The role of women in Rappaccini's Daughter, prophetic images, Lady Eleanor's coat and the birthmarkWhen researching reviews of the works by Hawthorne, I came across an interesting article that dealt with the feminist view of “The Birth-Mark”. The article, written by Fetterly, explores the relationship between Aylmer and his wife and how that relationship is a typically male-dominated situation. Even though there is the fact that the story is about the scientist's failure, there is an undercurrent here in how Aylmer views his wife: in a negative way. This view of women can be seen in several of Hawthorne's works, including "Rappaccini's Daughter", "Prophetic Images" and "Lady Eleanor's Cloak". Although this view of women is not always at the forefront of the work, it is certainly worth exploring how they are treated by each other's men. In “The Birthmark,” Aylmer undertakes the task of ridding his wife of the only imperfection she has. In trying to perfect her, readers get the idea that somehow Georgiana is inadequate and that this inadequacy lies in her appearance. The message to readers seems to be that women should be perfect on the outside as well as the inside, which Aylmer says is perfect. Aylmer decides he is going to “fix” Georgiana. Feminists view this as an issue of male control. There are several mentions of Georgiana as being "otherwise so perfect", both in appearance and soul - except for that birthmark. This idea of ​​having to have the most beautiful wife is a very degrading view of women. This implants in our minds the idea that men are superior to women, and that it is men who can "fix" women in an effort to raise them to my level...... middle of paper ...death befalls the female characters in each of these stories. This would fit with what Fetterly describes as “the great American dream of eliminating women.” It seems that the role of men in these plays was primarily to try to control their wives/love interests/daughters in an attempt to gain the upper hand in the battle of the sexes. There are no productive relationships between men and women here, and feminists would conclude that this stems from the need to dominate women, probably because men are afraid of women's power. We can't know what's going on in these men's minds, but it's certainly interesting to observe the relationships they have with the main female characters. Works Cited: Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Rappaccini’s daughter.” The Tales of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Ed. James McIntosh. New York: WW Norton and company, 1987.