Symbolism In The Birthmark

How can humans perfect ourselves? What are the repercussions of man’s desire to conquer nature’s will? In his short story, “The Birthmark”, author Nathaniel Hawthorne attempts to shed light on potential answers to these questions. He especially emphasizes the latter question, prompting his audience to wonder, “Can - and should - man attempt to “perfect” nature’s will?” when the main character, a scientist named Alymer, becomes obsessed with removing a birthmark from his wife’s face. Furthermore, because Alymer’s experiments have fatal results for Georgiana, Hawthorne seems to be suggesting an untouchable monism of existence.
From the beginning of the story, Hawthorne’s diction makes it clear that Alymer’s relationship with Georgiana is highly

For starters, he describes the birthmark as “deeply interwoven” into Georgiana’s skin, and while this remark could otherwise be passed off as unimportant to the plot, it is actually very significant to the context of nature’s ultimate control. This birthmark does not merely sit on top of an otherwise perfect face, instead it is part of Georgiana’s face, part of who the woman fundamentally is. This “defect” is “the fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions” (pg 3). In reality, Georgiana is more than “a beautiful woman”, she is a product of nature, and therefore could never be perfect; her mark ties Georgiana to the physical world where all humans belong, and therefore, Hawthorne seems to suggest that Alymer’s attempts to “fix” her are not only shallow, they are also attempts to break the connection which ties Georgiana to this world. However, being so unbalanced towards the mind, Alymer cannot stand to see nature’s hand in Georgiana’s creation - it drives him to

She permits us, indeed, to mar, but seldom to mend, and, like a jealous patentee, on no account to make”, an observation which seems comparable to the common religious acknowledgment that “God works in mysterious ways” (pg 7). Georgiana’s birthmark is the result of nature’s will, and – while many of her lovers have speculated – none can truly know nature’s intentions. Furthermore, as the quote states, no one – not even a brilliant scientist – can “make” the perfect woman Alymer is seeking. It is therefore no surprise that, as with most tales of hubris, Alymer is doomed to fail. Humanity is presented to be ultimately monistic, and Alymer cannot successfully separate Georgiana from her physical circumstances. “As the last crimson tint of the birthmark - that sole token of human imperfection - faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight” (pg 20). When Alymer finally manages to remove his wife’s blemish, he also succeeds in killing her, as if her “sole token of human imperfection” was the only thing tying Georgiana to this world; this separation between mind and matter is unsustainable, which Hawthorne proves because the “now perfect woman” immediately dies after being changed. Perhaps the scientist’s worst nightmares were correct, perhaps