The Birthmark :: Comparison and Contrast, Hawthorne

Every relationship is different. Weather one may be in a relationship with a boy, or just a friend, it is different. Even though they are different, the characters in The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne and IND AFF by Fay Weldon are in similar relationships. That is, the male is dominant everywhere the female, and the cleaning woman thinks the man is her knight in shining armor. In the beginning of IND AFF the unnamed woman thinks her professor, Peter, who she is having an affair with, is her ticket to creating a good thesis and high standings. Similarly, in The Birthmark, Georgiana thinks her husband is her ticket to flawless beauty because he tells her he will remove her birthmark. Obviously, this is not how relationships operate in todays society. These two relationships compare and contrast with each other as well as with relationships in todays day-and-age. IND AFF takes place in Sarajevo, which is where Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. T his is a severalize aspect to the story because Peter is superb in history and thinks that he knows everything there is to know about history. Likewise, The Birthmark takes place in a laboratory. This is where the Georgianas husband, Aylmer, spends most of his spare time. Aylmer thinks he either knows or will be able to discover everything this is to know about science. So, in each story, the man takes the woman to somewhere he knows more about (and is therefore seen as superior) than she does. In both stories, the man is seen as intelligent. In IND AFF Peter says he is a professor of classical history and has a first-class mind (Weldon scalawag 202). In The Birthmark Aylmer is referred to as a man of science (Hawthorne page 416) and a star (Hawthorne page 423). Like the men, the women have similarities and differences. For example, in the beginning of both stories, the women seem confident in themselves. Then, the men tell them otherwise. In IND AFF, Peter tells the wo man she does not have a first-class mind (Weldon 202). In, The Birthmark Georgiana is accepting of her birthmark and in fact comes to think of it as a touch from an angel (Hawthorne page 417). Then, her husband tells her birthmark is natures slightest possible defect (Hawthorne page 417).