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Nathaniel Hawthorne themes in his writing
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Imperfect Beauty
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s romantic short story “The Birthmark,” the main character, Aylmer, is obsessively plagued with the inherent thirst for perfection. Allowing his wife to be the guinea pig was the ultimate downfall for him, as he failed in his research, as well as his lovely wife, Georgiana. The classic themes of romanticism were very evident, such as the power nature controls over science, extreme scenarios, and intense emotions. Aylmer in “The Birthmark” risks the safety of wife for science, knowledge, and perfection, forgetting the beauty of imperfection.
Long before Aylmer became acquainted with Georgiana, he was always a man of science, and a philosopher. Taking pride in his work, there was almost nothing that could form a wedge between Aylmer and his research. During his time, with exceptional discoveries being made such as electricity, “it was not unusual for the love of science to rival the love of woman” (Hawthorne). Despite this, Aylmer still set aside time in the pursuits of a woman to wed.
Shortly after their marriage, Aylmer stared upon his wife Georgiana until he could not hold his tongue any longer. Her mark, shaped like a bright red hand, burned
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a hole in his eyes. Asking Georgiana why she never tried to remove her mark he commented, “you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that the slightest possible defect… shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection” (Hawthorne). This hurt Georgiana deeply, for she always viewed her mark as a ‘charm’ more than an ugly flaw. These hateful words planted a seed in her mind that, to be beautiful or ‘perfect’, she would need the mark removed. This red mark, which seemed small and unimportant in comparison to all the loveliness of his wife, affected their relationship, which was about to take a drastic turn. It appeared that the longer they spent together, and the longer he stared upon her crimson hand, the more insufferable Aylmer became with her. This romantic theme of pain coinciding with beauty and love was noticeably apparent. His obsession rattled his sanity, leading him down a path led by the ideal that perfection can be obtained through science. This mark haunted him, casting a veil over Georgiana’s beauty, and remarkable features. The birthmark was the tragic flaw of Georgiana, and would inevitably lead to her demise. Once Georgiana was willing to allow her husband to experiment with the removal of the mark, she began to ask questions about the risks she would be taking.
Aylmer, comforting his wife, assured her the removal wouldn’t be dangerous. As time went on, she confessed to her husband she wants the mark removed “at whatever risk,” even if it meant her own life (Hawthorne). This is an extreme case of the search for perfection. Georgiana, in simpler terms, would give her life to be perfect in the eyes of her husband, who cringed at the very sight of her mark. This is also exactly what Aylmer wanted to hear. He craved the approval of her, so he could justify his obsession with removal of the red stain upon her ivory face. She has completely forgotten how her mark was admired by other
suitors. Secluded away in an apartment where the experiment would take place, Aylmer began work in his laboratory. Only trying to reassure his wife, his eyes met her hand-shaped mark that contrasted with her pale skin, and uncontrollably let out “a strong convulsive shudder,” which immediately caused Georgiana to faint (Hawthorne). Aylmer called for his assistant, Aminadab, to help carry her to the boudoir. As Aminadab looked intently at Georgiana cold and asleep, he said under his breath, “If she were my wife, I’d never part with that birthmark” (Hawthorne) His assistant viewed Georgiana so differently, never wanting to change her flawed beauty; the very thing that was maddening to Aylmer. Aylmer, perplexed by the powers of Nature, was seeking a solution through science to correct Nature’s mistake. He was aware this raised many risks but he grew confident as his research continued. When he felt his motivation diminishing, he called upon Georgiana to “[pour] out the liquid music of her voice” (Hawthorne). Her singing, natural and raw, cured his sour mood and boosted him back to his experiment. Science fails to explain how something like singing can have such an effect on a man. Yet the power of Nature in is mysterious and often, is left unexplained. This idea consumed Aylmer, always craving to unlock the secrets Nature kept hidden and finding ways to manipulate the rules. Upon the hour of the removal, he presented to Georgiana a concoction to cure her ailment. And after she spoke extremely, “I might wish to put off this birthmark of mortality by relinquishing mortality itself,” she gulped it confidently (Hawthorne). Soon after she fainted, Aylmer watched closely as the crimson hand disappeared from her face. With excitement from her husband, Georgiana woke finding out not even a trace of the mark is left behind. Soon she realized she was dying, but even in this moment she still had the heart to thank her husband for all his valiant efforts. The hand symbolizes the firm grasp it had on Georgiana’s life. The small imperfection made her human and with it removed, she became ‘too perfect’ for Earth. Such perfection can only exist in the Heavens, which is where she went. Aylmer grew overly confident in his work, forgetting Nature is not to be reckoned with. Had he had the ignorant understanding of beauty like Aminadab, he might still enjoy the comforts of Georgiana. Aylmer chose science over his wife and unfortunately, Nature took his wife and left him alone with his hunger for knowledge. It is apparent that Aylmer loves science more than he could ever love a woman. True love would not be driven mad by a minor imperfection that lay upon a beautiful soul. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birthmark”. The American Tradition in Literature. 12th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
The Death of the Birthmark-A Quest for Perfection 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.”
