also evident in the story of The Birthmark. Hawthorne’s dark romanticism story mainly focuses on his belief of science‚ nature and religion. It illustrates how the attempt of changing a human being to your
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power of nature‚ natural beauty and emotion. Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ a romantic period author‚ wrote “The Birthmark” that became published in 1843. The story commences with Aylmer being introduced as an exceptional scientist and natural philosopher. Aylmer abandoned his experiments for a while to wed his wife Georgiana. However‚ Aylmer grows overly obsessed with the want of removing Georgiana’s birthmark morphing this love story into the death of Georgiana. In the short story
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Hawthorne is known for his works in the area of dark romanticism. His fascination with science and alchemy lead him to explore the consequences of human experimentation. This is evidenced by his two short stories: “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and “The Birthmark”. Both stories contain dark undertones and share the theme that science is dangerous. The scientists‚ Rappaccini and Aylmer‚ are obsessed with perfection and will stop at nothing to obtain it. The antagonists use their scientific abilities to manipulate
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which some people go to obtain physical flawlessness has unfortunately created a standard of beauty that cannot be obtained without intervention from science. Although written in 1843‚ the central theme illustrated by Nathaniel Hawthorne in “The Birthmark” resonates with today’s society and exemplifies science versus nature‚ patriarchal expectations of the
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Georgiana’s birthmark represents her grasp on humanity as shown in its shape as a hand. The hand symbolizes humanity’s role in nature and the continuous struggle between nature and science. Georgiana is someone who Aylmer sees as created “nearly perfect from the hand of Nature” (Hawthorne 1). Her birthmark is an imprint left by nature and is representative of humanity’s ties to it. Altering nature isn’t something that humans should be able to do because it is more powerful than any creation made
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Aylmer does not quite understand the quote by C.Joybell because he loses sight of his love of Georgiana for scientific perfection. Moreover‚ Aylmer’s want to get rid of Georgiana’s birthmark produces a change in his feelings toward her. When discussing the birthmark and a possible removal with Georgiana‚ Aylmer said‚ “you [Georgiana] came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature… as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection” (11). Additionally‚ Hawthorne states “this one defect [grew] more
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Symbolism Symbolism and other figurative speech in The Birth-mark and The Thing in the Forest Birth – Mark : First and fore-most the birthmark represents the fatal flaw of humanity‚ and that eventually we all fall into sin‚ sorrow‚ decay‚ and death. I think that the birthmark represents the desire for perfection or in this case the lack of. Georgina’s husband found her birthmark to be all consuming blot on her otherwise beautiful face. He made it something so awful that his wife lost her own feeling of
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In the story “The Birthmark” and “Bartleby the Scrivener” both stories had to do with what the character think is beneficial to them. In “The Birthmark” the character Aylmer‚ think his wife scar on her cheek makes her look less perfect. Whereas‚ in “The Scrivener” the character Bartleby does what he desire while at work. In “The Birthmark” Aylmer was persistent to his wife getting rid of her birthmark‚ knowing he’s a doctor she is going to allow him to remove it not knowing the outcome‚ but aware
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makes him make a crucial mistake with the potion for Georgiana. After drinking the potion‚ and after every breath‚ Georgiana was losing life and dying. Georgiana says‚ "Aylmer‚ dearest Aylmer‚ I am Dying!" (2450). She was dying. Insisting that a birthmark was imperfection defect that what once considered a charm; the vanity of a person who thought his hands could change what nature created. All this because Aylmer wanted to dominate what he thought science could alter; the result‚ death of a perfect
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Controlling Nature: A Losing Battle In the story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ science versus nature is an essential source of conflict. This theme becomes apparent through Alymer’s persistent desire to interfere with what is natural through his passion for science. This obsession becomes most apparent when Alymer attempts to change his wife Georgiana’s natural appearance. Soon after marrying her‚ Alymer is shocked by the smallest of imperfection‚ and expresses desire to remove it‚ as
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