Glorification Of Beauty In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Glorification of unrealistic physical beauty is the dominant cultural norm that we all embrace, with the only difference being the extent as to which we embrace and practice it. That is, we all are implicitly susceptible to and participate in the cultural perpetuation of the aesthetic beauty standards that also happen to be more heavily weighed against women rather than men. The length at which some people go to obtain physical flawlessness has unfortunately created a standard of beauty that cannot be obtained without intervention from science. Although written in 1843, the central theme illustrated by Nathaniel Hawthorne in “The Birthmark” resonates with today’s society and exemplifies science versus nature, patriarchal expectations of the