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.
When Aylmer tells Georgiana that her so called “beauty” mark is in fact an “earthly imperfection”, she is immediately affected and overcome with a thought that had never occurred to her in all her life. Having always been told that the mark upon her face was that of beauty, she was angered and appalled shouting
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...
In today’s society, it seems that we cannot turn the television on or look in a
...ection. By removing the birthmark from Georgiana’s face, Aylmer has taken away her humanity thus leading Georgiana to her death. Georgiana cannot live anymore because she is no longer a human being. Therefore claiming that science has its limits over nature and if those limits are crossed the consequences could be fatal.
There are many people out there who get married for the wrong reasons, and the wrong time. The scientist Aylmer, in “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Married his wife at first for all the right reasons. Her name was Georgiana, she was born with a genetic birthmark on her face. It was in the shape of a small hand, many people liked it. Said to have shown her personality, and a figure that represents her. Aylmer a philosopher began to try and change his wife. What started out as a happy and wonderful marriage turned into a nightmare.
We see Aylmer’s disgust for Georgiana’s birthmark early in the story. One day Aylmer decides to ask Georgiana if she had ever thought about removing the birthmark from her cheek. She replies to him, “‘No indeed … To tell you the truth, it has been so often called a charm, that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so’” (212). Georgiana does not see what Aylmer sees about the birthmark because she feels like it sets her apart from the other women, making her special, even in the eyes of men. Also, in the past, some of “Georgiana’s lovers were wont to say that some fairy at her birth-hour had laid her tiny hand upon the infant’s cheek, and left this impress there in token of the magic endowments that were to give her such say over all hearts” (213). Even other men were willing to fight over her just because she had something uniquely and exotically different about her. Other women were jealous of Georgiana’s birthmark and describe it as a “bloody hand” because of the fact that...
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.
In the 'Birthmark';, a story that is more than a century old Georgiana and her husband Alymar are searching for physical perfection, much like we do today. In addition they manifested their obsession with physical perfection much like we do today. Georgiana was born with a crimson birthmark in the shape of a hand. This birthmark was on her cheek. One day Georgiana discovers that this birthmark 'shocks'; her husband and he is deeply bothered by it. Georgiana finally realizes this after Alymar says 'Georgiana . . . has it ever occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?'; After discussing the birthmark several times with her husband, a talented scientist, Georgiana decides to have it removed by him. It is never stated in full detail exactly how Alymar is going to remove this birthmark, we assume that it will be a surgical procedure. At one point in the story Georgina says to her husband 'If there be the remote possibility of it .
The story is about Georgianna and how she learns through Aylmer to hate her birthmark and therefore herself. In the beginning of the book Georgianna and her husband are talking about the birthmark and how she considers it to be something of a charm and then Aylmer tells her that maybe on another face it would be okay, but on a face as perfect as hers it’s hideous. This makes Georgianna very upset and hurts her deeply, it makes her think less of herself just because of a silly birthmark. Which before now and before her horrible husband brought an attention to it had been nothing more than what it is: a birthmark. She even begins to bring the birthmark up without even being prompted by her husband. When they are sitting together one evening
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.
Aylmer: Hawthorne uses Romanticism to describe Aylmer’s character by focusing on his personal ideals. He is an egotistical maniac who risked the life of his wife in order to remove a birthmark that she has lived with and even been complimented about. His focus on science instead of love is his true wrongdoing. He gives her a potion to remove the birthmark and she starts to feel ill but Aylmer says, “ ‘Poor? Nay, richest, happiest, most favored’” (Hawthorne 409). Her sickness does not even matter to him, just the fame and wealth he has accumulated over time. His fame for making potions to remove freckles drives him to experiment with removing the birthmark. He is a famous scientist for his creations, and his egotistical attitude leads to the demise of Georgiana. Aylmer talking about his potion being the happiest of potions shows that he does not care that his potion is killing her.
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