Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birth-Mark

1. Works Cited Entry for Short Story:
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Birth-Mark." Tales and Sketches. New York, NY: Literary Classics of the United States, 1982. 764-780. Print.
2. Three General Comments About the Author and Works Cited Entries for the Comments:
A. Nathaniel Hawthorne was seen as “a major figure in the American romantic movement” (Constantakis1)
Works Cited Entry for this Statement:
"The Birth-Mark." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 35.
Detroit: Gale, 2012. 1-24. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.
B. Additionally, “Hawthorne created allegories of the dark, irredeemable human condition, a point of view most likely traceable to the author’s New England Puritan roots.” (Constantakis

Unfortunately for their relationship, Alymer obsessed over the possible removal of his wife’s hand-shaped birth-mark, which he saw as a sign that “Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions, either to imply that they are temporary and finite, or that their perfection must be wrought by toil and pain” (Hawthorne 766), so Georgiana agreed to have the mark removed. Soon afterwards, Alymer furnished a lavishly decorated space for Georgiana to stay in while he developed an elixir in his laboratory to remove her mark; he also attempted to delight her with several of his other scientific creations, but they did not always have the intended effect. Georgiana later read notes that Alymer kept pertaining to his earlier work; although he frowned upon this, Georgiana claimed to then have more respect for him than before. Eventually, Alymer finished formulating the elixir used to remove Georgiana’s birth-mark, and Georgiana drank it; although her birth-mark was successfully removed, Georgiana perished in the