In the short stories, Boys and Girls by, Alice Munro and The Birth Mark by Nathaniel Hawthorne, each author has shown similarities of two young women who seem to change their appearance or personality to conform to the desires of strong male figures in their lives. Both authors use their talent in literature to express their societal views and the role women were expected to play in that time period. It was important that authors could use their talent of writing to express their own societal views and major topics in their literature.
In the story The Birth Mark, the main character eventually conforms and changes her appearance. The story Boys and Girls represents it because the main character shows a desire to conform to what her father …show more content…
Georgiana states that she never considered removing the birthmark and had never thought of it until her husband mentioned it. "If there be the remotest possibility of it," continued Georgiana, "let the attempt be made, at whatever risk.” From this quote you will notice Georgiana went from never considering it’s removal to almost begging him to remove it himself. By the end of the story, she has conformed to the desire of her husband and what he expected her to physically look like. As the consequences of her changing who she was, she died from it. “Do not repent that, with so high and pure a feeling, you have rejected the best the earth could offer. Aylmer, dearest Aylmer, I am dying!"(Hawthorne 301).
The second story, Boys and Girls, shows the authors societal views as well. During that time period women’s expected place was in the house …show more content…
Women were seen as the lesser sex and men had impact on how women even viewed themselves. The authors, Munro and Hawthorne, used literary devices in their works to portray their own cultural views within their time periods. A few devices that can be seen in The Birthmark are symbolism, imagery, and allegory. Hawthorne uses symbolism by the birthmark itself. The characters birthmark is used as a way to show human imperfections and how they are a part of who she is. The husband’s laboratory is the imagery used in the story. And finally, the fact that her husband dreams of the experiment he performs which results in his wife’s death is an obvious foreshadowing the author uses to predict the end of the story. His entire dream can be seen as an allegory because it predicts the entire outcome of the husband’s procedure and her death and whether he consciously recognizes this or not, he does it anyway. “She is also dying, for as the stain fades away, so does Georgiana 's link to the mortal world. Instead of grieving her demise, however, Aylmer lives in his brief moment of temporary triumph, disturbingly unaware of what he has wrought, and the story ends” (Miller, John
In the story The Birth Mark, the main character eventually conforms and changes her appearance. The story Boys and Girls represents it because the main character shows a desire to conform to what her father …show more content…
Georgiana states that she never considered removing the birthmark and had never thought of it until her husband mentioned it. "If there be the remotest possibility of it," continued Georgiana, "let the attempt be made, at whatever risk.” From this quote you will notice Georgiana went from never considering it’s removal to almost begging him to remove it himself. By the end of the story, she has conformed to the desire of her husband and what he expected her to physically look like. As the consequences of her changing who she was, she died from it. “Do not repent that, with so high and pure a feeling, you have rejected the best the earth could offer. Aylmer, dearest Aylmer, I am dying!"(Hawthorne 301).
The second story, Boys and Girls, shows the authors societal views as well. During that time period women’s expected place was in the house …show more content…
Women were seen as the lesser sex and men had impact on how women even viewed themselves. The authors, Munro and Hawthorne, used literary devices in their works to portray their own cultural views within their time periods. A few devices that can be seen in The Birthmark are symbolism, imagery, and allegory. Hawthorne uses symbolism by the birthmark itself. The characters birthmark is used as a way to show human imperfections and how they are a part of who she is. The husband’s laboratory is the imagery used in the story. And finally, the fact that her husband dreams of the experiment he performs which results in his wife’s death is an obvious foreshadowing the author uses to predict the end of the story. His entire dream can be seen as an allegory because it predicts the entire outcome of the husband’s procedure and her death and whether he consciously recognizes this or not, he does it anyway. “She is also dying, for as the stain fades away, so does Georgiana 's link to the mortal world. Instead of grieving her demise, however, Aylmer lives in his brief moment of temporary triumph, disturbingly unaware of what he has wrought, and the story ends” (Miller, John