In "The Birth-Mark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author floods the story with many forms of symbolism to show there is no true form of perfection on earth. Although trying to accomplish such a thing, Aylmer not only highlights his failures as a scientist, but also kills his beautiful wife. After many nights of gazing upon his wife's porcelain face, slaying her heart with his disgusted looks, Aylmer convinces his wife Georgiana to let him conduct an experiment on the hand-shaped, rosy birthmark she flaunted upon her cheek, to remove such flaw and achieve pure perfection on earth. Within Aylmer's laboratory exists two contrasting rooms that display not only the workplace for the grungy men, but the heavenly boudoir of which his wife so pleasently…
It is impossible to deny that human imperfection exists. Today’s society has a tendency to be obsessed with the idea of physical perfection. Nowadays if our appearance isn't how we'd like it to be, there's plastic surgery. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote “The Birthmark” in 1843 about more than a century ago. In this short narrative the author is trying to show us it is wrong to attempt changing nature with science. The message is that being imperfect is being human. Georgiana and Alymer demonstrated their obsession with physical perfection much like we would today. In the story the wife, Georgiana, was perfect in every way except one; she had a mark on her left cheek. Georgiana was born with a crimson birthmark in the shape of a hand. The birthmark…
Prior to the Statutes of Anne, all works were in the public domain and fair use. If you wanted to take someone’s story and make a play from it, you could. If you wanted to create a translation; you could. Culture was advanced by building on the work before it. The Statutes of Anne was passed as an act of Parliament in 1710. Putting into place a copyright term of 14 years for created works; with an option to renew for another 14 years if the author was still…
“No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature, that this is the slightest possible defect- which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty- shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection (Hawthorne 645).” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark” uses symbolism to explore the stain of sin on the world and in the individual. Georgiana is the picture of pure perfection, with one exception, a hand shaped birthmark on her left cheek. There are many themes in this piece. They include, the mark of sin brought in the world and the inability for a human to cleanse themselves from sin. Another theme in this story is the necessary imperfection within people. Each of the characters in “The Birth-Mark” are appalled by the imperfection on the surface. But are unaware of the imperfection within themselves. Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark” examines the sinful nature of the world and mankind’s desire to remove it from the surface.…
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth Mark” is very heavy on science. The main character, Aylmer, is a scientist; the first line of the story is, “In the latter part of the last century, there lived a man of science,” (14). There is no clear delineation between magic and science though, creating a very eerie and superstitious mood as the story progresses and Aylmer falls deeper into his obsession over Georgiana’s birthmark. The text says he was “confident in his science, and felt he could draw a magic circle round her within no evil might intrude” (20). The word science is used to describe illusion, evil, magic, as well as the physical manipulation of another person through surgery or alchemy. Aylmer creates illusions that make him seem like he “held sway over the spiritual world,“ and it’s said that those illusions are…
Beauty is the eyes of the beholder. One man’s beauty can be misery for another. For perfectionists it can be difficult to find the perfection. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” is a story of a couple’s foolish search for perfection which ends with a tragedy. Georgiana, who is the victim of god’s small mistake, is one of the main characters in the story. On the outside, she looked so in love with her husband that she was able to give up her life to satisfy him. On the inside, she was an egotistical woman who wanted everyone to admit that she was the true definition of beauty.…
So often in relationships we find the smallest idiosyncrasies or characteristics charming at first. However, after the initial “honeymoon phase” these characteristics cannot be overlooked any longer. This is especially evident in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “The Birthmark”. A man named Aylmer is no longer able to overlook the birthmark that was bestowed upon his wife, Georgiana’s, cheek. Even though the mark was small enough to be covered by two fingers, he was not able to allow it to disrupt the utter perfection of the rest of her face.…
