Symbolism In The Birthmark
Feminist View of Aylmer
By the end of the eighteenth century, science had found its way into the advancement of humankind in the realm of medicine. Men believed they could cure and save all creatures on earth from their flaws and defects. Aylmer in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's "The Birthmark" is one such character. Aylmer is a scientist who strives for perfection, so much so he believes his newly wed wife, Georgiana, would be the "ideal loveliness" if her birthmark were removed. Stacy Tartar Esch believes the birthmark in the short story is the symbol men 's incapability to accept women as their equals. Instead, men need an ideal vision of what they believe a woman should be; men need to feel that their woman is his ideal. A woman is neither a woman …show more content…
nor a person but an object that can be fixed into men 's ideal. The woman is void of her "actual humanity" and is no longer human (Tatar Esch, link 14).
The ideal vision for Aylmer is Georgiana without her crimson colored mark that lies upon her cheek. He sees Georgiana 's mark as a flaw of nature 's hand and if it were removed then she would be the perfect woman. Aylmer 's distain for the mark becomes more apparent because he sees "it as the symbol of his wife 's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death" (Hawthorne 170). This mark creates a world of pain for Aylmer; he cannot go beyond looking at her appearance. Aylmer looks at his wife and sees the hand that taints her soul. Aylmer is the typical male; he believes he can fix anything even his poor wife. He can solve her problems and take on the task of removing her mark. Aylmer would be considered a genius if he can remove the "crimson stain upon the snow" (Hawthorne 170). Aylmer sees Georgiana as his means to become a scientific master. He would become known, as the man who could remove flaws and make women the ideal for men. If he removes Georgiana 's flaw, he will not only create his perfect beauty but he will be able to do it for other men too. Aylmer needs the ideal Georgiana to understand a woman 's purpose in life. If a man cannot fix his woman what purpose does she have? The woman has to be perfected to give men meaning in their lives. Women have to be fixed into the ideal of men.
With the idea of perfecting a woman 's flaws, women become objects.
Aylmer sees Georgiana as neither his wife nor a woman. He sees her as a flaw; an object that he can alter. Aylmer treats Georgiana as a plant and gives her an elixir that he uses to take away disease from a geranium. Georgiana is the flower that needs Aylmer 's help, an object that Aylmer will desire when the birthmark is removed. Aylmer has an "artistic vision;" he sees Georgiana as the canvas with an unintentional defect on its white fabric. Aylmer cannot see past appearances he "neither recognizes the differences between the real and ideal worlds" (Folsom 46). The real world has defects and flaws that "Nature, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions, either to imply that they are temporary and finite" (Hawthorne 170). Georgiana becomes the object after she marries Aylmer, because until that time he did not see her birthmark. Georgiana is an object because she is not Aylmer 's ideal woman and until she is, he will not look past her facade to see her inner being. Aylmer being a scientist hopes "to make the Ideal manifest in an imperfect world". He attempts to make Georgiana the perfect object in a world where nothing is perfect. Aylmer sees Georgiana as an object that can withstand Nature 's grasp and become immortal when he says, "You are fit for heaven without tasting death!"(Hawthorne 178). Objects do not taste death and can be immortal. Aylmer wants Georgiana 's beauty to withstand time to tell the …show more content…
ingenuity of its creator not Nature but himself. He wants know he has the perfect ideal for not only his own knowledge but also that of his fellow peers. Aylmer 's attention focuses on this single object; he then converts "it into a figure for the sum of his dreads" (Brodhead 237). Aylmer tries to remove Georgiana 's flaw in order to remove his own flaws.
Aylmer 's quest to remove the birthmark makes Georgiana void of humanity.
