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Intro & Outline:
Intro:
In The Eye of the Beholder and The Birthmark, an author and a director present arguments regarding societal conceptions of beauty. Though both make the point that people’s views of beauty are flawed and that beauty relies on perspective, they present different ideas regarding these flaws. Whereas The Eye of the Beholder uses techniques of surprise and uncanniness and draws parallels to the real world to demonstrate that society’s view of beauty is entirely based on perspective, and that what is ugly to one might be beautiful to another, The Birthmark examines beauty as it pertains to personal relationships more so than society. The Birthmark uses irony, symbolism, and allusion to demonstrate a problem in the human quest for perfection and examines humanity’s nature to be imperfect.
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The Eye of the Beholder Literary Techniques Filmography, in particular the use of darkness, obscures the faces of the characters until the end, showing that notions of beauty are obscured and imperfect. People are shot in darkness and continue to exist there, and we make assumptions without seeing them. Suspense is used to emphasize the contrast between beauty in our society and in theirs - the unveiling of Janet Tyler and the surprise moment provides some perspective and provokes thought. Historical allusion is employed to compare and contrast the society of the work from ours.
The “Supreme Leader” emphasizing conformity is built into the collective unconscious of the U.S. as we’ve often fought against societies that follow this model, for example Nazi Germany or the USSR.
The Birthmark
Lit. Techniques
Irony is used to point out a danger in human nature - Aylmer, in his attempts to “cure” Georgiana, kills her. Their obsession with perfection leads them to destroy the closest human specimen of perfection in their lives, Georgiana herself.
Symbolism is used to illustrate the necessity of Georgiana’s birthmark to her human existence. It is compared to a hand, anchor, and tether - it is that which lets her keep her humanity. The nature of humanity is to be imperfect, and to remove all imperfections from a person kills them.
Biblical allusion is employed during Georgiana’s death scene. She is called angelic as she pales and dies without her birthmark, and it is implied that after the removal she becomes a perfect, immortal being transcending humanity - an angel, and yet must die to do so as mortals are by necessity not angelic in nature.
Conclusion: While The Birthmark and The Eye of the Beholder share in story elements and in topic, they present different themes. While their themes don’t disagree and in fact align with each other to some degree, The Birthmark presents its theme that perfection is unattainable by humans in regards to personal relationships whereas The Eye of the Beholder presents a more societal view in regards to its theme that beauty is subjective, and as such the techniques used to present these themes vary between the works.
In the essay “What Meets the Eye”, Daniel Akst explains scientific facts about the beauty of men and women matters to people. He argues that attractive individuals receive attention, great social status, marries, and gets paid more on a job. One can disagree with Akst’s argument because anyone with the skills and knowledge, despite the appearance, can gain a decent relationship and can get paid well. Akst looks at beauty as if it can lead individuals to an amazing and successful life, but he is wrong. Nancy Mairs’ and Alice Walker’s views on beauty are explained internally and through self-confidence. Both women’s and Akst’s arguments on beauty share some similarities and differences in many ways, and an
On the surface, "The Birthmark" and "Carnal Knowledge" have little in common. One is the story of a man taken in by a young girl's passion for animal rights, the other is the story of a mad scientist whose obsession for perfection results in the death of his wife. Jim and Georgiana are drastically different characters. He is the typical "ordinary guy" who has a boring job and a mediocre social life. He is just waiting for someone to come along and spice things up. Georgiana is a young beauty and a devoted wife. Neither of them are particularly extraordinary, and they are not related in any obvious way.
The concept of beauty is a subject society speaks on through many channels. Social media plays a tremendous role in how society measures beauty and how to achieve these impossible standards. People from all walks of life have become obsessed with the idea of beauty and achieving the highest level it. In many cases, those who do not meet societal views of what is “beautiful” can become very resentful to these predisposed notions of beauty. David Akst in his writing “What Meets the Eye”, is bitter toward women and their ongoing obsession with beauty.
