Inside Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark”
Written in the 1840’s, “The Birth-Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows a man’s battle with human perfection. In the story, Aylmer has a beautiful wife named Georgiana. Aylmer feels his wife is beautiful but not perfect. The one thing standing in the way of her being perfect is a small crimson colored birth-mark on her face (Hawthorne). Superficially, the story appears to be about a scientist’s obsession with removing the birth-mark from his wife’s face. However, after reading closely, Hawthorne presents several different themes such as the mind vs spirit vs body, and God vs Man/Science.
It’s in human nature to constantly strive for perfection, but one must understand that there are some things that
…show more content…
are out of human control. Aylmer, a scientist in the story, attempts several failed experiments in the story in order to remove the birth-mark from his wife’s cheek. In the end, he successfully conducts an experiment that removes the birth-mark, but the success comes with a severe price. After the birth-mark disappears from his wife’s cheek, she dies in a state of altered, not natural perfection. Hawthorne alludes in the story to the birth-mark being somewhat of a spiritual mark on Georgiana. It was even said that the hand shaped birth-mark had a grasp on Georgiana’s heart. Spiritually, it can be said that human perfection cannot be obtained in life, as it is obtained in death. When she died, Georgiana was perfect in Aylmer’s eyes, but not perfect as God made her. There are a lot of spiritual symbols in the story that Hawthorne uses to give the story a meaning. The birth-mark is something Georgiana was born with, and can be viewed as a symbol of original sin. Sin, including original sin, is perceived to be negative, as it’s a reminder that we are born imperfect. However, spiritual thinkers perceive original sin as a beautiful thing, as it shows a relationship between ourselves and our Creator and forces us to merge with the Creator once more through the act of baptism. A birth-mark is relatively the same thing. A birth-mark, although perceived to be negative by many, can also be seen as a beauty mark. However, it ultimately reminds us that although not superficially perfect or perfect to the human eye, a birth-mark is a spiritual mark left by the Creator in His vision of perfection. As humans, there has always been a struggle between Man and God, specifically Science vs God. Aylmer, a scientist, felt he could physically overrule the Creator’s will by altering his wife’s appearance with the removal of the birth-mark. However, ultimately, God’s will overruled his efforts, and his wife perished after the removal of the birth-mark. Christians believe that “all things were created through and for Christ” and in Divine Freedom, in which God creates freely, not solely out of necessity (Bishop, 2). Both ideas are prevalent in the story. Perception of the birth-mark is important. If God’s creation is accepted as it comes, there would be no need to change it. However, when man feels he is more powerful than God Himself, change can be acquired, but at a costly price. Another theme in the story is also a battle between mind, body, and spirit.
Aylmer represents mind, as he is a logical, systematic thinker, as any scientist would be. Aminidab represents body, as he is at Aylmer’s command. The body will only do what the mind will tell it to do, as Aminidab obeys Aylmer. Georgiana represents spirit, as she is spiritually touched with a mark that exudes her uniqueness. Aylmer tries his best to alter Georgiana to fit his vision of perfection, but the mind cannot change or alter the spirit. The spirit is how it comes. It’s the connection the human body has with the Creator. The body, mind, and spirit, ideally, will create a whole; a harmonious relationship the three achieves happiness. In the story, however, the mind was not happy with the spirit, as the mind attempted to overpower the Creator Himself and alter the representation of the Creator that is here on earth (the spirit). Although the mind achieved it, the spirit ultimately died, as it was altered into something it’s not. Hawthorne is attempting to explain that the spirit cannot be altered to fit the perception of man, as the spirit captures God in our human body. If the spirit is altered or changed, it will surely die. Although the body is a slave to the mind, the mind, and human’s, must remember that although God’s vision may not be perfect, He lives in our spirit and that’s what makes us
perfect. Although the mentioned themes, along with many more, play a vital role in Hawthorne’s story, they all point to a common meaning; things made in the grace of God should not be altered, as man has no right to play the role of God. Although success may come, the laws of creation charge a heavy price. Although humans may not be content with God’s image of them, it gives us as humans no right to alter creation and destiny. By accepting God’s image of yourself and of those around you and understanding that this is how He envisioned you, the body, mind, and soul can harmoniously live together, which achieves true happiness with oneself, those around you, and the Creator Himself.