She is no longer a person and becomes the object that rejects human feelings. Aylmer rejects who Georgiana is as a person and makes her his experiment. Being an experiment Georgiana forgets that she is a person and wishes to be Aylmer 's ideal. She says she wants the hideous birthmark removed. The mark is apart of Georgiana and was nature 's intention for her as a human. Without the birthmark, Georgiana becomes perfected and is not human anymore; she would be perfect in nature 's eyes and therefore become immortal. Humans are mortal and Georgiana would be inhuman if this mark were removed. If Georgiana 's did not have the birthmark, she would be void of humanity because the mark symbolizes her as a human. Humans define their with feelings humanity. In Aylmer 's eyes, the birthmark is Georgiana 's earthly emotions because he describes the mark as her "liability" for human afflictions (Hawthorne 170). After the mark 's removal Georgiana dies. The mark symbolized Georgiana 's humanity without it she
dies.
Aylmer was tormented with his wife 's flaw because he had an ideal image of the perfect woman in his head. He became so infatuated with the removal of the mark that he made Georgiana into an object. He could not look at her as his wife but only a problem that he must solve. Aylmer turned his loving beautiful wife into an object that tormented him. He needed to rid her of her affliction and in doing so made her void of humanity. Aylmer could not accept Georgiana for who she was as a person. Without this acceptance, he created an image of his ideal perfection. A woman without flaws is not a woman she is an object of men 's ideals. Aylmer could not view his wife as his equal; he only saw her as an object that he could fix. Aylmer 's removal of the crimson mark succeeded but did not succeed. He in his venture to remove what nature had placed upon Georgiana 's cheek failed. Georgiana died.
Works Cited
Brodhead, Richard. "Hawthorne, Melville and the Fiction of Prophecy"
Nathaniel Hawthorne: Critical Essays Ed. A Robert Lee. Totowa: Barnes and
Noble, 1982. 229-250.
Folsom, James K. Man 's Accidents and God 's Purposes. New Haven: College and
University Press, 1963.
Lynn, Steven. "The Birthmark." Literature: Reading and Writing with Critical Strategies.
New York: Pearson, 2004. 169-180.
Tartar Esch, Stacy. Introduction to Literature. Course home page. January 2002- May 2002.
Dept. of English, West Chester University. 14 Nov, 2003
By the end of the eighteenth century, science had found its way into the advancement of humankind in the realm of medicine. Men believed they could cure and save all creatures on earth from their flaws and defects. Aylmer in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's "The Birthmark" is one such character. Aylmer is a scientist who strives for perfection, so much so he believes his newly wed wife, Georgiana, would be the "ideal loveliness" if her birthmark were removed. Stacy Tartar Esch believes the birthmark in the short story is the symbol men 's incapability to accept women as their equals. Instead, men need an ideal vision of what they believe a woman should be; men need to feel that their woman is his ideal. A woman is neither a woman …show more content…
nor a person but an object that can be fixed into men 's ideal. The woman is void of her "actual humanity" and is no longer human (Tatar Esch, link 14).
The ideal vision for Aylmer is Georgiana without her crimson colored mark that lies upon her cheek. He sees Georgiana 's mark as a flaw of nature 's hand and if it were removed then she would be the perfect woman. Aylmer 's distain for the mark becomes more apparent because he sees "it as the symbol of his wife 's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death" (Hawthorne 170). This mark creates a world of pain for Aylmer; he cannot go beyond looking at her appearance. Aylmer looks at his wife and sees the hand that taints her soul. Aylmer is the typical male; he believes he can fix anything even his poor wife. He can solve her problems and take on the task of removing her mark. Aylmer would be considered a genius if he can remove the "crimson stain upon the snow" (Hawthorne 170). Aylmer sees Georgiana as his means to become a scientific master. He would become known, as the man who could remove flaws and make women the ideal for men. If he removes Georgiana 's flaw, he will not only create his perfect beauty but he will be able to do it for other men too. Aylmer needs the ideal Georgiana to understand a woman 's purpose in life. If a man cannot fix his woman what purpose does she have? The woman has to be perfected to give men meaning in their lives. Women have to be fixed into the ideal of men.
With the idea of perfecting a woman 's flaws, women become objects.
