“The Birth-Mark” was written in 1844; by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story describes Aylmer as a successful scientist. He discovers many mysteries of nature, such as what causes volcanoes and earthquakes; however, it is ironic that even though the story was written in the 1840s, which was the peak of the second great awakening, Aylmer did not believe in God. Georgiana is Aylmer’s faithful wife. She is born with a birth-mark in the form of a very tiny hand on her left cheek. Everybody adores this mark except Aylmer, who thinks the birthmark is a curse. Shortly after he marries Georgiana. He begins to see the trace of nature’s imperfection on his almost perfect wife. This leads him to the quest of perfecting his wife’s “flaw.” He said to his wife, …show more content…
People have something they see as flaw, and want to change it. As for Aylmer, “With the morning twilight Aylmer opened his eyes upon the birth-mark resting on his wife’s face and recognized the symbol of imperfection.” (Hawthorne 316). Georgiana is really concerned about the outcome of this surgery, and then she called Aylmer and told him “I know not what may be the cost to both of us to get rid of this fatal birth-mark. Perhaps its removal may cause cureless deformity; or it may be the stain goes as deep as life.” (Hawthorne 316). A perfectionist does not care what the consequences of their actions are. “Attempting to correct imperfection is a risk more of us seem willing to take.” (McLaughlin 5). At the laboratory, Aylmer said to Georgiana “Know then that this crimson birth-mark has clutched its grasp into your being with a strength of which I had no previous conception. I have already administered agents powerful enough to do aught except to change your entire physical system. Only one thing remains to be tried. If that fail us we are ruined.” (Hawthorne 322). Even though Aylmer told Georgiana this, she still accepts to go through with the operation. This quest of perfectionism not only happened to Aylmer, it is also happening in today’s world. Perfectionism has taken over people’s mind. For example, teenage girls want to have bigger butts like Nicki Minaj, and flawless faces like Beyoncé. They would spend their …show more content…
It is a reminder that any living thing will die. Aylmer is a smart man, but he forgets that he cannot make his wife immortal. He is only trying to make his wife’s blemish go away. Just like clearing acne, if you try too hard it gets worse or leaves a scar. His guts to push forward even though he knows the dangers lead him astray. In other words, there is something that should be left “imperfect” rather than striving for their perfection. Although, we have few perfectionist who have been successful in their endeavor, the question is, for how long? How long will it last before they meet their misery? Aylmer was successful at first. “A faint smile fitted over her lips when she looked into the mirror and she recognized how barely perceptible was now that crimson hand which has once blazed forth. But then her eyes sought Aylmer’s face with trouble and anxiety. She then said to him ‘Dearest Aylmer, I’m dying,’ and she died.” (Hawthorne 324). Perfectionism is something everyone should try to avoid. It can never bring comfort, instead it adds to the
“Unless all my science have deceived me, it cannot fail”’ (Hawthorne 428). Georgiana consumes the powerful liquid, and the birth-mark slowly disappears. Aylmer joyfully proclaims his success with his experiment on his wife. ‘“By Heaven, it is well nigh gone!” said Aylmer to himself, in almost irrepressible ecstasy. “I can scarcely trace it now.
He failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of time,and,living once all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present.” Basically saying the missing part of him, which was shown through Aminadab, was the key to see that he had everything he could possibly want. That is when he no longer fights with this inner struggle. What is even more tragic is that even with the passing of his wife, he is unable to learn from this experience because his own wife basically says, don't feel guilty it is going to be ok. This totally disturbs the possibility of learning from this horrible incident, because his wife eases the guilt. Aylmer does not incorporate his missing characteristics from Aminadab.
Society longs for a perfect model to show how humanity should be. Throughout history, perfection has been looked for in gods and other-worldly beings, yet never in humans. Perhaps this is because perfection is subjective and unattainable. Each person can have their own idea of what makes someone perfect, which can make the most ideal person, imperfect. One simple flaw can be seen as imperfect. Despite that, with the advancement of technology and media, people try to become perfect through surgeries and other, more damaging, processes. In “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a scientist believes that the removal of his wife’s birthmark can make her perfect, or rather, his idea of perfect. Hawthorne uses symbolism, foreshadowing, and dark romantic ideals to say that while attempting to be perfect, you can be hurting yourself or others.
