The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay

Words: 1128
Pages: 5
Open Document
The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story The Birthmark, the narrator introduces us to Aylmer, a brilliant scientist who spent his life studying nature extensively to the detriment of his own personal life. His wife, Georgiana, has been marked with a small, red birthmark on her cheek that most men found attractive all her life. Aylmer only sees this birthmark as a flaw and his desire for perfection can only result in death for Georgiana because becoming an ideal, perfect being means she cannot exist in this world. He decides he is going to remove the birthmark to make his wife perfect, without knowing that by doing so he kills her.
Aylmer sees Georgiana’s birthmark as a symbol of human imperfection, …show more content…
Georgiana had no experience of her birthmark being a burden to her beauty and never expected Aylmer to wish the birthmark to be removed. Eckstein asserts that it was no shock that Georgiana was hurt and angered by Aylmer’s desire to remove her birthmark to make her perfect. She states, “ It is no wonder that soon after their marriage, when Aylmer proposes removing the crimson hand, that Georgiana is hurt and angered. Nothing in courtship has prepared her for this.” (4).
Throughout Georgiana’s life, romance has prepared her for submission in marriage, but not martyrdom. After many “seasons” (205) of being aware of Aylmer’s obsession to maker her perfect, Georgiana “voluntarily took up the subject” of removing her birthmark (206). Inevitably she becomes to see herself as a “burden” (207) and “a sad possession” (217). Eckstein suggests that Georgiana “is a victim who participates in her own destruction” (5) and ends up dying a martyr to romance.
By surgically removing Georgiana of her imperfection, Aylmer also removes her of her humanity. Therefore by removing Georgiana of
Show More

Related Documents: The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay

Symbolism In 'The Birthmark' By Nathaniel Hawthorne

appearance, they would not sin. On the other hand, if they knew cleansing their sins would bring them to heaven, they would be promised eternal life. In “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Georgiana, one of the protagonists, realizes there is a way to release her sins and enter eternal life. In the short story, symbolism is present as the birthmark on Georgiana’s face represents her sins, Aylmer represents God, and both of those symbols lead to everlasting life in Heaven. One…

Words 1040 - Pages 5

Nathaniel Hawthorne Symbolism In The Birthmark

Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark Hawthorne’s short story The Birthmark invites several possible readings because of the use of its elaborate symbolism, and therefore it is easily open to interpretation of its figurative meaning. On a literal level, it is not that unusual that Aylmer considers the birthmark an unattractive cosmetic flaw and wishes it to be removed from his wife’s face. Domineering male ego in a heteronormative patriarchal world is not something new or surprising.…

Words 623 - Pages 3

Comparing Perfection In Rappaccini's Daughter And The Birthmark

extensive and highly dangerous scientific procedures. Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories "The Birthmark," "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", and "Rappaccini's Daughter" criticize man's obsessive and unrealistic expectations of perfection through scientific…

Words 758 - Pages 4

The Birthmark Critical Analysis

Critical Argument Summary In Judith Fetterley’s critical essay on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”, she uses a feminist strategy to analyze his short story. The position she takes is that the story is a “demonstration of how to murder your wife and get away with it” (Fetterley). I do not think that he was actually trying to kill his wife, but I do think he was striving for perfection. In that quest, he did rid her of the birthmark; but the consequence was death. She argues that the story could…

Words 820 - Pages 4

Perfection In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark

Perfection is something that many will obsess over but when has it reached its max. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegory, “The Birthmark, “ we are informed of a young couple, Aylmer and Georgiana. This piece of literature starts when we learn of a newlywed couple. Then soon it transpires into a husband's obsession with his wife's flaw, “The birthmark”. The birthmark is in the shape of a hand and is located on the wife's cheek. The young husband gets too wrapped up in fixing his wife that he forgets…

Words 571 - Pages 3

English Essay Hawthorne Stories 1

be grateful for who they are and what they have in life and never be unappreciated. Nathaniel Hawthorne's two stories use humans to test their scientific studies. The stories show two families of science-based backgrounds caught between a passion for success in their scientific studies, and love between a father and a daughter and a husband and a wife. In the two stories " Rappaccini's Daughter" and " The Birthmark", the two scientists want to success in their scientific lives. They risk the lives…

Words 1637 - Pages 7

The Birth Mark Symbolism

short story, “The Birth-Mark,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a scientist named Aylmer attempts to remove a hand shaped birthmark off of his otherwise flawless new bride Georgiana. However, the story has a much deeper, teaching the reader that humans cannot be perfect in every aspect and our imperfections make us human. The deeper meaning, or the theme, of “The Birth-Mark” is revealed throughout the story in its symbols. The first symbol in the story is Georgina’s birthmark. In fact, this symbol is so important…

Words 542 - Pages 3

Analysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne's: Artist Of The Beautiful

Hawthorne’s: Artist of the Beautiful Nathaniel Hawthorne presents short stories in the form of symbols with reflecting dark vision of human nature. Hawthorne frequently focused on Puritanism as an expression of humanity’s potential for cruelty, obsession, as well as intolerance. Nathaniel’s particular style of symbolism and fascination with the macabre brought influence into the stories of The Marble Faun, Artist of the Beautiful and The Blithedale Romance. During Hawthorne’s early years he…

Words 577 - Pages 3

Feminist Obsession In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark

narrative shorter than a novel usually dealing with a few characters and aiming at unity of effect and often concentrating on the creation of mood rather than plot” (par. 1). Nathaniel Hawthorne was a famous writer on short stories who was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts and died on May 19. One of his writings was The Birthmark written on March 1843. It is a short story that is about a scientist who is obsessed with an imperfection his wife holds, the mark that he considers as an imperfection…

Words 1130 - Pages 5

The Birthmark Essay

story, “The Birthmark,” Nathaniel Hawthorne incorporates gender roles in his portrayal of Georgiana, the bride of Aylmer. Georgiana is by all accounts a beautiful woman with one small flaw. She has a very small deep red birthmark in the center of her cheek. Shortly after marrying, Alymer asked about the mark and wanted to know if she ever thought about having it removed. To this she replied, “it has so often been called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so” (Hawthorne, 1846,…

Words 585 - Pages 3