Aylmer sees Georgiana as neither his wife nor a woman. He sees her as a flaw; an object that he can alter. Aylmer treats Georgiana as a plant and gives her an elixir that he uses to take away disease from a geranium. Georgiana is the flower that needs Aylmer 's help, an object that Aylmer will desire when the birthmark is removed. Aylmer has an "artistic vision;" he sees Georgiana as the canvas with an unintentional defect on its white fabric. Aylmer cannot see past appearances he "neither recognizes the differences between the real and ideal worlds" (Folsom 46). The real world has defects and flaws that "Nature, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions, either to imply that they are temporary and finite" (Hawthorne 170). Georgiana becomes the object after she marries Aylmer, because until that time he did not see her birthmark. Georgiana is an object because she is not Aylmer 's ideal woman and until she is, he will not look past her facade to see her inner being. Aylmer being a scientist hopes "to make the Ideal manifest in an imperfect world". He attempts to make Georgiana the perfect object in a world where nothing is perfect. Aylmer sees Georgiana as an object that can withstand Nature 's grasp and become immortal when he says, "You are fit for heaven without tasting death!"(Hawthorne 178). Objects do not taste death and can be immortal. Aylmer wants Georgiana 's beauty to withstand time to tell the …show more content…
ingenuity of its creator not Nature but himself. He wants know he has the perfect ideal for not only his own knowledge but also that of his fellow peers. Aylmer 's attention focuses on this single object; he then converts "it into a figure for the sum of his dreads" (Brodhead 237). Aylmer tries to remove Georgiana 's flaw in order to remove his own flaws.
Aylmer 's quest to remove the birthmark makes Georgiana void of humanity.
She is no longer a person and becomes the object that rejects human feelings. Aylmer rejects who Georgiana is as a person and makes her his experiment. Being an experiment Georgiana forgets that she is a person and wishes to be Aylmer 's ideal. She says she wants the hideous birthmark removed. The mark is apart of Georgiana and was nature 's intention for her as a human. Without the birthmark, Georgiana becomes perfected and is not human anymore; she would be perfect in nature 's eyes and therefore become immortal. Humans are mortal and Georgiana would be inhuman if this mark were removed. If Georgiana 's did not have the birthmark, she would be void of humanity because the mark symbolizes her as a human. Humans define their with feelings humanity. In Aylmer 's eyes, the birthmark is Georgiana 's earthly emotions because he describes the mark as her "liability" for human afflictions (Hawthorne 170). After the mark 's removal Georgiana dies. The mark symbolized Georgiana 's humanity without it she
dies.
Aylmer was tormented with his wife 's flaw because he had an ideal image of the perfect woman in his head. He became so infatuated with the removal of the mark that he made Georgiana into an object. He could not look at her as his wife but only a problem that he must solve. Aylmer turned his loving beautiful wife into an object that tormented him. He needed to rid her of her affliction and in doing so made her void of humanity. Aylmer could not accept Georgiana for who she was as a person. Without this acceptance, he created an image of his ideal perfection. A woman without flaws is not a woman she is an object of men 's ideals. Aylmer could not view his wife as his equal; he only saw her as an object that he could fix. Aylmer 's removal of the crimson mark succeeded but did not succeed. He in his venture to remove what nature had placed upon Georgiana 's cheek failed. Georgiana died.
Works Cited
Brodhead, Richard. "Hawthorne, Melville and the Fiction of Prophecy"
Nathaniel Hawthorne: Critical Essays Ed. A Robert Lee. Totowa: Barnes and
Noble, 1982. 229-250.
Folsom, James K. Man 's Accidents and God 's Purposes. New Haven: College and
University Press, 1963.
Lynn, Steven. "The Birthmark." Literature: Reading and Writing with Critical Strategies.
New York: Pearson, 2004. 169-180.
Tartar Esch, Stacy. Introduction to Literature. Course home page. January 2002- May 2002.
Dept. of English, West Chester University. 14 Nov, 2003