In the short story, “The Birthmark” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the characters, foreshadowing, symbolism, and other rhetorical devices to alert people of the consequences of man having the power to control and alter nature. Additionally, through his skillful usage of diction, Hawthorne warns of the effects of seeking perfection through science. In “The Birthmark”, Aylmer, a man devoted entirely to science, marries Georgiana, a beautiful young woman with a single imperfection. Georgiana’s imperfection bears the resemblance of a tiny crimson hand and is visible on her left cheek. The birthmark becomes the object of Aylmer’s obsession and he resolves to use his scientific prowess to correct “what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work.” He succeeds in removing the birthmark; however, he unfortunately causes his wife’s death in the process. Through “The Birthmark”, Hawthorne suggests that nothing paradisiacal can exist on this earth, and that being imperfect is just part of being human.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birth-Mark,” Aylmer, a married scientist, believes himself to be above nature. Acting on these beliefs, he prepares
Hawthorne. “The Birthmark.” The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. R.V. Cassill, Richard Bausch. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 648-660.
Yet they have not fully considered the implications of its underlying philosophy for many of the social and ethical concerns that dominate his canon and, importantly, for his aesthetic.” I found this article extremely hard to read and get through although some things throughout the article were quite interesting. In my opinion, the writer, Mary E. Rucker, did a fine job at staying on point throughout the entire article covering all the points she was making. I do agree with the interpretation that Mary E. Rucker did of the story “The Birth-Mark.” She does a good job going in depth on the character “Aylmer,” who is a brilliant yet misguided scientist and the protagonist of the story. Aylmer’s experiments and creations have made him famous in the scientific community. Although his intentions are good, Aylmer is a selfish and cruel man whose delusions ultimately kill his wife. Ultimately, this article did help me to understand “The Birth-Mark,” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, somewhat
The words “beautiful” and “perfect” are both vague yet relative concepts as they are defined from person to person. In Hawthorne’s “The Birth Mark,” imperfections perceived by one are also seen as defining in beauty by another. Perfection, as sought by Aylmer, became an obsession which in the end required Georgiana to undergo a process of transmutation to become perfect and therefore a more desirable human being in Aylmer’s eyes. The concept of “bodily perfection” remains the same today as it was in Hawthorne’s time: beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it is who the beholder is that is of greatest importance when determining the value of the opinion being shared. For Georgiana, Aylmer’s happiness, or lack thereof, defined the way in
In Nathanial Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark,” Aylmer, a crazed, “mad-scientist,” seeks to remove the scarlet handprint birthmark from his wife, Georgiana’s cheek. From the opening of the work, the third person narrator describes Aylmer’s obsession with science and the adverse effects it has had on his social life. Aylmer is tied up in this battle within himself and with his assigned association between the natural and the spiritual world. He wishes to have as much control over these colliding worlds as possible, granting himself god-like power and control in the process. In the art of manipulating nature through science, Aylmer believes he is able to alter the spiritual aspects of the natural as well. Aylmer’s focus on spirituality is Hawthorne’s way of commenting on mankind’s fixation on sin and redemption.
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 "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne explores the theme science versus nature through Aylmer, who exemplifies the “man of [scientific]” knowledge (Hawthorne 211). Georgiana, on the other hand, is naïve to the science of her husband and would much rather leave nature alone, as seen when she is asked to remove a perfect flower: “It is magical!’ cried Georgiana. ‘I dare not to touch it” (Hawthorne 219). Aylmer creates inventions that manipulate nature for performing miracles; however, Aylmer’s ambitions to strive for human perfection ultimately kill his wife, Georgiana.
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...
The protagonist of “The Birthmark,” Aylmer, uses physical action to attempt to achieve perfection. His obsession with imperfection is evoked by Georgiana’s birthmark on her cheek. Although Georgiana only has one major flaw, her birthmark, Aylmer is determined to remove it and fulfill her perfection. Despite her doubts concerning the removal, Aylmer has enough pride and confidence to execute the final elimination of the birthmark. Thus, he concocts a liquid for Georgiana to drink which will cure her birthmark. Aylmer’s scientific perfectionism is not unlike the Puritan obsession of purity. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Reverend Hooper dons a piece of black crape over his face in hopes to force the congregants to realize their own sins instead of constantly obsessing over others. Incited by religion, Hooper recognizes the immoral nature of their obsession, and decides to take action through his wearing of the veil. As he lies dying, he exclaims, “Why do you tremble at me alone… Tremble also at each other… loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!” (35). His whole life, nobody understood the significance of his veil. On his deathbed, he finally discloses the reason. The veil over his face was an attempt by Reverend Hooper
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 “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.
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
We as men try at all cost to remove all taints of imperfection from ourselves. Georgiana was a beautiful and wonderful creature with a birthmark on her left cheek but Aylmer desired to make his wife prettier by removing the birthmark on her cheek. He was so fixated on her small imperfection that he failed to realize the loveliness of his wife. This goes to show how we as men are obsessed with our imperfections and will go to any extent to correct it but what we don’t understand is that we cannot correct nature. Hawthorne said that“This one visible mark of earthly imperfection provides the impetus of anxiety that haunts Georgiana’s husband and Georgiana herself.” The birthmark happens to be