How Plot Impacts The Theme In 'The Birthmark' By Nathaniel Hawthorne

How Plot Impacts the Theme in “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The short story “The Birthmark” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne will have any reader feeling a variety of emotions. “The Birthmark” is simply about a woman, Georgiana, with an extremely unique birthmark on her left cheek that her husband, Aylmer, highly dislikes. Her husband is a scientist, and he is determined to find a successful way to get this hideous birthmark off of his wife’s cheek. The theme in “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is highly dependent upon the plot of the story because without each part of the plot, the theme would not be clear to the reader.
In the beginning, the story is basically informing the readers about the the birthmark that sits upon Georgiana’s left cheek. The shape of the birthmark looks like a hand “of the smallest pygmy size” (Hawthorne 291). The birthmark was tiny, but Aylmer still looked at it as his wife’s only flaw. Most men “would have risked life for the privilege of pressing his lips to the mysterious hand” (291). These men thought of her birthmark as the most beautiful feature about her. Despite this, Aylmer still absolutely disliked the mark. Georgiana loves the birthmark in the beginning, but Aylmer’s hatred for it begins to rub off on her. It tells
the reader on page 297 that “not even Aylmer now hated it so much as she.” She soon loathes it even more than Aylmer ever has and desperately wants it to be removed, as well. This is the beginning of the story’s plot. These three pieces of information are crucial to understanding the story’s theme because without this information we would not know about Georgiana, Aylmer, or the mark.
The story’s plot starts to build up when Aylmer has a dream one night about the removal of Georgiana’s birthmark. The dream goes terribly wrong because “the deeper the knife went, the deeper sank the hand, until at length its tiny grasp appeared to have caught Georgiana’s heart” (Hawthorne 293). The more he tried to cut the hand off of her face, the farther she slipped from life. Georgiana begins to see how much he actually hates the mark so she tells him to “‘either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life’” (293). Aylmer spends a majority of his time in his lab while Georgiana patiently waits on him to discover a cure for her flaw. Aylmer presents her with a simple flower. The flower shoots up out of the soil and becomes perfect. He tells her to pluck it and smell its perfume while she can because it will soon wither away and die. The very second that Georgiana reaches out to touch the flower its leaves turned “coal-black as if by the agency of fire” (295). The moment the flower came in contact with her hand, it died suddenly and looked as if it had been dead for several days. The search for the solution to remove her birthmark is not going as well as they hoped. The flower sprung to life and was perfect until it came in contact with human skin. This part of the plot reveals the situation in “The Birthmark” and shows the reader what the theme will be about.
Midway through the short story, at its most intense moment, Aylmer believes he has finally found a solution to finally remove the horrible birthmark. Aylmer gives Georgiana “a crystal goblet containing a liquor colorless as water” (Hawthorne 300). He shows her how it works on another flower. The flower was diseased and covered in blotches. When Aylmer poured a small amount of the liquid on the soil where the plant was, the root took in the liquid and the blotches disappeared. After seeing this, Georgiana told Aylmer she needed no more proof other than what she has just witnessed and continues by saying “‘Give me the goblet. I joyfully stake all upon your word’” (300). She drank the liquid and it quickly made her feel extremely tired, so she proceeded to take a nap. The climax of a plot is the most intense moment and often a turning point for the story. This information is crucial so the reader understands what the cause of the ending of the story is. Without the climax of the story, the lesson that the reader is supposed to interpret from the theme would not be clear. If Hawthorne were to leave out the climax, the theme would be uncertain.
At this point in the story, her mark is slowing fading. The crimson birthmark “which at first had been strongly visible… now grew more faintly outlined” (Hawthorne 301). It seemed to fade more with every breathe Georgiana took. In a short time, the birthmark was completely invisible on her pale face. Aylmer was excitedly and loudly celebrating his accomplishment laughing while thankfully exclaiming “‘earthly mass! You have served me well!’” (301). The liquid of the earth helped him successfully transforming his wife to perfection. His exclamations quickly woke Georgiana up from her deep sleep. This part of the plot is important to the theme because it shows the reader that her mark is fading. As her mark fades, she slowly becomes perfect.
As Georgiana awoke, she looked into the mirror that Aylmer set up for her. As she looked into the mirror, “she recognized how barely perceptible was now that crimson hand… but then her eyes sought Aylmer’s face with a trouble and anxiety” (Hawthorne 301). Georgiana sees in the mirror that her mark is fading and she will finally be perfect. She went from being ecstatic about this accomplishment to feeling frightened and panicked quicker than Aylmer could notice. He exclaimed that she is finally perfect and she has ne reason to look upset, but she disagreed. As the mark disappeared “the parting breath of a now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere” (301). The crimson hand disappeared, but it did not leave without a price. The cruel birthmark just happened to take her life along with it. The moment she became perfect, she was not allowed to be in the world as a living human any longer. This part of the plot is extremely important to the theme. The conclusion of the story shows the readers that Georgiana died the exact moment she became completely perfect.
The plot in “The Birthmark” contributes immensely to theme of the story.
It is without a doubt impossible to be a perfect human. The author shows the theme clearly throughout the story by using the literary element, plot. Aylmer tells Georgiana that she would be an absolutely, one hundred percent, perfect person if it was not for her distinct birthmark on her cheek. The very second that the birthmark has permanently disappeared, Georgiana becomes what she believes to be perfect and is forced to leave the earth. The plot ends with Georgiana dying because of her perfectness, and this exceptionally impacts the theme of the story, which is that is altogether foolish to strive for
perfection.