In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark‚” a couple is faced with an unbalanced since of love. The beautiful Georgiana and her husband Aylmer‚ the brilliant scientist‚ are a happy and loved couple‚ except for one flaw. Well to Georgiana it is not a flaw‚ yet to Aylmer it is. He finds Georgiana so beautiful and almost perfect‚ although he believes there is one flaw keeping her away from being flawless‚ which is her birthmark. Her birthmark is in the shape of a tiny hand on the side of her cheek that
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outcome. Such is the case in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story‚ "The Birthmark." Aylmer’s persistent attempt to perfect nature is the cause of Georgiana’s demise and the affirmation that when man tampers with such a powerful component terrible things may occur. In this short story‚ Hawthorne uses symbolism to emphasize the strange shape of the "earthly imperfection" (204) and his desperate need to change it. The shape of the birthmark "bore a little similarity to the human hand" (204). Here‚ Hawthorne’s
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Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark is a story wrought with potent symbolism and destructive irony. It is the story of a cerebral scientist’s imprudent and superficial endeavor‚ and the all too trusting wife that had faith in him. This short story provides us with a moral allegory and theme that is universally vital through symbolism. The crimson hand-shaped mark bestowed upon the otherwise perfect face of a beautiful woman contains much meaning. Through his use of symbolism‚ Hawthorne addresses
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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” Georgiana’s identity is constructed through gender roles and spiritual aspects. Aylmer‚ her husband‚ perception of her physical beauty is almost perfect except the birthmark on her left cheek which he believes to look like a tiny crimson hand. Some believed the birthmark to be a hand print from a fairy that was left as she was being born. Men in the past felt deeply for Georgiana‚ they viewed that birthmark as some that was beautiful “Many a desperate swain
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An expository essay: Tragic flaw in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” In literature a tragic flaw refers in plain words when the main character ends up dead or defeated a characteristic feature of the heroes of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories‚ “Young Goodman Brown‚” “The Minister’s Black Veil”‚ and “The Birthmark”. However this concept is even more extensive and best explained in terms of “Hamartia”. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica that word can be understood as an inherent defect in
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story‚ “The Birthmark”. A man named Aylmer is no longer able to overlook the birthmark that was bestowed upon his wife‚ Georgiana’s‚ cheek. Even though the mark was small enough to be covered by two fingers‚ he was not able to allow it to disrupt the utter perfection of the rest of her face. However‚ this mark represents much more than a cosmetic disfigurement. It represents the imperfection we strive to eliminate everyday. This is proven because Georgiana never thought of her birthmark as such a horrible
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Science and Nature have always been something people have fought over. The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne was just that. Georgiana being imperfect drove Aylmer mad trying to make her perfect. “The story is gripping and obvious in its portrayal of a foolish man’s maddening attempt to scientifically control and perfect nature only to destroy the human potential and joy of his conjugal life.” (citation) Although science can make things better‚ scientist will never be able to make things absolutely
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The Birthmark on Mortal Perfection Hawthorne writes about a subject that is still very prominent now. He examines the obsession with human perfection. The story tells of a very successful scientist and philosopher‚ Aylmer‚ and his very beautiful wife Georgiana. Aylmer is obsessed with perfection‚ as are most scientists. He makes sure he experiments with all possible options to conclude the best results for a perfect solution. Now Aylmer is very much in love with his wife Georgiana‚ and she with
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absolutely flawless? Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem‚ Massachusetts on July 4‚ 1808. He was a famous American novelist and short story writer. In 1821 Hawthorn was accepted into Bowdoin College where he was elected into Phi Beta Kappa. “The Birthmark”‚ one of his short stories‚ was published in March of 1843. During that time science was having many new discoveries. Although‚ many people were still unfamiliar with science and were doubtful of its importance‚ it was increasingly more interesting
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sorrows in their process to become "god". Such examples are introduced in the following two stories: Frankenstein and "The birthmark". In both stories‚ the author created a character that was to symbolize the scientists of the early 19th centuries who believed that anything was possible with science. In "The Birthmark"‚ Hawthorne’s character Aylmer tries to remove his wife’s birthmark with his use of science but ends up killing her. While in Frankenstein‚ the protagonist Victor attempts to use science
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