What is perfection? Why would someone put so much effort into achieving it when it cannot fully be achieved on earth? The short story, “The Birthmark” is an excellent example. In “The Birthmark” Hawthorne uses symbolism and foreshadowing to demonstrate his conclusion that perfection is not achievable in the mortal world.
Hawthorne uses numerous examples of symbolism to validate his conclusion of perfection. Georgiana's birthmark is used to symbolize her mortality. He describes it as, “the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthly mould” (Hawthorne 418). This birthmark is the only thing keeping her from reaching perfection. Because it is attached to her impermanence, if removed, her inner being will vanish. The only way perfection could be achieved was
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by death and ascension to heaven where only perfection can survive.
This is confirmed when Aylmer exclaims, “Alas! it was too true!” and calls the crimson birthmark, “the bond by which an angelic spirit kept itself in union with a mortal frame.” (Hawthorne 427). Another use of symbolism is the boudoir and the laboratory. They are used to symbolize the diversity between life and death. Georgiana wakes up to a scene of, “Enchantment” and describes the boudoir as, “a pavilion among the clouds.” (Hawthorne 420). When she ventures into the laboratory, she describes the atmosphere as, “oppressively close” and that it was, “tainted with gaseous odors which had been tormented forth by the processes of science.” (Hawthorne 424). The laboratory is beautiful and wondrous while the boudoir is tainted with science and harmful odors. The laboratory symbolizes her horrible life on earth being imperfect and being tormented by Aylmer trying to play God with his earthly science.While the boudoir is used to symbolize her ascension to
heaven after she dies and achieves perfection. Because perfection cannot survive on earth. Lastly, the broken flower is used to symbolize the fragility of georgiana’s life or mortality. Aylmer tells her to, “Pluck it, and inhale its brief perfume” (Hawthorn 421). But, like most of his experiments, his plan fails yet again. Georgiana barely touches the beautiful flower and it, “suffered a blight” and turns, “coal-black as if by the agency of fire.” (Hawthorn 421). Georgiana’s mortality is so fragile that even the slightest touch or mistake can turn it to dust. So, when her only imperfection is removed, she can no longer stay on earth. As Aylmer said himself, “ There was too powerful a stimulus.” (Hawthorne 421). Thus, Georgiana’s birthmark, the boudoir and laboratory, and the fragile flower are all used as symbols to validate Hawthorne’s conclusion of the earthly fight for perfection but never truly achieving it except in heaven. Hawthorne also uses various examples of foreshadowing to confirm his conclusion of perfection. Aylmer’s dream is used to foreshadow Hawthorne’s ending to “The Birthmark”. In his dream, the knife’s, “tiny grasp appeared to have caught hold of Georgiana’s heart”. In which, he was, “resolved to cut or wrench it away.” (Hawthorne 419). This tells that if the birthmark be removed, it will lead to Georgiana’s death. Aylmer’s dream forewarns him not to go forward with his plan of achieving perfection. But, he is so hypnotized by the idea that he continues, “for the sake of giving himself peace.” (Hawthorne 419). Thus, leading to Hawthorne’s ending, confirming the conclusion that perfection is not reachable in the impermanent world. Secondly, the odd usage of sleep also foreshadows Georgiana’s untimely end. Hawthorn talks of a, “Sleep” that startles, “this actual life with secrets that perchance belong to a deeper one” (Hawthorne 419). The odd capitalization of sleep speaks of the deeper, more permanent Sleep, death. This “Sleep” frightens Aylmer with secrets beyond his knowing that warn of a deeper consequence for his plans with Georgiana. Hawthorne writes that truth is, “muffled in ropes of sleep”, and it talks of, “matters in regard to which we practice an unconscious self-deception during our waking moments.” (Hawthorne 419). Aylmer was decepted by this sleep. It lead him to believe he was doing what was right in the name of science, causing him to continue with his plans and “cure” Georgiana of her imperfection. Hence, foreshadowing Georgiana’s end of earthly imperfection and confirming hawthorne’s conclusion that perfection can only be in Sleep. Lastly, Georgiana’s talk of death foreshadows the failure of Aylmer’s so called, “elixir of immortality” (Hawthorne 422). Georgiana claims that, “life is a burden”, and exclaims to Aylmer, “Either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life!” (Hawthorne 419). She speaks of wanting to die if she does not reach his idea of perfection. She wishes to, “put off this birthmark of mortality”, even if it meant, “relinquishing mortality itself” (Hawthorne 425). Little does she know that his idea is going to do just that. Her cries of wanting death and giving Aylmer what he desires, thusly, foreshadows the end to Aylmer’s, “most precious poison”, and verifies Hawthorne’s conclusion that perfection is only through the undoing of one's mortality. Imperfections are not always a bad thing. Perfection isn’t as perfect as it seems. There is no need to step beyond the bounds of man. The earthly desire to achieve ultimate perfection can only lead to one thing, destruction. Hawthorne’s short story, “The Birthmark”, is indeed an excellent usage of symbolism and foreshadowing to demonstrate his conclusion of the earthly desire to achieve ultimate perfection and its deadly consequences of trying to play God. Perfection truely only survives in heaven.
