After reading both “The Birth-Mark” and Nina Baym assumption on Hawthorne, it made sense to why Baym believes that Hawthorne is a feminist. Baym stated that Hawthorne didn’t embrace those “misogynistic male fantasies” (that is, fantasies driven by hatred of or prejudice toward women), but that he was instead careful to highlight the profound burdens placed upon women by men who seek to control them. The whole story “The Birth-Mark” shows that Baym is right in her statements about Hawthorne and how he shows the sides on how men try to seek control over women.
“The Birth-Mark” is based on Georgina and Aylmer, who are married. Georgina has a birthmark on her cheek, which is referred to has the “hand,” that her husband doesn’t like. Throughout the first half of the story, Aylmer tries to convince his wife that it is ugly, doesn’t belong there, makes her not perfect, and needs to be removed. Every time that he mentions it, she gets upset and cries, while saying that he doesn’t like what was given to her by god. She also doesn’t like the fact that her husband thinks that she is almost perfect, but the thing that doesn’t make her perfect is the birthmark. He doesn’t give up in trying to persuade her that he should remove it, so she can be completely perfect. This explanation shows that Hawthorne is a feminist and likes to show the burdens of where men try to take control over the women.
I would use “The Birth-Mark” to support Nina Baym’s statement on how she views Hawthorne. The whole story shows he wants what is best for women, but there are so many men in this world that try in control women. While Hawthorne doesn’t come straight out and say that he is a feminist and doesn’t like men controlling women, he shows it by writing this story and making you think about the meaning behind every scene.
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