A contrastive study of the female portrait in some of Nathaniel Hawthorn’s and Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories

Abstract

The object of this research project is to carry out a literary analysis of the contrast and similarities between the treatment of female portraits presented in some of Edgar Allan Poe’s and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories, and further to illustrate the effect this treatment has on the whole thematic and socio-cultural articulation of these narratives. For this purpose the following short stories have been chosen: by Edgar Allan Poe; “Morella” (1835), “Eleonora” (1841), and “Ligeia” (1838), by Nathaniel Hawthorne; “Mrs Bullfrog” (1837) “The Wedding Knell” (1836), and “The Birthmark” (1843). Each of the selected stories has been a contribution to better understand the socio-cultural situation women during the time they were composed.