The Birthmark, Rappaccini’s Daughter and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
When you hear the word “mad scientist” you perceive an aggressive, eccentric, awkward and intellectual individual that works with fictional equipment in order to initiate their intelligible schemes. On the other hand, they fail to recognize the evil that will stream from the hubris of “playing god”. A majority of the time these “mad scientists” are individuals who value their experiments and scientific curiosity over themselves, others and the world. The literature works, The Birthmark, Rappaccini’s Daughter and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde all depict the role of a “mad scientist” who ultimately destroys themselves and others in an attempt to create something perfect.
Nathaniel Hawthorne in "The Birthmark” illustrates an overconfident and sane scientist whose meddling with nature brought about tragedy. In “The Birthmark,” Alymer, whom W.R. Thompson refers to as a “scientist-priest” of the new cult of science conquering religion, comments one day about Georgiana’s birthmark which occupies the center of her left cheek, “a singular mark, deeply interwoven. . . with the texture and substance of her face” (Hawthorne, 1022). Alymer then relates that “Has it ever occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?”(Hawthorne, 1021) whereby Georgiana replies that she has long considered it as a charm, meaning that she sees no reason to remove it. But Alymer sees things differently because for him the birthmark is a defect, “the visible mark of earthly imperfection” which destroys her beauty and renders her face “even hideous” (Hawthorne, 1021).
Not long after, upon waking up in bed next to Georgiana, Alymer gazes at her face and recognizes “the symbol of imperfection” which soon leads Georgiana to “shudder at his gaze,” an indication that she feels guilty of being cursed with the birthmark (Hawthorne, 1022). Alymer then convinces her to have it removed via an operation in his laboratory, where he is “startled with the intense glow of the
Nathaniel Hawthorne in "The Birthmark” illustrates an overconfident and sane scientist whose meddling with nature brought about tragedy. In “The Birthmark,” Alymer, whom W.R. Thompson refers to as a “scientist-priest” of the new cult of science conquering religion, comments one day about Georgiana’s birthmark which occupies the center of her left cheek, “a singular mark, deeply interwoven. . . with the texture and substance of her face” (Hawthorne, 1022). Alymer then relates that “Has it ever occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?”(Hawthorne, 1021) whereby Georgiana replies that she has long considered it as a charm, meaning that she sees no reason to remove it. But Alymer sees things differently because for him the birthmark is a defect, “the visible mark of earthly imperfection” which destroys her beauty and renders her face “even hideous” (Hawthorne, 1021).
Not long after, upon waking up in bed next to Georgiana, Alymer gazes at her face and recognizes “the symbol of imperfection” which soon leads Georgiana to “shudder at his gaze,” an indication that she feels guilty of being cursed with the birthmark (Hawthorne, 1022). Alymer then convinces her to have it removed via an operation in his laboratory, where he is “startled with the intense glow of the
Cited: Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Complete Novels and Selected Tales of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Modern Library ed. New York: Random House Inc., 1846. 1043-65. Rappaccini 's Daughter. Web. 4 May 2012. <http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawRapp.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all>. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Complete Novels and Selected Tales of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Modern Library ed. New York: Random House Inc., 1846. 1021-33. The Birthmark. Web. 4 May 2012. <http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawRapp.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all>. Louis Stevenson, Robert. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Oxford: OxfordPress, 1987. Michaels, Daniel (14 January 2010). "Long-Dead Inventor Nikola Tesla Is Electrifying Hip Techies". Decades after he died penniless, Nikola Tesla is elbowing aside his old adversary Thomas Edison in the pantheon of geek gods. (Wall Street Journal). Etkind A (June 2008). "Beyond eugenics: the forgotten scandal of hybridizing humans and apes". Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences PubMed 18534351. G. Landis, Book review, The Three Rocketeers,American Scientist, July–August 2005