“The Birth-Mark” was written in 1844; by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story describes Aylmer as a successful scientist. He discovers many mysteries of nature, such as what causes volcanoes and earthquakes; however, it is ironic that even though the story was written in the 1840s, which was the peak of the second great awakening, Aylmer did not believe in God. Georgiana is Aylmer’s faithful wife. She is born with a birth-mark in the form of a very tiny hand on her left cheek. Everybody adores this mark except Aylmer, who thinks the birthmark is a curse. Shortly after he marries Georgiana. He begins to see the trace of nature’s imperfection on his almost perfect wife. This leads him to the quest of perfecting his wife’s “flaw.” He said to his wife, …show more content…
People have something they see as flaw, and want to change it. As for Aylmer, “With the morning twilight Aylmer opened his eyes upon the birth-mark resting on his wife’s face and recognized the symbol of imperfection.” (Hawthorne 316). Georgiana is really concerned about the outcome of this surgery, and then she called Aylmer and told him “I know not what may be the cost to both of us to get rid of this fatal birth-mark. Perhaps its removal may cause cureless deformity; or it may be the stain goes as deep as life.” (Hawthorne 316). A perfectionist does not care what the consequences of their actions are. “Attempting to correct imperfection is a risk more of us seem willing to take.” (McLaughlin 5). At the laboratory, Aylmer said to Georgiana “Know then that this crimson birth-mark has clutched its grasp into your being with a strength of which I had no previous conception. I have already administered agents powerful enough to do aught except to change your entire physical system. Only one thing remains to be tried. If that fail us we are ruined.” (Hawthorne 322). Even though Aylmer told Georgiana this, she still accepts to go through with the operation. This quest of perfectionism not only happened to Aylmer, it is also happening in today’s world. Perfectionism has taken over people’s mind. For example, teenage girls want to have bigger butts like Nicki Minaj, and flawless faces like Beyoncé. They would spend their …show more content…
It is a reminder that any living thing will die. Aylmer is a smart man, but he forgets that he cannot make his wife immortal. He is only trying to make his wife’s blemish go away. Just like clearing acne, if you try too hard it gets worse or leaves a scar. His guts to push forward even though he knows the dangers lead him astray. In other words, there is something that should be left “imperfect” rather than striving for their perfection. Although, we have few perfectionist who have been successful in their endeavor, the question is, for how long? How long will it last before they meet their misery? Aylmer was successful at first. “A faint smile fitted over her lips when she looked into the mirror and she recognized how barely perceptible was now that crimson hand which has once blazed forth. But then her eyes sought Aylmer’s face with trouble and anxiety. She then said to him ‘Dearest Aylmer, I’m dying,’ and she died.” (Hawthorne 324). Perfectionism is something everyone should try to avoid. It can never bring comfort, instead it adds to the
The Birth-Mark, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1843, is a story about a scientist and his wife, whose relationship is greatly impacted by science. The scientist’s wife, Georgiana, has a crimson birth-mark on her left cheek that is shaped like a hand. The scientist, Aylmer, loathes the birth-mark on Georgiana’s face, and he desperately desires to conduct a scientific experiment to remove the unique mark. In Hawthorne’s, The Birth-Mark, the theme, “love for a woman v. love of science”, is portrayed in the passion that Aylmer has for science, the love that he shows his wife, and the conflict that he has balancing both passions in his life.
& nbsp; The Mark of Ugliness In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, there is indeed a representation of Although the other underlying personality is not represented within himself, it is rather portrayed through his assistant Aminadab. Since Aylmer is lacking so much within himself, he is unable to appreciate his wife even though she was dying. Basically, if Aylmer had the sensibility of Aminadab, he could have realized how beautiful she was even with her birthmark. During
Hawthorne uses foreshadowing to help tell the reader the message. Aylmer has a dream about attempting to remove Georgiana’s birthmark with a knife, but in the midst of the operation, the knife reaches Georgiana’s heart and kills her. Throughout the story, Georgiana says things like, “Either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life!” (3) and “Remove it, remove it, whatever be the cost, or we shall both go mad!” (9) She gets to the point where she is willing to do anything in order to remove
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.
Society manifests its obsession with physical perfection by having surgical procedures done on daily basis. These surgeries allow for almost any cosmetic transformation. For example a person can have anything from removing a birthmark to inserting breast implants to having a tummy tuck done on their body. Society manifests their obsession with physical perfection by having these procedures done to them. These procedures enable society to achieve 'perfection';, much like Georgiana in the 'Birthmark';.
...eard again! Thus ever does the gross fatality of earth exult in its invariable triumph over the immortal essence which, in this dim sphere of half-development, demands the completeness of a higher state” (Hawthorne 231). This laughter appears to come from no one in the room but rather Nature itself. Nature is laughing at Aylmer in his attempt to try and overpower it and create his own form of perfection. Since the hand on Georgiana’s face is viewed as Natures touch on her, it is not difficult to view Nature as an actual character in the story.
“The Birthmark” is a short story written by author Nathaniel Hawthorne. This short story is filled with symbolism and destructive criticism. It follows the scientist Aylmer and his obsession of removing his wife Georgina’s birthmark. The crimson hand-shaped birthmark on the face of an otherwise perfect, beautiful woman contains deep meanings. Through the use of symbolism, Hawthorne demonstrates the issues and themes of the unattainability of perfection, science and nature, humanity’s flaws, and mortality.
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.
He doesn’t believe that how God created Georgiana is perfect, and he is obsessive about making her his idea of perfection. Aminadab, Aylmer’s servant, tries to tell his master to leave the birthmark alone. He tells Aylmer that if Georgiana were his wife, he wouldn’t worry about something so trivial. However, the scientific ideas in Aylmer’s mind won’t let him forget the birthmark. He believes he can remove it with the help of science.
One of the main themes discussed in this story is perfection which was evident by Aylmer obsessing over making his wife perfect by removing the birthmark off
He cannot accept that his wife has a small blemish on her otherwise perfect visage. After Georgiana hears Aylmer talking in his sleep referring to a dream he was having, where he was trying
The first reason that science should have permission to improve people’s looks is because of pure want. It would be against the law to prevent somebody to getting their pursuit of happiness, even if it’s a boob job. I think one of the reasons Georgiana wanted to remove the mark is because she “soon learned to shudder at his gaze.” I know how terrible it must be to have somebody look at you strange because you are different. Just like how people get a rhinoplasty to escape racial binaries. But in this story both people wanted perfection, in order to please the other. Aylmer was not a bad husband, despite his wants for perfection, he only mixed his control over nature with a control over his lover. When people want something, they will go to the ends of the earth to get it, and that’s just how the cookie crumbles. It seems like foreshadowing ...
My birthmark VI. Lessons Learned All humans are flawed Don’t lose your future over trivial matters Don’t let the opinions of others affect your self-image VII. Conclusion In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birth-mark” he writes about a woman named Georgiana who has a single flaw, a birthmark on her cheek.
His inability to accept beauty in its most organic form ultimately led to the demise of his wife; he is to blame for her death.