The Theme Of Perfection In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark

The theme of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” is that striving for perfection is foolish. Every day we see the good things that have to do with having the so called perfect body, personality, or even having perfect skin, like Georgiana. First off, Georgiana would never have seen the “imperfection” of her birthmark had it not been for other people tearing her down about it, and second off, perfection itself is relative. Just like the saying “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” And in Aylmer’s eye, the birthmark was nowhere near a beauty to behold.
Georgiana was born with a birthmark shaped as a tiny hand on her left cheek, and Aylmer, her husband, began to see it as a symbol of the worst sins and strifes. It is foolish, though,
This shows part of the reason that the theme in the story is that perfection is not to be strived for, because it is impossible to achieve on Earth. The fact that he writes that Georgiana is dead at the end shows that he believes that way. Once Aylmer removed the birthmark as much as he could, Georgiana died, because that was her one imperfection, and the only thing holding her perfection down from merging with the “spiritual world.” Once she dies, you can tell that she is finally and completely perfect, because she has gone to Heaven. Nathaniel Hawthorne believed that no man should try to play God, and this story’s theme shows that, also. Georgiana dying is almost a warning from Hawthorne on what stood a chance of happening if any man wanted to take his own “initiative” to try to change Earthly things into something more perfect. Also notice that the author, Hawthorne, never mentions exactly what Georgiana looks like, as she is considered by all, the perfect woman. This may be because Hawthorne did not want people who read his story to be influenced into thinking that she was perfect and that everyone should try to be like her, all staying true to his belief that it is foolish to strive for perfection. As we can all see in the story “The Birthmark”, perfection is such a foolish thing to strive for. Society is a cruel mistress, and she tears people down for their imperfections when she finds them, and seems to pay no attention to the good. Aylmer played society in this story. But also, perfection in one eye may be the worst imperfection in another, and a rose to one person may be just an uninvited stain in a wildflower field to