Female Perfection

In "The Birthmark" a very beautiful woman allows herself to be "duped" into believing that she needs to have a "flaw" removed from her appearance. In the process, she dies.

I recently heard from a former colleague in Idaho who told me that a student we both had taught had recently died from complications of cosmetic surgery. This girl was a former cheerleader, and as I recall an attractive person. What is it that causes women (mostly women) to abuse their bodies in an attempt to achieve the perfect form?

Why don't men seem to be as obsessed with physical appearance that women are?

Who was at fault, Aylmar or Georgiana?

Grant T. Smith

Is Rip Van Winkle the Original Deadbeat Dad?

I am interested in hearing your response to today's class. What did you think of keeping the men quiet? What did you think of this "feminist" reading of "Rip Van Winkle"? Do you agree that in American literature, the experience of being an American is the experience of being male? How many female heroes can you name in American letters? Who are the female equivalents of Melville's heroes, or Cooper's heroes. Even in the mid-20th century, the women were most often represented in literatue as "entappers" or impediments to the male experience of discovering and exploring new opportunities.

Grant T. Smith