The Birthmark When writing a short story we have to take account of each part of the story. What we can identify right off and the important key events we cannot often notice. Plot, setting, characters, tone and style, theme, and point of view are just to name a few. A plot in any short story, book or even a movie gets its energy from the conflict of the story. In my textbook it says, “Plot is about cause and effect.” “Plot is more than just a sequence of events happing” (Kennedy, X. J., & Gioia, D. (2012). Setting is just often the time, place or occurrence of the story. Characters are your people who perform what you see happening. Tone is the author or writers attitude in the story, whereas the style is how the story is written or composed. …show more content…
Lastly, we have third person and in this point of view we have “all-knowing or omniscient (sees into any or all of the characters), Limited omniscience (sees into one character), and Objective (does not see into any characters, reports events from the outside)” (Kennedy, X. J., & …show more content…
This short story was written in the form of the third person omniscient. This point of view is one of my favorites to read in. It really helps me to understand and actually get to know all sides of the story and the feelings of the characters. From reading this story I found that Georgiana just got married to Aylmer and a few days after they wed we find out that Aylmer does not like the birthmark on Georgiana’s face. Georgiana really did not think much of it she liked it. But Aylmer wants it removed and he thinks she would look better without it. So now Georgiana thinks and looks of herself being ugly and she then becomes very unhappy. A good example, when the narrator brings our attention to Aylmer noticing the birthmark as “the symbol of his wife’s liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death” (Hawthorne, 1843, p. 164-2). From reading that statement it gave me the impression that her husband did not approve of that mark being there. He wanted it to be gone completely. I guess he felt that it was in the way of her beauty. For me, I think it is a sign of true beauty. I am able to grasp a better understanding of how these characters truly see the mark. Georgiana thought at one point that is made her attractive and now she has a totally different feeling about it. In this case the birthmark is used as a symbol of human imperfection. It goes to show that we all are not perfect. We are going to have things
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
Elements that make for the best literary short story are character, meaning, tone and tension. These four literary elements make your story have a plot. These elements also contribute to your story’s purpose and ambition. The short stories we have read this semester integrate these elements, making successful and literary filled works.
One of the major themes in "The Birthmark" is man’s obsession with perfection. 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. Aylmer’s desire to make his wife perfect is doomed to failure because perfection, Hawthorne suggests, is the exclusive province of heaven that cannot be found on earth. Because she becomes an ideal being, completely unmarred, Georgiana is no longer able to exist in this
“The Birth-mark” and “Ligeia” both reveal the destructive effects of obsession with perfection on the principal male and female characters. “The Birth-mark” is a story about a young woman, Georgiana, whose husband convinces her that the removal of her birthmark will make her perfect and pure. “Ligeia” is a story about another young woman, Rowena, who is driven to sickness and death because of her husband’s obsession with his former “perfect” wife and her inability to measure up. These separate husbands inadvertently kill their wives through their obsessions.
According to Liz Rosenberg, throughout Hawthorne’s literary career, “[He praised] the imperfect and moral quality of human nature” (Rosenberg 1). The two motifs of morality and imperfection in “The Birthmark” direct the readers’ attention towards Hawthorne’s belief that instinctive actions represent human nature in a more genuine way than actions influenced by religious laws. In the short story, Georgiana’s blemish represents the actuality of human nature and not the false pretense of perfection that people thrive so hard to achieve. However, Georgiana herself represents the general population in society. Because Georgiana dies after the author portrays her as completely perfect, one can imply that perfection cannot be achieved and is only an idea fabricated by society’s leaders or governmental bodies.
In “the Birthmark” Georgiana is a new housewife with her husband Alamer. When Alamer notices the birthmark on Georgiana’s cheek he becomes repulsed and disgusted. When Alamer first offers to remove the birthmark with science she refuses, "To tell you the truth it has been so often called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so." (Birthmark). Although, soon after she witnesses further the disgust her birthmark causes her husband she agrees full heartedly saying, “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. Either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life!” (Birthmark). Georgiana, at first, is highly against the idea of removing her mark, however she is so dependent upon what her husband thinks of her that eventually she is willing to remove the mark even if it costs her health and wellbeing. Even though it is stated that Georgiana has had lovers before who thought of her as beautiful despite the birthmark, she is still dependent upon what her husband thinks of her. In the article “Hawthorne’s, The Birthmark: Science and Romance as Belief” by Barbara Eckstein, it is explained how Georgiana is presented as a passive and obedient wife and she is willing to allow Alamer to tinker with her very nature through science because she believes he is doing so out of love. She is a willing participant because she believes it is what she must do to be a good wife. Similarly in “Rappaccinis Daughter” the woman Beatrice possesses a flaw that her lover tries to eradicate with science. Although, Beatrice’s flaw is not as harmless as Georgiana’s, because Beatrice’s flaw is her poisonous nature. Beatrice became poisonous through her father’s scientific research with poisonous plants, and when Giovanni sees her in the “garden of Eden” her
Men and women will always strive for perfection whether it is in themselves or in each other. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegory “The Birthmark, “ the audience is informed of a young couple, Aylmer and Georgiana. Then soon transpires into a husband's obsession with his wife's flaw, “The birthmark.” The young husband gets too wrapped up in fixing his wife that he forgets to show her attention and love. Incapable of feeling anything but determination to make his wife perfect; he uses a potion to remove the birthmark. The potion successfully begins to fade the birthmark however, the potion also fades his wife's life as well. . Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to give “The Birthmark” a deeper meaning, foreshadowing to build suspense, and third
The Birthmark and Symbolism Cloudy headed and conflicted describes Georgina, one of the main characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark.” In this eerie short story Georgina, who is seemingly perfect, is convinced by her husband, Aylmer, who is a scientist obsessed with perfection, that the small birthmark on her face is her only source of imperfection. While others have told her that this birthmark is a sign of magical endowments, Aylmer is disgusted by the sight of the birthmark, referring to it as a defect (Hawthorne 304-5). Georgina is taken aback by this comment and resents her husband for it. As the story progresses, Aylmer convinces Georgina to allow him to try and rid her of the mark.
