The Blemished Beauty
I.Introduction
II. Georgiana’s Character traits A. How she is perceived B. Traits that truly describe her
III. Georgiana’s Moment of Clarity A. Setting Details B. Why the Scene is Important
IV. Why I chose Georgiana
My birthmark
VI. Lessons Learned
All humans are flawed
Don’t lose your future over trivial matters
Don’t let the opinions of others affect your self-image
VII. Conclusion
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birth-mark” he writes about a woman named Georgiana who has a single flaw, a birthmark on her cheek. Although she thinks little of it, her husband obsesses over it. The birthmark eventually becomes a source of turmoil in their marriage. Georgiana is a complex
…show more content…
She takes a moment to admire her husband’s work, but quickly realizes that the removal of her birthmark also removes her attachment to humanity. She is now too perfect to exist and must leave the earth. This scene is important to Georgiana’s character because it shows her love for her husband. When she awakened and realized she was dying she could have been angry and yelled at him for not loving her as she was. On the contrary, she spoke lovingly and “with a more than human tenderness”. She even congratulated him on succeeding telling him that he had “done nobly”. Georgiana recognized the part she played in her death and did not blame Aylmer. Although he was the one who brought attention to her birthmark, Georgiana was the one who told him to remove the birthmark by any means necessary. She did, however, leave him words of wisdom before she parted saying, “you have rejected the best that earth had to offer”. Georgiana was the closest thing to perfect that the earth had to offer, yet it still was not enough to please Aylmer. Overall, in Georgiana’s last moments she tried to comfort Aylmer and show him that she did not blame him. She showed wisdom and courage in accepting her fate. This scene from the story displays her best qualities as not only a wife, but also as a
He succeeds in removing the birthmark; however, he unfortunately causes his wife’s death in the process. Through “The Birthmark”, Hawthorne suggests that nothing paradoxical can exist on this earth, and that being imperfect is just part of being human. Being a man of science, Aylmer rendered Georgiana's birthmark "as a symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death." Through the birthmark on Georgiana, Hawthorne is able to portray that nature didn’t intend for things to be perfect. People are not perfect because the human condition is imperfect.
The attempted removal of Georgiana’s birthmark by Aylmer signifies a desire to conquer nature and reveals a hidden quality within Aylmer. The first instance in which the reader sees Aylmer trying to conquer or control nature is subtle, it is near the beginning of the story and the narrator says “[Aylmer] persuaded a beautiful woman to become his wife” (211). The common belief is that love occurs naturally and cannot be forced. It seems as though the narrator chooses to state that Aylmer persuaded his wife, rather than fell in love with her, in order to indicate early on in the text Aylmer’s tendencies toward manipulating nature. Later in the
Uttering heartless words to a partner about their flaws is a reflection of one’s insecurity in the relationship. The short story “The Birthmark” gives readers insight into Aylmer, a questionable scientist who fails at experiments, and his wife Georgiana, an obedient wife who fulfills her husband’s commands. Aylmer is insecure and as a result denigrates Georgiana about her birthmark to purposefully make her despise the mark. Georgiana never thought of her birthmark as a flaw because men were enchanted by her fairy-like miniature hand with a shade of crimson. However, Georgiana being the good wife that she is, agrees to become her husband’s experiment to get the birthmark removed in order to make Aylmer happy. In this story it is evident that
In the short story The Birth-mark, Aylmer: scientist, philosopher and perfectionist, is married to Georgiana, a woman of unthinkable beauty and possibly the closest woman to ever reach perfection. However, the tiny hand shaped mark that lay on the surface of her cheek aggravates Aylmer and he thinks day and night of how he may get rid of it in order to help Georgiana reach the perfection that he longs for. The actions that he proceeds to take, prove that he is indeed the villain and the one to blame for Georgiana’s death. He does so by tearing her down with crude words, making Georgiana feel insecure and self-conscious about her outward appearance as well as keeping his failed experiments a secret to her.
Torvald and Alymer think they’re inlove with their wives but, they are not. Alymer and Torvald love their possessions, similar to loving a car. They love the feeling and the moments they get to spend on earth mesmerizing their beautiful uniqueness, but they do not care about the wellbeing of the other person. “Women define visibility as including communication, verbal and non-verbal, show the slipperiness of the slope, and raise question of consciousness.” (Deutsch, 1889) In both relationships there was a lack of communication, intimacy, and respect. Nora and Georgianna both wanted their loved ones to show concern for them even in rough circumstances, but both men failed either because of selfness or love of science. When Torvald received the IUE from Krogstat, his immediate response was “I’m saved!” Being selfish his first thoughts are of himself rather than, his kids, and Nora. Aylmer’s attention to his wife’s birthmark over time, drove Georgianna insane to the point where she would die trying to remove a little mark on her face. Alymer started to point out that she is no longer perfect because of the birthmark. After you marry someone you accept their flaws internally and externally, and both failed to do so therefore, they lost their wives.
