Similarities Between The Birthmark And The Eye Of The Beholder

859 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Comparisons

Prompt: Both “The Birthmark” and “Eye of the Beholder” provide treatments of beauty and perfection. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast the two texts, analyzing how each uses literary devices to make its point.

Intro
Beauty is a subjective due to what pleases society. The way in which appearance is viewed is determined by what our culture deems “normal.” This controversial discussion of what exactly beauty is, is explored throughout the texts “The Birthmark and “Eye of the Beholder.” The contrasting views of the cultural norm of beauty’s evident as characters get ostracized due to their natural features. A similar process, however, can be found in both examples to deal with the nuisance of different looking people. Either they …show more content…

They both undergo extensive scientific experiments and medical treatment throughout the story in order to become the way society believes they should be.
The Birthmark: Despite Georgiana’s beautiful appearance, she had a birthmark on half her face that was determined as unacceptable to her husband. Because of this flaw, he conducted countless scientific experiments in order to change her.
Here we see where Georgiana accepts what she must do to please her husband. She convinces herself that she isn’t normal because of her husband’s obsession with her flaw. The perception of her in Aylmer’s eyes determines how she sees herself, which is often what happens today in our world.
QUOTE “Danger is nothing to me; for life, while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust,—life is a burden which I would fling down with joy. Either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life!”
QUOTE “Not even Aylmer now hated it so much as …show more content…

Whenever other characters come into play, they’re trying to fix Georgiana or Miss Taylor so they can be acceptable.
The Birthmark: By being confined to her room, her communication is cut off and she is left to contemplate her existence. The lack of access she had to anyone with the same situation as her, makes the silence more deafening.
QUOTE “They were to seclude themselves in the extensive apartments occupied by Aylmer as a laboratory…”
QUOTE “In his interviews with Georgiana, Aylmer generally made minute inquiries as to her sensations and whether the confinement of the rooms and the temperature of the atmosphere agreed with her.”
Eye of the Beholder: Left in the hospital room with bandages over her face, all Miss Taylor can see is darkness. This leaves herself to only her own thoughts and not even eyesight to distract herself. Any communication with others is through nurses and doctors that come to check up on her. At the beginning, she never wants the bandages to come off her face but then her mind changes once the doctor comes in to check on her. This ironic display of indecisiveness represents the constant war that must be going on inside her head.
Body paragraph: gothic/dark romantic

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Devices In The Birthmark

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Comparing Three Nathaniel Hawthorne Stories

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Birthmark, he uses unperfected beauty to confirm that if God’s creations are meddled with the product is harmful. A scientist, Alymer is married to a beautiful women named Georgiana whose only flaw is a birthmark on her left cheek.

    Read More

  • Obsessing About Perfection in The Birthmark

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...in his trying to act god like he actually kills her. The Birthmark is a story of how one man can think a little too highly of himself when he tries to change what is not meant to be changed.

    Read More

  • Birthmark

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    & 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

    Read More

  • Human Imperfection Illustrated in Hawthorne's The Birthmark

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is hard to say that one is human and perfect at the same time. Human beings are not capable of achieving perfection; if that would be so, humans would stop being humans. By nature the human race is full of flaws, some appearing as early as in the womb. From defects in the body, to defects in the mind, to the mistakes that one makes in quotidian life, it is impossible to deny that human imperfection exists. To try to manipulate humans into perfection is not only impossible, but it takes away the very essence of being a human being. The short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorn, illustrates this teaching through the character of Aylmer, an ambitious and devoted scientist who is appalled by his wife Georgiana’s birthmark, believing it to be a perceivable sign of her human flaws and eagerly waits to remove it from her cheek. This story raises riveting questions such as, what is humanity all about, can human beings ever achieve perfection through science, is Hawthorn attacking science or a wider issue, and more significantly, should science take the place of God. Through the use of symbolism in “The Birthmark”, Hawthorn indirectly implies that imperfection is an essential part of being human and that science should not interfere; thus he is hinting his personal views toward science and its limitations over nature.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Ethics In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even though it is ethical to remove the birthmark for the couple’s culture since it will resolve their looming problem, is it moral in their perspective? Initially, it was implied that Georgina found it wrong to remove it since she first believed the mark as a “charm” (419) but the soon changed when Aylmer believed the opposite of it. Aylmer has always found it morally correct in his eyes that the removal of the birthmark is a need since he only ever saw it as a scorching stigma that derails him from reaching total happiness and bliss. The wrong becomes right and the right becomes wrong, and together, these events led to the ethical extermination of the birthmark.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Romanticism In The Birthmark

    1364 Words  | 3 Pages

    The advancement of industrialism, economic growth, science and medicine, and wars all donated to the contributions of many writers during the Romantic Movement. This is true of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, short story, “The Birthmark”. The obsession with perfection is just as evident today; as it was back in the 18th and 19th centuries. The detrimental effects of amplifying science and romance are clearly defined between the relationships of Aylmer, his wife Georgiana, and Aminadab -his assistant in his lab. Romantic literature puts a higher significance on the value of intuition and imagination instead of fixating on objective reasoning.

    Read More

  • The Birthmark Symbolism Essay

    1809 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark: Understanding The Birthmark

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Birthmark

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Perspectives of the Obsession with Imperfections

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    Aylmer, the protagonist, in “The Birthmark” becomes selfish as a result of his obsession to remove a miniscule birthmark from his beautiful wife’s face in order to achieve perfection. As a consequence of a small and distinct birthmark on his wife’s left cheek, Aylmer frightened, thinks the birthmark is evil that symbolizes sorrow, decay, and death. Although, the birthmark is benign and harmless, that only denotes the flaws that nature has left on a human being, to Aylmer it represents his wife's imperfection, which needs to be fixed and extracted. As a result of attempting to remove the birthmark in order to achieve perfection, Aylmer blinds himself and does not think of the consequences. He dreams of the fatal outcome th...

    Read More

  • The Birthmark

    390 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Birthmark Character Analysis Essay

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Birthmark Literary Criticism

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Beauty in The Picture of Dorian Gray

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

More about Similarities Between The Birthmark And The Eye Of The Beholder

Open Document