The Birth-Mark

No one is born perfect, but yet everyone has the desire to be. In the story "The Birth-Mark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character's wife, Georgiana, sets out to be perfect. The narrator introduces Georgiana's husband, Aylmer, as a brilliant man of science. After Aylmer and Georgiana got married, Aylmer quit his experiments for a while until he found his next project which was Georgiana's birth-mark. One day, Aylmer questions Georgiana about the birthmark on her face and from that point on he is fixated on removing it. At first Georgiana does not have the desire to remove, what she once calls a charm until Aylmer persistently puts her down about it. Aylmer tells Georgiana that he has a potion that would effectively remove her birth-mark.
Georgiana believes in her husband and takes the potion because she knows that the birthmark only makes Aylmer unhappy. The potion is successful indeed, but it took more than Georgiana's birthmark, it ended her life. In this story, Georgiana just wants to be perfect for her husband. Georgiana is a devoted wife, intelligent, and an equanimous human being. Since she possessed these traits her life was brought to an end.
She is a devoted wife to Aylmer.
Georgiana shows many different ways a wife would be perceived as devoted. Georgiana listens and trusts Aylmer's opinions about her birthmark. At first Georgiana is hesitant about trusting Aylmer, but like any good wife she does. Georgiana states,"If there be the remotest possibility of it let the attempt be made at whatever risk. Danger is nothing to me; For life—while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust—life is a burthen which I would fling down with joy. Either remove this dreadful Hand, or take my wretched life" (648)! Georgiana says that she would rather die than live a life where her husband thinks of her as something disgusting. She puts his feelings before her own, and that is an extremely important characteristic in being a devoted
wife.
She is intelligent. Although it may seem as Georgiana is not quite intelligent because she listens to all the negative statements from Aylmer, she is indeed one smart woman. Instead of being the topical house wife, Georgiana sets out to explore more than just a kitchen and expands her mind. She passes her time by reading the works of philosophy that she gets from Aylmer's library. She even understands her husband's experiments. Since Aylmer is known as a brilliant man of science, one would think that his books and experiments would be hard to comprehend, yet Georgiana understands them with no trouble at all. To understand his books and experiments, Georgiana would have to be just as intelligent as her husband, Aylmer.
She is an equanimous human being.
Georgiana did not once complain about Aylmer and all of his opinions. Even after Aylmer's potion takes her life, she still compliments him on achieving his main goal. Georgiana mourns, "You have aimed loftily!—you have done nobly! Do not repent, that, with so high and pure a feeling, you have rejected the best that earth could offer" (656). As Georgiana is taking her last breath, she is complimenting her husband on succeeding in making her perfect. Not many people could compliment their murderer, even if it is their husband who did. She could have told Aylmer that she hated him, yet she did not do or say anything somewhat negative. Through it all, Georgiana remains nice and passionate to
Aylmer.
In conclusion, Georgiana is a committed spouse to her husband, an intelligent and equanimous woman, who was only seeking to be perfect. She was only seeking to