Hawthorn's Stories and Mood

In the story “The Birthmark” written by Nathaniel Hawthorn, the author sets a dark and cold mood of hatred through Aylmer and Georgiana’s relationship. Aylmer especially has hate towards the birthmark which leads to his change of attitude towards Georgiana. When Aylmer says, “a defect or a beauty shocks me” hurts Georgiana because she believes “you cannot love what shocks you” (Hawthorne 219). The quote implies that the birthmark is a part of Georgiana and Aylmer cannot love her for her true self if he cannot look past a simple “earthly imperfection” (Hawthorn 219). Aylmer had so much hatred towards the birthmark that he thought it was a “frightful object, causing him more trouble and horror than ever”(Hawthorn 221). The hatred which Aylmer continuously has for Georgiana’s birthmark creates a consistent darkness over Aylmer because he could never appreciate his wife even when she was dying.
In “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” the story’s mood begins with curiosity and excitement but ends with disappointment of the “white bearded gentlemen and a withered gentlewomen” who decide to try the elixir that their friend Dr. Heidegger provided (Hawthorne 150). After seeing the effects of the liquid on the flower, they instantly wonder the effects on the human body, hoping it would posses same effects of the rose to their own bodies. When Heidegger first proposes the experiment his four friends did not believe a word of the doctor’s story but because “the liquor diffused a pleasant perfume, the old people doubted not that it possessed cordial and comfortable properties” they were too curious not to accept the drink that was given to them and were “in a hurry” to try the water to “restore to you the bloom of youth” (Hawthorn 154). After realizing that the water had worked, they were careless and seemed to have very high expectations for the water assuming that it would last for a long time. Due to their overjoyed excitement, they were too oblivious to realize that “the water