Hawthorne. “The Birthmark.” The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. R.V. Cassill, Richard Bausch. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 648-660.
“Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used by the author to represent abstract ideas or concepts.” Symbolism in literature is the depth and hidden meaning in any piece of work. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a powerful and evocative novel laced with symbolism. The most obvious is the symbol of the scarlet letter itself, representing Hester’s sin of adultery. Hawthorne’s other symbols are less obvious and are very often obscured in the novel.
A symbol is an object used to stand for something else. Symbolism has a hidden meaning lying within it; these meanings unite to form a more detailed theme. Symbolism is widely used in The Scarlet Letter to help the reader better understand the deep meanings Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays throughout his novel. He shows that sin, known or unknown to the community, isolates a person from their community and from God. Hawthorne also shows this by symbols in nature around the town, natural symbols in the heavens, and nature in the forest.
There are numerous instances of ambiguity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”; this essay hopes to explore critics’ comments on that problem within the tale, as well as to analyze it from this reader’s standpoint.
medical practices are beneficial; they are done to cure people from illness and to save
I think Hawthorne may be implying in these stories that perfection is unattainable and the quest for it may be unrewarding, even fatal. In these and some of Hawthorne's other stories, I believe he is reminding people of the delicate blessings of life. Our pursuit of happiness outside of a connection with other people and our reckless endeavor to supersede the power of the supernatural may result in temporary satisfaction, but is ultimately unfulfilling and even dangerous.
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 today’s society, it seems that we cannot turn the television on or look in a
To understand the message of “The Birthmark”, we must first understand the events and circumstances that took place in Hawthorn’s time period which most likely prompted him to write this short story. Nathaniel Hawthorn was a 19th century novelist who is perhaps best known for writing The Scarlet Letter. In Hawthorn’s time, a new belief system called positivism was on the rise. Positivism exalted science. This ne...
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
After Georgina eventually passed, Aylmer was left to deal with what his obsession for perfection had brought upon his wife, who was thought to be the closest thing to perfection. Hawthorne uses many different literary devices throughout this story, with the most prevalent being his use of symbolism. of the book. Ed. Michael Meyer.
The story’s tone is one of romantic controversy, a dilemma at a high level of existence. The scientist’s love for his craft competes very intensively with his newfound love for his wife. It is also very psychological, strictly dealing with the raw mind of its subjects as if the ominous narrator told the story from inside their mind, rather than observe it from the outside. He describes the processes that one may take to reach a certain degree of knowledge and to find the elixir of life, which is described in this story as the ultimate goal of the scientific community. Also, the narrator is very opinionated about events in the story.
Symbolism adds meaning and requires readers to think deeper about the story. It gives objects more than just their physical meaning. The Great Gatsby utilizes the use of symbolism extremely well. Without this use of symbolism, the story would have no meaning at all. The symbols are what help move this story. Symbols in The Great Gatsby such as the eyes of Doctor, T.J. Eckleburg, the green light, the Valley of Ashes, Gatsby’s Mansion, and Owl Eyes all play important roles in the novel.
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.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1843 short story entitled “The Birth-Mark” is, at face value, a traditionally formatted Hawthorne story; it is a textbook example of his recurrent theme of the unpardonable sin as committed by the primary character, Aylmer, the repercussions of which result in the untimely death of his wife, Georgiana. However, there seems to be an underlying theme to the story that adds a layer to Hawthorne’s common theme of the unpardonable sin; when Aylmer attempts to reconcile his intellectual prowess with his love for his wife, his efforts turn into an obsession with perfecting his wife’s single physical flaw and her consequent death. This tragedy occurs within the confines of traditional gender