One of the main themes discussed in this story is perfection which was evident by Aylmer obsessing over making his wife perfect by removing the birthmark off
Out of love for her husband, Georgina agrees to go on with the experiment. Aylmer shows her that the elixir will cure her of her imperfection by putting it on a plant that was covered in spots and before their eyes, the spots on the plant disappeared. Right away, Aylmer gave his wife the elixir and, like magic, the birthmark disappeared. As the two were looking at what the elixir did to Georgina, they neglected to see the plant dying. Before they knew it, Georgina started to slowly die right in front of her husband’s eyes.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, “The Birthmark” was on the darker side of the Romantic Movement, but it was still a love story. There was a love of science and obsessing over beauty and perfection. Aylmer love Georgiana and she loved him. She was willing to die for him, and he was willing to experiment on her, even if meant losing her. Hawthorne put himself into his work, expressing fears, and emotions that was hard to put into words. His surroundings impacted the outcome of his
The character of Aylmer can be seen as a sinister, mad scientist who constantly fights with nature in order to attain human perfection. From the beginning of the story Aylmer’s fight with nature can be seen. “We know not whether Aylmer possessed this degree of faith in man’s ultimate control over nature. He had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weakened from them by any second passion” (Hawthorne 218). This shows Aylmer’s passion in trying to discover the secrets of nature and being able to master it. Aylmer’s obsession with perfection and defying nature can be seen again when he is discussing the mark on Georgiana’s cheek. “’No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature, that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection’” (Hawthorne 219). This shows Aylmer is not trying to remove the mark as an act of love, but instead trying to remove the mark because it symbolizes a stain of imperfection by nature. Aylmer is obsessed in his efforts to remove the mark and his motivations are not to make Ge...
“The Birthmark” is a short story written by author Nathaniel Hawthorne. This short story is filled with symbolism and destructive criticism. It follows the scientist Aylmer and his obsession of removing his wife Georgina’s birthmark. The crimson hand-shaped birthmark on the face of an otherwise perfect, beautiful woman contains deep meanings. Through the use of symbolism, Hawthorne demonstrates the issues and themes of the unattainability of perfection, science and nature, humanity’s flaws, and mortality.
He doesn’t believe that how God created Georgiana is perfect, and he is obsessive about making her his idea of perfection. Aminadab, Aylmer’s servant, tries to tell his master to leave the birthmark alone. He tells Aylmer that if Georgiana were his wife, he wouldn’t worry about something so trivial. However, the scientific ideas in Aylmer’s mind won’t let him forget the birthmark. He believes he can remove it with the help of science.
He cannot accept that his wife has a small blemish on her otherwise perfect visage. After Georgiana hears Aylmer talking in his sleep referring to a dream he was having, where he was trying
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
Society manifests its obsession with physical perfection by having surgical procedures done on daily basis. These surgeries allow for almost any cosmetic transformation. For example a person can have anything from removing a birthmark to inserting breast implants to having a tummy tuck done on their body. Society manifests their obsession with physical perfection by having these procedures done to them. These procedures enable society to achieve 'perfection';, much like Georgiana in the 'Birthmark';.
His inability to accept beauty in its most organic form ultimately led to the demise of his wife; he is to blame for her death.
The first reason that science should have permission to improve people’s looks is because of pure want. It would be against the law to prevent somebody to getting their pursuit of happiness, even if it’s a boob job. I think one of the reasons Georgiana wanted to remove the mark is because she “soon learned to shudder at his gaze.” I know how terrible it must be to have somebody look at you strange because you are different. Just like how people get a rhinoplasty to escape racial binaries. But in this story both people wanted perfection, in order to please the other. Aylmer was not a bad husband, despite his wants for perfection, he only mixed his control over nature with a control over his lover. When people want something, they will go to the ends of the earth to get it, and that’s just how the cookie crumbles. It seems like foreshadowing ...
Nathaniel Hawthorne did not do much explaining when it came to the characters involved in "The Birthmark". He did not portray the main characters: Aylmer, Georgiana, and Ambidab as human beings, but rather as symbols. While analyzing the story "The Birthmark", I have achieved some great insight of the author 's articulate writing style; especially, his style of making characters have symbolic meaning. In this story, Hawthorne uses his characters to symbolize specific things. In this ambiguous, short story, the three characters each symbolize Science, Beauty, and Nature. Each character represents an unusual force that has equally worked against each other.