& nbsp; The Mark of Ugliness In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, there is indeed a representation of Although the other underlying personality is not represented within himself, it is rather portrayed through his assistant Aminadab. Since Aylmer is lacking so much within himself, he is unable to appreciate his wife even though she was dying. Basically, if Aylmer had the sensibility of Aminadab, he could have realized how beautiful she was even with her birthmark. During
...ection. By removing the birthmark from Georgiana’s face, Aylmer has taken away her humanity thus leading Georgiana to her death. Georgiana cannot live anymore because she is no longer a human being. Therefore claiming that science has its limits over nature and if those limits are crossed the consequences could be fatal.
After a deeper analysis of the characters in the story “The Birthmark” it is easy to see there are multiple hidden meanings throughout. The characteristics and actions of Aylmer, Georgiana, Amenidab and Nature help us to see deeper into the characters and see their true motivations and meanings in the story.
He wants to try a new science experiment on her to try and remove it but it might kill her. Georgiana is feeling hated from her husband and feels ugly. Her husband was the only one that really hated it because everyone else liked Georgiana for who she was, except for Almer, he did not.
Aminadab, the longtime assistant to Aylmer, recognizes the purest of beauty in Georgiana. Aminadab admits to himself that “[i]f she were my wife, I’d never part with that birthmark” (Hawthorne 469). I believe Aminadab, a man who does not understand the greatness of science, does however comprehend what the birthmark symbolizes, which is mortality and the limitations of how far one can push human nature. It is only a short time further during the story, Aylmer reveals to Georgiana the success of his hard work in the lab. He demonstrated in the presence of Georgiana a liquid remedy he has created to cure a “geranium diseased with yellow blotches which had overspread all its leaves” (Hawthorne 474).
Aylmer thinks that his scientific expertise is sufficient and efficient in removing the birthmark at Georgiana has left cheek. Aylmer boasts of his confidence in the practicability of removing the birthmark. Georgiana appears to trust Aylmer scientific expertise and bestows him with the daunting task of removing the birthmark. However, Georgiana confesses that the birthmark makes her disgust and horror to Aylmer (Hawthorne 3). Hence, she is brave to face the imminent danger that can emerge from the delicate scientific procedure of removing the mark.
Our society has many ways of manifesting its obsession with physical perfection. In our society people go to extreme lengths to achieve perfection. The 'Birthmark';, written more than a century ago, is an early version of our modern obsession with physical perfection.
Though she consents to having her birthmark removed, Georgiana’s initial reaction to Aylmer’s shock at her facial defect is to redden “with momentary anger” before dissolving into tears (645); though her secondary reaction fits into the stereotypical female response to a physical critique, the fact that her initial reaction is anger implies that she is more than merely a docile housewife. However, her actions still reflect those of a docile housewife; when he confines her to a dimly lit apartment, she acquiesces solemnly and quietly spends her days doing as Aylmer
Every man before has always complimented Georgiana on her sweet imperfection. People would tell her all the time that true beauty was in that little blemish. Aylmer, being the man of Science wanted to change what nature had created. Typically, we all know better than to go against Nature, but not Aylmer. Georgiana finally agreed to let her husband remove the birthmark due to a frightening dream Aylmer had encountered. Aylmer started working on a potion to remove Georgiana 's birthmark. As soon as Georgiana sipped the potion, she suddenly falls into a deep coma-like state. The birthmark magically disappears from Georgina 's face. However, as the birthmark fades away, so does Georgina 's life. Hawthorne uses Georgiana 's character to symbolize beauty in this story. Georgiana is already made perfect in the eyes of Nature and all other men, expect Aylmer. Aylmer, representing Science, tries to change Georgiana 's beauty that Nature has created. Aylmer was successful in removing the birthmark, but unsuccessful in keeping Georgiana alive. Aylmer was too intertwined in Science to realize that Georgiana was perfectly made by Nature. Nature paid Aylmer back for trying to correct Georgiana 's face by taking the life of his beloved
Georgiana is a beautiful woman who fell in love with Aylmer, they got married and little bit later, he became