Many classical pieces of widely disseminated world literature, such as the Bible, nurtured a universal patriarchal culture that remains prevalent today. Some would argue that this patriarchy, supposedly founded on the principle that women are physiologically and intellectually inferior to males, suspiciously resembles a fear-induced endeavor to control the female race and society as a whole. One common method of control relies upon the dictation of what females can or cannot do with their bodies. For example, premarital sexual purity was once the sole identifier of an upstanding woman, and those women who did not follow this social code were cast out from their communities (ex. Helen Schlegel in Howards End). A present-day equivalent of this
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Brenda Wineapple, a Hawthorne scholar and biographer, argues in a C-SPAN interview, “He [Hawthorne] is one of the very few canonical American authors who wrote persuasively and wonderfully about women” (“Writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne”). Interestingly, in an interview conducted by Jennifer Jacobson, Wineapple contradicts herself when she says, “I don't entirely quote him as a feminist. He's partly a feminist. And he's partly not...He may not be able to handle the [female] characters he creates” (“VERBATIM”). It may be contested that if Hawthorne agreed with some female-limiting customs of his culture, as Wineapple’s statement implies, then he cannot be considered a feminist at all. In fact, in American Notebooks, a collection of Hawthorne’s journal entries, Hawthorne chronicles his judgemental observations of a breastfeeding woman at a theater. Though he admires the woman’s breasts and describes their attributes in minute detail, he disguises his sexual interest by attributing to the woman’s breasts a maternal worth (Elbert …show more content…
Although the Bible considers this couple of three months as “one flesh” (assuming they have consummated their marriage), male and female Puritans customarily existed in separate domains within and outside the home. According to James C. Keil, segregation of the private and public marriage dynamic was imperative for maintaining social order (Hawthorne 35). The first interaction between the Browns reveals the husband’s discomfort of his wife’s impropriety in this area of segregation. The couple violates the private domain when Faith “thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap while she called to Goodman Brown” (Hawthorne 193). In Faith’s defense, before her playful action, her husband kisses her in the doorway, which is visible from the street. However, Hawthorne’s description of her movement implies she is the aggressor of intimacy in the relationship. While Goodman Brown simply “puts his head back” to kiss his wife, Faith breaks both the male/female and public/private barrier when she “thrusts” her head through the doorway. Furthermore, Faith seductively whispers in her husband’s ear entreating him to spend the night with her instead of completing his errand. Faith’s subtle sexual boldness contrasts with the youthful and pure physical image Hawthorne paints
Brenda Wineapple, a Hawthorne scholar and biographer, argues in a C-SPAN interview, “He [Hawthorne] is one of the very few canonical American authors who wrote persuasively and wonderfully about women” (“Writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne”). Interestingly, in an interview conducted by Jennifer Jacobson, Wineapple contradicts herself when she says, “I don't entirely quote him as a feminist. He's partly a feminist. And he's partly not...He may not be able to handle the [female] characters he creates” (“VERBATIM”). It may be contested that if Hawthorne agreed with some female-limiting customs of his culture, as Wineapple’s statement implies, then he cannot be considered a feminist at all. In fact, in American Notebooks, a collection of Hawthorne’s journal entries, Hawthorne chronicles his judgemental observations of a breastfeeding woman at a theater. Though he admires the woman’s breasts and describes their attributes in minute detail, he disguises his sexual interest by attributing to the woman’s breasts a maternal worth (Elbert …show more content…
Although the Bible considers this couple of three months as “one flesh” (assuming they have consummated their marriage), male and female Puritans customarily existed in separate domains within and outside the home. According to James C. Keil, segregation of the private and public marriage dynamic was imperative for maintaining social order (Hawthorne 35). The first interaction between the Browns reveals the husband’s discomfort of his wife’s impropriety in this area of segregation. The couple violates the private domain when Faith “thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap while she called to Goodman Brown” (Hawthorne 193). In Faith’s defense, before her playful action, her husband kisses her in the doorway, which is visible from the street. However, Hawthorne’s description of her movement implies she is the aggressor of intimacy in the relationship. While Goodman Brown simply “puts his head back” to kiss his wife, Faith breaks both the male/female and public/private barrier when she “thrusts” her head through the doorway. Furthermore, Faith seductively whispers in her husband’s ear entreating him to spend the night with her instead of completing his errand. Faith’s subtle sexual boldness contrasts with the youthful and pure physical image Hawthorne paints