The powerful story of “The Birthmark” takes us back in the latter part of the 19th century (Hawthorne,1843,327). This short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, ironically, is perfected on lessons of imperfection. Moreover, Hawthorne illustrates his story of unavoidable earthly sin through the use of different symbols that are represented in “The Birthmark.” Yet, this story can be viewed in various ways by equally varied readers. Let us take for instance the impeccable lesson of philosophy on life, nature, and the conflicts in between. If you take the circumstances and outcomes of our beautiful character Georgiana and our opposing character Aylmer, her husband, one can walk away from this story with a renewed outlook on life. The lesson …show more content…
Aylmer could learn a lesson or two about loving what nature gives no matter how he views it; flaw or no flaw. It is already noted that “our creative mother” (Hawthorne,1843,327) does wonders out of our realm of thinking, and for reasons one could never have any comprehension of. Despite multiple interpretations, Hawthorne’s symbolism lends universal truths across despite the reader’s perspective. Hawthorne, a truly notable 19th this Puritan way of living in his stories. He is also dually noted for writing about the sins of the world; good and evil. Hawthorne represents these themes with symbolism that was recognized throughout the story, most notably the birthmark itself representing earthly sins, natural imperfections, and mortality. century American writer heavy with Puritan influences, inscribes LITERARY ANALYSIS OF “THE BIRTHMARK” 3 Georgiana, one of the main characters has internal conflicts of her own. Georgiana is described as so beautiful that she is nearly perfect—“nearly” being the primary word. Yet, Georgiana has a quality about her that her husband Aylmer can hardly stand. Despite her lovely pale face, a tiny …show more content…
At the end of the story one cannot help but think that Georgiana’s mark is a part of her life and that when taken away, it took away her need for life. Georgina even stated that “I might put wish to put off this birthmark of mortality by relinquishing mortality.” (Hawthorne,1843,330) In the end, Aylmer did admit that he did not realize the depth of what this birthmark meant for her, he even stated that “I knew not the height and depth of your nature until now. Nothing shall be concealed.” (Hawthorne,1843,329) Even though the birthmark and use of color are obvious symbols, Hawthorne’s settings can be interpreted as symbolic. The special room that Aylmer’s lovely wife was placed in for the corrective surgery can be interpreted as a humanly constructed heaven, and when in this room, Aylmer is God. The description of the divine room was expressed by the narrator as “being a pavilion among the clouds.”(Hawthorne,1843,330) LITERARY ANALYSIS OF “THE BIRTHMARK” 5 Many lessons may be interpreted from Hawthorne’s tale of caution based on the reader’s perspective. However, Hawthorne’s genius in crafting symbols through not only just
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.
Hawthorne. “The Birthmark.” The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. R.V. Cassill, Richard Bausch. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 648-660.
Fabricating a type of the romantic artist who has radically creative powers that he exercises, Hawthorne creates in “The Birth-Mark” an extreme situation that bares the fundamentalism of the transcendental aesthetic. Accepting the premise that the artistry of nature, regardless of the apparent coarseness and lack of finish that some products may exhibit, is superior to the artistry of humanity because nature "works from the innermost germ," Hawthorne was initially critical of any discontent with the quantity and quality of nature's bounty. Should the reader emphasize Aylmer's Neoplatonism and his quest for ideal beauty, the disjunction between drama and assertion assumes a thematic function: it is Hawthorne's means to test the values of the ideal artist. Hawthorne even more
...iteracy and the Death of the Narrative in Hawthorne's 'The Birthmark'." ATQ 9.4 (1995): 269-82.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel.”The Birth-Mark.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. 11th ed. New York: Norton, 2013. 340-351. Print.
Lang, H.J.. “How Ambiguous Is Hawthorne.” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
There are more clues and subtle hints that reinforce these statements, most correlating to her mental illness and self-perception. The statements made through the use of said symbolism turns this story into an interesting viewpoint of a psychological breakdown.
The birthmark is a compelling story of one man’s obsession with his scientific ability to produce perfection. Aylmer, a scientist, is married to a Georgiana who is a very beautiful woman. Not long after getting married Georgiana’s birthmark, which is in the shape of a tiny handprint on her check, really begins to bother Aylmer. He sees it as a flaw in an other wise perfect woman. Georgiana knows that her birthmark disgusts him and, having grown up not bother at all by it, begins to hate it herself. He asks if she has ever considered having it removed. This is not something she has considered since other people in her life, especially men, have always seen it as a “charm”. Aylmer being an amazing scientist almost sees himself as god and feels that he has the power to remove this imperfection. Georgiana, bothered by her husband’s reaction to her birthmark, agrees to let him try to rid her of it. She is taken to his laboratory and he immediately begins to experiment. After she finds Aylmer’s book of experiments, which all end in failure, she for the first time, has some doubt about how this will work and confronts him. He reassures her and begins to try a multitude of methods, with the help of his assistant Aminadab, which do not work. At one point, there are several experiments going on and he even refers to himself as a “sorcerer” (Hawthorne 232). Finally, he produces a potion, which she drinks, and the birthmark begins to disappear! Slowly though, even as the experiment is working, Georgiana is fading away. He finds that ultimately, the birthmark was connected to her very soul and in his trying to act god like he actually kills her. Really this short story just proves that science has its limits and no man should try to act like G...
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
chambers in the mansion (p. 11)," the atmosphere of the room lingers an ominous and creepy
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...
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.
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.
The tone adopted by Hawthorne from the inception of the narrative toward Aylmer urges the reader to respect Aylmer’s scientific ambition—directly his triumph of head over heart, but indirectly his objectification of Georgiana and subsequent attempts to fix something that she never thought was a flaw. Not only is Aylmer’s obsession with getting rid of her birthmark selfish in that he does it for “the sake of giving himself peace” (647) rather than any desire to make his wife happy, he also admits to feeling guilt over his tyrannical treatment of her. For example, his “horror and disgust” in response to her facial blight rarely escapes her notice, and when she reacts poorly to his “convulsive shudder,” he attempts to soothe her and “release her mind from the burden of actual things” (650) as if she is an empty-headed infant in need of a pacifier. Furthermore, in response to her desperate request for its removal, he isolates her from humanity, administers potentially harmful concoctions into her rooms and body without her knowledge, and ultimately—and rapturously—succeeds in shrinking the mark at the cost of her