The Thematic Complexity Of Love In The Birthmark, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

1552 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism in the birthmark essay

There is a thin line between love and hate. Love is having a strong affection for another person, place, or thing and sometimes, it makes people do crazy things. Whether it is a woman chopping off hair due to a bad breakup or placing permanent tattoos on the body for commitment, one will go to major extremities to satisfy their passion for love. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, “The Birthmark,¨ a psychotic scientist strives for perfection not only leading to the death of his beautiful wife, but overall attempting to have power and control over nature. Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes symbolism and foreshadowing to display the thematic complexities of mortality and human imperfection that the birthmark personifies psychologically and symbolically in the
"Women Beware Science: 'The Birthmark.'." Short Story Criticism, edited by Rachelle Mucha and Thomas J. Schoenberg, vol. 89, Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420071520/LitRC?u=troy25957&sid=LitRC&xid=268bd900. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017. Originally published in Critical Essays on Hawthorne's Short Stories, edited by Albert J. von Frank, G. K. Hall & Co., 1991, pp. 164-172.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birth-Mark.” Gutenburg.com, 8 Dec. 2017, gutenburg.com/.

Howard, Jeffrey. "Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birth-mark." Explicator 70.2 (2012): 133-136. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.

Shakinovsky, Lynn. "The Return of the Repressed: Illiteracy and the Death of the Narrative in
Hawthorne's `The.."ATQ, vol. 9, no. 4, Dec. 1995, p. 269. EBSCOhost ,libproxy.troy.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.libproxy.troy.edu/login.a spx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=9601050951&site=ehost-live. Weinstein, Cindy. “The Invisible Hand Made Visible: ‘The Birth-Mark.’” “Nineteenth-Century
Literature, vol. 48, no. 1, 1993, pp. 44–73. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2933940.

Tritt, Michael. "Chasing Perfection: Death Denial In Nathaniel Hawthorne's “The

Show More
Related

  • Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter and John Proctor from The Crucible

    1483 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Enriched Classic ed. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print.

    Read More

  • 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

  • Where Not To Base Your Faith: Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    1413 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lathrop, G. P., ed. "Hawthorne, Nathaniel." The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou, 1962. 439-40. Print.

    Read More

  • Hawthorne and "The Birthmark": No Judgment Intended

    1655 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hawthorne. “The Birthmark.” The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. R.V. Cassill, Richard Bausch. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 648-660.

    Read More

  • Stifled Women in Yellow Wallpaper, Rappaccini's Daughter, and Beloved

    2746 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...iteracy and the Death of the Narrative in Hawthorne's 'The         Birthmark'." ATQ 9.4 (1995): 269-82.

    Read More

  • Spiritual Analysis in The Birthmark Novel

    1221 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Nathanial Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark,” Aylmer, a crazed, “mad-scientist,” seeks to remove the scarlet handprint birthmark from his wife, Georgiana’s cheek. From the opening of the work, the third person narrator describes Aylmer’s obsession with science and the adverse effects it has had on his social life. Aylmer is tied up in this battle within himself and with his assigned association between the natural and the spiritual world. He wishes to have as much control over these colliding worlds as possible, granting himself god-like power and control in the process. In the art of manipulating nature through science, Aylmer believes he is able to alter the spiritual aspects of the natural as well. Aylmer’s focus on spirituality is Hawthorne’s way of commenting on mankind’s fixation on sin and redemption.

    Read More

  • Ambiguity of The Minister’s Black Veil

    3124 Words  | 7 Pages

    “Nathaniel Hawthorne.” The Norton Anthology: American Literature, edited by Baym et al.  New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1995.

    Read More

  • Perfect In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “The Birthmark,” Aylmer is the force of evil that wants to change Georgiana, who is an innocent character. She eventually comes to believe in his opinions and he corrupts her self-image. Aylmer thinks he can make Georgiana perfect and change what Georgiana got naturally. As previously mentioned, he eventually causes Georgiana’s death with this search for perfection. Hawthorne takes advantage of tying in his ideals with the story to illustrate, once again, that striving for physical perfection can be

    Read More

  • Human Imperfection Illustrated in Hawthorne's The Birthmark

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne The Birth-Mark Analysis

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nathaniel Hawthorne (born July 4, 1804, Salem, Mass. — died May 19, 1864, Plymouth, NH) is an American novelist and short-story writer who was an expert of the allegorical and symbolic story. One of the best fiction essayists in American writing, he is best known for "The Scarlet Letter" (1850) and "The House of the Seven Gables" (1851). "The Birth-Mark" is a mental thriller short story composed by Nathaniel Hawthorne. (Reference book Britannica. 2016) It was distributed first in 1843 in the March version of The Pioneer literary journal. It was distributed again in 1846 in an accumulation of short stories titled Mosses from an Old Manse. "The Birth-Mark" is Hawthorne 's initially distributed work of fiction. Some consider it to be an impression of Hawthorne 's own life, as it was distributed amid his marriage to Sophia Peabody and mirrors the fears and goals of a love bird couple. The story highlights mental subjects of the quest for

    Read More

  • The Birthmark Symbolism Essay

    1809 Words  | 4 Pages

    The. Thompson, W. R.. “Aminadab in Hawthorne’s Birthmark.” Modern Language Notes 70.6 (1955): 413-415. JSTOR.com - "The New York Times" Web. The Web.

    Read More

  • The Birthmark Character Analysis Essay

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Birthmark Theme Essay

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Aylmer's Fragrance In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    Outlandish ambitions without any logic or regard for morality often results in disasters or death. Still, nothing seemed impossible for the selfish, brilliant, yet misguided scientist in The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne. As the stubborn antagonist and static character of the short story, Aylmer had intentions and ambitions to show everyone that his intellectual mind surpasses those who are imperfect. Hawthorne used Aylmer from the Birthmark to show that greedy behavior, interaction with nature and science, and ignorance can become dangerous to others once the mind operates independently without a second thought of morality.

    Read More

  • The Birthmark Literary Criticism

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1843 short story entitled “The Birth-Mark” is, at face value, a traditionally formatted Hawthorne story; it is a textbook example of his recurrent theme of the unpardonable sin as committed by the primary character, Aylmer, the repercussions of which result in the untimely death of his wife, Georgiana. However, there seems to be an underlying theme to the story that adds a layer to Hawthorne’s common theme of the unpardonable sin; when Aylmer attempts to reconcile his intellectual prowess with his love for his wife, his efforts turn into an obsession with perfecting his wife’s single physical flaw and her consequent death. This tragedy occurs within the confines of traditional gender

    Read More

More about The Thematic Complexity Of Love In The Birthmark, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Open Document