Alymer In The Birthmark

​Georgina is the wife of Alymer in the story “The Birthmark”. She is very passionate about her marriage with Alymer, and when he talks about how he basically gets disgusted when he sees her, because of her mark, she gets genuinely hurt. Although he is mean to her, she still worships the ground he walks on, and he almost seems like her master, or owner. In the story she says “To tell you the truth it has been often called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so” and even with all the men that droll over her beauty and wouldn’t mind dying for the opportunity to touch her birthmark, she still loves Alymer.
​Since Alymer told her he’s been in disgust every time he saw her, she began to see herself the same way. Georgina is opposed by Alymer, because she feels that being a wife to man, you should do nothing but

make your man happy. Alymer then tells Georgina that there’s ways to basically get rid of her birthmark, and as devoted as she is to him, she accepts it. She says “...let the attempt be made at whatever risk. Danger is nothing to me; for life, while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust,--life is a burden which I would fling down with joy...” therefore, she is throwing away her years of beauty praise because her husband said it was ugly.
​In the story, Georgina is letting her husband walk all over her and tell her what she needs to do in order to make him happy. It looks like Hawthorne is stating that women don’t need to obey their husbands, especially when it comes to stupid little things such as, beauty marks. When Alymer tells her smell the fumes she first was scared of the thought of him having all this power, or wanting this kind of power, but then she gives in.
​The major character in the story is Alymer and the minor is Georgina, but Georgina seems to be the character that has the major thoughts.

Alymer doesn’t seem to think about what he’s going to do to his wife. His actions are stupid and not intelligent, why would you marry someone who you don’t love for them? If he did love her, he wouldn’t need to change her looks, but he doesn’t and it’s sad because she literally died for him.
​Georgina looks like she is beautiful inside and out. Her beauty on the outside had been praised, for what it seems like her whole life, and Alymer couldn’t see past her imperfections. Throughout the story, she was nothing but loving, caring, and trustworthy or her husband. She says “It has made me worship you more than ever,” because she is under the impression that he is doing this for her.
​Georgina’s weakness is Alymer, she will do anything and everything in her power to make him happy. For example, she goes looking through his scientific library and finds his laboratory and she automatically knew she needed to apologize because Alymer was upset. That just shows how everything she does is for him and not herself.​
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