Gender-Based Violence And The Resilience of Femininity In Nathaniel Hawthorne¿s Short Story "The Birthmark"

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2019 im Fachbereich Amerikanistik - Literatur, Note: 1,7, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Veranstaltung: Literature, Culture, and Media in American Society Literary Representations: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: I will analyze the literary reproduction of gender-based violence within the short story with a focus on mental and physical abuse. As I will illustrate in this paper, it becomes apparent that the conflict of gender-based violence can be analyzed and decoded as a representative and broader conflict which links feminity to nature and masculinity to science. November the 25th marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is a day designated by the United Nation General Assembly that shall bring awareness to these issues that are globally omnipresent regardless of religion, culture, or economic status of a particular country. Being a sad historic and cultural constant, the issue is also reproduced in literature. Violence against Women or gender-based violence is oftentimes entangled with the conceptualization of masculinity and therefore ever too often overlooked as a particular issue and therefore seldom identified or analyzed as such.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne-s short story, The Birthmark which was published in 1844 in his short story collection Mosses from an Old Manse the topic of gender construction and gender-based violence are also discussed, partly overt sometimes rather covert. Interestingly, yet in true transcendentalist fashion, gender, and nature, man and technique are brought together presenting a suspenseful conflict.
Whereas the physical abuse in the short story is quite overt other forms of abuse such as mental abuse are way more subtle. After giving a short overview of the definition of gender-based violence, I will analyze the literary reproduction of gender-based violence within the short story with a focus on mental and physical abuse. As I will illustrate in this paper, it becomes apparent that the conflict of gender-based violence can be analyzed and decoded as a representative and broader conflict which links feminity to nature and masculinity to science.