The Birthmark Symbolism

In the short story The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the birthmark on Georgiana’s cheek symbolizes mortality and the imperfection of human nature. According to the story, the narrator highlights that everything is flawed in some way, emphasizing that this is how nature reminds us that every living thing eventually dies. The hand shaped mark on Georgina’s cheek symbolizes the blemish on every living thing, the blemish that makes her mortal: “The crimson hand expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthly mold, degrading them into kindred with the lowest, and even with the very brutes, like whom their visible frames return to dust” (Hawthorne, Pg, 7). As a result, Aylmer’s disgust for his
wife’s
I believe that the birthmark doesn’t reveal something hidden about Georgiana. For her, it is just a birthmark that she likes. But she breaks completely into pieces when her husband
Aylmer says that her birthmark is ugly. The fact that he wants to remove it makes Georgiana feel ugly and probably unloved by her own husband, but she accepts the idea of remove the birthmark even knowing that Aylmer had fail in many of his experiments. On the other hand, the birthmark reflects Aylmer’s own concerns and issues, believing that a small birthmark represents
Commented [JM1]: Do not italicize quotations. See p.
1942 in the book, section 31.2 Strategies for Effective
Quoting, for help with quotation strategy and usage. the whole human imperfection. The main conflict between Georgiana and Aylmer was Aylmer’s obsession for his wife to be perfect. However, to Aylmer, her birthmark was an obstacle for her beauty, making Georgiana feels ugly.
Lastly, Georgina’s birthmark reveals Aylmer’s fear of death. Aylmer sees the birthmark as a flaw. Aylmer believes that if he removes the birthmark from Georgiana’s cheek, he will find the key to extend life and make her wife beautiful for him. But because of his selfishness and