In the short story The Birth-mark, Aylmer: scientist, philosopher and perfectionist, is married to Georgiana, a woman of unthinkable beauty and possibly the closest woman to ever reach perfection. However, the tiny hand shaped mark that lay on the surface of her cheek aggravates Aylmer and he thinks day and night of how he may get rid of it in order to help Georgiana reach the perfection that he longs for. The actions that he proceeds to take, prove that he is indeed the villain and the one to blame for Georgiana’s death. He does so by tearing her down with crude words, making Georgiana feel insecure and self-conscious about her outward appearance as well as keeping his failed experiments a secret to her.
A small hand shaped birthmark was placed on Georgiana’s left cheek. Georgiana never had a problem with her blemish, and others called it a charm. Other men that Georgiana had encountered were amazed by her birthmark, “Many a desperate swain would have risked life for the privilege of pressing his lips to the mysterious hand” (Hawthorne). Despite
The scene in question opens with Georgiana asking Aylmer to recall if he had dreamt of the birthmark. Georgiana’s high self-consciousness and shame felt from Aylmer’s horrified stares motivates her to confront Aylmer. At first, Aylmer denies the suggestion but then decides to admit he had dreamt of it. Before Aylmer can reveal his nightmare, Georgiana expresses a desire to rid herself of the mark. In doing this, Georgiana describes the birthmark using negative terms such as “fatal birthmark” and “stain.” Prior to her request, Georgiana had described the birthmark as “a charm.” This shift in perspective is key to both the plot of the story and its implications for
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.
...only known as a funeral flower. This again foreshadows the young bride’s death before her allowance of corruption. The mark on her forehead is a symbol of her mistake, a mistake she is never allowed to forget, this can be linked to the view that women are never allowed to forget a mistake made by them. Angela Carter again shows the position of women in society; once a mistake is made you are an outcast in society. This can also be linked to the biblical reference of Cane, ‘him who became an outcast’.
Our society has many ways of manifesting its obsession with physical perfection. In our society people go to extreme lengths to achieve perfection. The 'Birthmark';, written more than a century ago, is an early version of our modern obsession with physical perfection.
In “The Birthmark” the relationships and behaviors of the character reveal much more than the story itself does. The characters of Aylmer, Georgian, Amenidab and Nature itself, through their words, actions, and behaviors give insight into a much more meaningful story. A deeper analysis of the characters reveals that they are archetypes, and as archetypes they provide a deeper hidden meaning to the story. By looking at Aylmer, Georgiana, Amenidab and Natures relationships and actions throughout the story we can see how they are used to give deeper significance.
The birthmark present on Georgiana’s face symbolizes many different things, such as the idea of unattainable perfection of nature even while knowing the inevitable consequences it holds. The main character Aylmer is obsessed with removing
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
Though she consents to having her birthmark removed, Georgiana’s initial reaction to Aylmer’s shock at her facial defect is to redden “with momentary anger” before dissolving into tears (645); though her secondary reaction fits into the stereotypical female response to a physical critique, the fact that her initial reaction is anger implies that she is more than merely a docile housewife. However, her actions still reflect those of a docile housewife; when he confines her to a dimly lit apartment, she acquiesces solemnly and quietly spends her days doing as Aylmer
...e ability to achieve anything in life. Hopefully, readers would learn from this novel that beauty is not the most important aspect in life. Society today emphasizes the beauty of one's outer facade. The external appearance of a person is the first thing that is noticed. People should look for a person's inner beauty and love the person for the beauty inside. Beauty, a powerful aspect of life, can draw attention but at the same time it can hide things that one does not want disclosed. Beauty can be used in a variety of ways to affect one's status in culture, politics, and society. Beauty most certainly should not be used to excuse punishment for bad deeds. Beauty is associated with goodness, but that it is not always the case. This story describes how the external attractiveness of a person can influence people's behavior and can corrupt their inner beauty.