7/7/2023 0 Comments The hidden hand southworth![]() ![]() ![]() Pursuing her own self-interest, Capitola, like Smith’s invisible hand, becomes an agent of positive social change. ![]() But the birthmark also suggests an affinity for Adam Smith’s theory of the market’s “invisible hand,” a tendency for individuals pursuing their own self-interest to collectively maximize the community’s well-being. Capitola’s birthmark, a red “hidden hand” on the inside of her palm, identifies her as her mother’s daughter and the heiress of a large fortune. Both carry signs, inscribed on their bodies, setting them apart from other women and suggesting a range of interpretive possibilities. Both Hester and Capitola Black, the protagonist of Southworth’s novel The Hidden Hand or, Capitola the Madcap (1859), are cut off from family connections and forced to support themselves. Southworth responded to the tropes of the antislavery campaign by imagining a heroine who defied conventional standards of feminine conduct by circulating in the free market. ![]()
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