Mary Dawn Dwyer from American Pastoral is the wife of Swede Levov. She was Miss New Jersey prior to meeting Swede. Physical perfection as well as image are important for Dawn, so having a daugther who isn't beautiful or perfect is difficult for her. This is picked up by Merry who believes that her mother hates her. In fact, it is herself whom Dawn hates. She always had an idea of what she wanted for herself and thought that marrying Swede would get her that life. When this is obviously not true she has an affair with a stuffy but affluent businessman.