The Birthmark story takes place in a time where some individuals thought that spells and magic existed, and that alchemy was a sure way to cure any illness or imperfections of the body. In this time, even the most prestigious scientist thought that people’s illnesses could be cured by merely creating a concoction with the components of Mother Nature and with a little assistance from the spiritual world. Birthmark also centers around a hand shaped birthmark, on the cheek of a newly wedded woman, and the extent; she would go through to ensure her husband’s happiness. Some people saw this birthmark as a charm, while some were disgusted by it, like her husband. "Georgiana," said he, "has it never occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?"(Hawthorne, 1843). Her husband in his obsession, being this magnificent scientist believed that he could remove the mark, but the deeper he dug, the more he emotionally hurt her. These two short stories speak about inequality, social discrimination and to what extent people are willing to please the one’s they adore.…
A short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Birthmark”, is a short story about a newly married couple and the husband becomes obsessed with his wife’s birthmark. The birthmark is a symbol in the text. The text reads as follows “The crimson hand expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthly mould, degrading them into kindred with the lowest, and even with the very brutes, like whom their visible frames return to dust. In this manner, selecting it as the symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death” (Booth 215 ). Hawthorne is telling us the readers that love is not perfect using the symbol as the birthmark itself. The husband, Alymer wants to control nature to try to fix this birthmark , but in all reality it is his insecurity. Alymer wants perfection in his wife and this perfection does not exist.…
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee teaches life lessons that show the unfairness of prejudice, the importance of dignity, and the need for respect. To Kill a Mockingbird is a book about the small town of Maycomb and two children named Scout and Jem. Scout and Jem's father is a lawyer assigned to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. Tom was charged with rape. Just because he is black Tom is found guilty.…
The veil in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” is one symbol Hawthorne shares in his short story. Mr. Hooper, a pastor, scares his congregation when he enters into the church with a black veil covering his face. The sexton says, “I can’t really feel as if good Mr. Hooper’s face was behind that piece of crepe” (256). Before the veil, the congregation thought of Mr. Hooper as a good preacher. He sought to bring “his people heavenward by mild, persuasive influences” (257). After the veil, he gives a disturbing speech that is out of the ordinary for his character. “The subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting…
In Hawthorne's short story, "The Birthmark," he examines that nature is supposed to be imperfect and cannot be changed. Hawthorne's main character, Aylmer is a static and stock character who does not change and is a mad scientist. He is determined to remove his wive's birthmark and is in denial that nature is imperfect and not everything can be changed. Hawthorne examines the theme that nature is supposed to be imperfect he shows it through Aylmers thoughts about how nature works. Aylmer is a part of nature himself and tries to achieve perfection by making his wife perfect and removing the birthmark. Lastly, Hawthorne uses symbolism to once again portray that nature cannot be changed and it is meant to be imperfect. The dream Aylmer has a deception…
Nathaniel Hawthorne had many obstacles to overcome as a child. Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804 (American Writers 223). During this time period, Hawthorne witnessed the fall of Salem due to the Embargo Act. It caused the shipbuilding industry to slowly diminish which immensely impacted Hawthorne’s family since his father was a shipbuilder. Suddenly, at the age of four, Hawthorne lost his father forcing his family (now consisting of his mother and siblings) to move in with his uncle. Hawthorne, however, still considered Salem as his hometown because his family was a prominent throughout the society for generations. In fact, one of Hawthorne’s ancestor was held in such high regard that he was seated as one of the judges…
Georgiana’s birthmark represents her grasp on humanity as shown in its shape as a hand. The hand symbolizes humanity’s role in nature and the continuous struggle between nature and science. Georgiana is someone who Aylmer sees as created “nearly perfect from the hand of Nature” (Hawthorne 1). Her birthmark is an imprint left by nature and is representative of humanity’s ties to it. Altering nature isn’t something that humans should be able to do because it is more powerful than any creation made by man. Aylmer believes that he can correct “what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work!” (4). Aylmer, who stands as a symbol for science, obsessively seeks to remove Georgiana’s birthmark and make her ideal. When mankind attempts to change nature…
The relentless pursuit of human perfection has always been an intrinsic trait of human nature and science has been a mean to achieve it. This statement brings us to the main idea of Hawthorne 's short story "The Birth-mark." It shows the story of a scientist who is obsessed with the removal of his wife 's birthmark, considering it a symbol of her human imperfection. "The Birth-mark" is possibly influenced by Hawthorne 's times where science began to gain knowledge about our world and was considerably glorified, through scientific experiment, humankind can discover, know, and do just about anything. As the narrator explains, “In those days when…