the condition of a weak woman, exposed to all evil, and capable of none” (450). This shows a contrast to Eve who was exposed to evil, leading to her, and the rest of humanity’s, suffering. Rappaccini thought that by poisoning his daughter, he could protect her from the evils of the world instead of letting her make her own decisions and becoming a strong, independent woman on her own. Rappaccini also reveals his sexism, by claiming that women are naturally weak and have no defense against the evils of the world.
Giovanni wants to save Beatrice, and attempts to give her an antidote. However, Rappaccini’s “poison had been life, so the powerful antidote was death” (450). Because of Rappaccini’s sexist beliefs, he thought that it was ethical to use his scientific knowledge to poison his own daughter, along with everything she came in contact with—including Giovanni who noticed that his touch also caused death. Beatrice died feeling miserable and weak, which should have destroyed Rappaccini, but Professor Pietro peered out into the garden, and with “a tone of triumph mixed with horror, to the thunder-stricken man of science: ‘Rappaccini! Rappaccini! And is this the upshot of your experiment?’” (450). It seems that all along Beatrice was more of an experiment to her father than a daughter, which was previously alluded to by Professor Pietro. This is incredibly unfortunate because it reinforces the belief that women were viewed as objects or property that should always be submissive. Beatrice never had a chance to experience the world because her father was so controlling of her. “Rappaccini’s Daughter” showed that control over women is acceptable as long as there is a good motive to support it. This showed the need for equality in the nineteeth century.
At first glance, it seems that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writings support the idea of female inferiority, but in reality, the opposite is true. Hawthorne using gender stereotypes to show what a ridiculous society he was living in. During Hawthorne’s life there were progressive movements in place, but the movement toward gender equality was placed on the back burner until the next century. Hawthorne used stories like “The Birth-Mark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter” to show that society was treating women as objects that had to be controlled in order to live up to certain standards. Additionally, Hawthorne used “Old Esther Dudley” and The Scarlet Letter to show the inner strength of females.