Every relationship is different. Weather one may be in a relationship with a boy, or just a friend, it is different. Even though they are different, the characters in “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “IND AFF” by Fay Weldon are in similar relationships. That is, the male is dominant over the female, and the woman thinks the man is her knight in shining armor. In the beginning of “IND AFF” the unnamed woman thinks her professor, Peter, who she is having an affair with, is her ticket to creating a good thesis and higher standings. Similarly, in “The Birthmark,” Georgiana thinks her husband is her ticket to flawless beauty because he tells her he will remove her birthmark. Obviously, this is not how relationships operate in today’s society. These two relationships compare and contrast with each other as well as with relationships in today’s day-and-age.
1. Our society tends to be obsessed with the idea of physical perfection. How does our society manifest that obsession? How is the 'Birthmark'; an early version of our modern obsession with physical perfection?
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
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”, is the story of a crazed scientist whose strive for perfection not only leads to the death of his beautiful wife, but the attempt of man to have power over nature. It follows the story of Aylmer and his obsession with removing the birthmark off his beautiful wife, Georgiana. “His unnatural fixation to his wife’s birthmark even consumes him in his sleep as he dreams of cutting it off much like scraping an apple off its skin.” (Snodgrass 29). This narrative explores the themes of perfection, and the conflict between science and the natural world.
Georgiana is a beautiful woman, and like any other woman, wants to please her husband. Aylmer is a scientist, and he is a man who strives for perfection in every aspect of his life. Georgiana’s appearance is nearly perfect, except a tiny crimson hand shaped birthmark on her left cheek. Throughout this story, the birthmark haunts Aylmer, which leads
The tone adopted by Hawthorne from the inception of the narrative toward Aylmer urges the reader to respect Aylmer’s scientific ambition—directly his triumph of head over heart, but indirectly his objectification of Georgiana and subsequent attempts to fix something that she never thought was a flaw. Not only is Aylmer’s obsession with getting rid of her birthmark selfish in that he does it for “the sake of giving himself peace” (647) rather than any desire to make his wife happy, he also admits to feeling guilt over his tyrannical treatment of her. For example, his “horror and disgust” in response to her facial blight rarely escapes her notice, and when she reacts poorly to his “convulsive shudder,” he attempts to soothe her and “release her mind from the burden of actual things” (650) as if she is an empty-headed infant in need of a pacifier. Furthermore, in response to her desperate request for its removal, he isolates her from humanity, administers potentially harmful concoctions into her rooms and body without her knowledge, and ultimately—and rapturously—succeeds in shrinking the mark at the cost of her
In addition to his other works, Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark” is another example of female inferiority in society. Unlike The Scarlet Letter and “Old Esther Dudley,” which focus on the strength of women, “The Birth-Mark” focuses on the importance society places on female beauty. Aylmer, a scientist, marries the beautiful Georgiana, but she has one flaw: a red birthmark resembling a “human hand, though of the smallest pigmy size.” Aylmer asks Georgiana if she has ever considered having it removed since he feels that she “came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature, that this slightest possible defect…[is] the visible mark of earthly imperfection” (419). It can be observed that Georgiana is already a pretty woman, but Aylmer is obsessed with her being perfect. Georgiana was never concerned about the mark until Aylmer mentions it. After months of Aylmer obsessing over the birthmark, Georgiana becomes self-conscious and confronts him about the matter. She asks him if he thinks he could successfully remove the mark, and when he says that he could, she replies, “let the attempt be made at any risk. Danger is nothing to me; for life—while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust—life is a burthen which I would fling down with joy” (421).