Nathaniel Hawthorne And Edgar Allen Poe

In the short allegory “The Birthmark”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a newly-wed couple becomes consumed by the existence of a small birthmark on the wife’s face. When the wife, Georgiana, allows her husband Aylmer, a scientist, to remove the birthmark, both realize that Georgiana will inevitably sacrifice her life for the sake of its removal. As the story progresses, so does the confliction of the newlyweds as they realize exactly what the birthmark symbolized to and for each other. Hawthorne’s hallmark use of symbolism also provides a ‘perfect’ glimpse into the mindset of two themes of psychological conflictions: perfectionism and codependency. Hawthorne seems to share this story as a possible moral of the hidden pathos we place upon the ones we love, and the invisible marks or standards we place upon ourselves for the ones we love.

Poe is one of the early American poets of Romantic literature. In the poem Annabel Lee he uses idealism in Romance language to describe a relationship with a woman in first person. A description of the adult lovers as children most likely represent innocence or naïvety. The Romanticism comes in by comparing the couple to elements of nature. The love that the two share is free from societal norms or influence. The joy of just being together and sharing themselves with one another is so great that even angels were envious of them.

In the story “The Birth-Mark” Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates a man with an obsession for perfection of the human body. With a desire to reach the ultimate level of perfection, Aylmer’s obsession ultimately creates a path of destruction that tragically ends in the death of his devoted wife, Georgiana.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the representatives of the Dark Romanticism genre. The cultural and literal context, stylistic features and main themes of the Hawthorne’s short story The Birthmark will be discussed in this essay.

The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to communicate some important ideas about a variety of themes, he articulates a few weighty themes around this brief argument: the struggle between science and nature. In a story full of successful and almost magical scientific experiments, it is intact nature itself that is more powerful than any creation made by man. As is to be expected, this path to perfection also includes the creation of life and the victory over death. In the birthmark Aylmer does not see, like others who pretended Georgiana's hand before him, a singularity that accentuates her immaculate beauty. He sees in that crimson little hand an indication of decay and death. And also of immorality and sin, in tune with the belief

In “The Birth-Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the symbols of the birthmark and the old man’s eye influence the plots of the stories. Through different ways, the characters in both stories feel compelled by these objects to do something. The main character, Aylmer, in “The Birth-Mark,” was obsessed with his wife’s birthmark which he saw as a flaw in her beauty, as well as a symbol of human imperfection, and tried to remove it. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the narrator sees the old man’s eye as “evil” and holding mysterious powers which symbolizes the narrator’s deepest fear and his obsession where he chooses to destroy it. The characters’ interpretation of these things created conflict, and both stories are formed by the symbolic meanings that the characters attribute to those things.

Some of Hawthorne’s works are parallel in many aspects as in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccinis Daughter” with a common obsession of scientific beauty and manipulation, the death. Both men have the obsession of science where Aylmer wants to help mankind unlike Rappacini’s work to destroys mankind “Rappaccini “cares infinitely more for science than for mankind”” (Roy R. Male, 1954). Georgiana’s is manipulated with her self-esteem easily convince her of the birthmark’s discouragement to her beauty “Life is but a sad possession to those who have attained precisely the degree of moral advancement at which I stand. Were I weaker and blinder, it might be happiness” (Bunge, 1993 ) Rappacini merely manipulates Beatrice with lies. Georgiana is clear to see that for Aylmer to achieve perfection, it will cost her life “She attributes this self-destructive attitude to the inspiring influence of Aylmer’s high standards and urges him to continue his noble work, at any cost” (Bunge, 1993 ) Rappaccini’s payment was the loss of a child when Beatrice took her life; diminishing the

Nathaniel Hawthorne was the author of multiple short stories and poems, all of them in the Dark Romantic genre. Hawthorne gained his inspiration at home with his mother, sisters, and his wife, Sophia Peabody who was a poet as well. In his writing, one of his strongest traits was his use of allegory. Hawthorne often uses allegory in his short stories to add a different perspective onto his many works. In his short story, “The Birthmark,” Hawthorne utilizes foreshadowing and symbolism to portray the allegorical lesson that striving for perfection results in troubling outcomes.

The Dark Romantic texts “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne are similar and different in many ways. The similarities of the two pieces are very plentiful. To begin, obsession is a supernatural force that has taken over the main characters in each piece. The narrator in “The Black Cat” is on death row and is trying to rid the guilt he has accumulated through his wrongful acts. He has become obsessed over these actions and he says, “these events have terrified-have tortured- have destroyed me” (Poe 3). They have taken up so much of his thoughts that he no longers thinks of anything else. This similar obsession of it taking over the mind is also present in “The Birthmark”. Aylmer is obsessing over his wife’s birthmark. Thinking to himself, “At all the seasons which should have been their happiest, he invariably...reverted to this one disastrous topic” (Hawthorne 4). Nature is beautifully changing which should bring joy to Aylmer, but all that he can think about it the mark upon her face. Similarly to the narrator in the previous text, the object of Aylmer’s obsession fills his mind and becomes the only thing that he thinks about. Also featured in both pieces is the inability to distinguish fantasy and reality. The narrator in the first text cannot tell the difference between his two selves. He described the feeling as, “a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my

In Hawthorne’s short story “The Birthmark”, Aylmer feels that his wife Georgiana is a miracle and that she is perfect. Her only flaw was the birthmark in the shape of a hand placed on her cheek. Instead of focusing on all her Georgiana’s perfections, Aylmer only focused on one of her flaws, the birthmark. Aylmer constructs a statement about her birthmark saying that, “It was the fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on her productions, either to imply that they are temporary and finite, or that their perfection must be wrought by toil and pain.”(Meyer 345)

People are obsessed with making everything perfect. Nathanial Hawthorne seemed to think that the imperfections created by God should not be “fixed” by the will of man. In “The Birthmark”, he conveys this view through symbolism, imagery, and characterization.

Sin, a dark and powerful force, twists the soul and warps the mind to the point where it leaves society with unconquerable difficulties in everyday life. Nathaniel Hawthorne, quite successfully, uses literature to its full potential in order to express sins presence in life. He uses the short story, “The Birthmark” to express this theme. In this story, a man by name Aylmer for the first time sees a small defect in his otherwise beautiful wife, Georgiana. When Aylmer mentions it to her, she feels hurt, but it does not seem to affect her self-image. However, as time went on, the birthmark started to bother her causing her to believe she was flawed and in need of fixing. With the assistance of Aylmer's servant, Aminadab, Aylmer creates a miracle drug that would cure his wife of her imperfection: the birthmark. The possibly deadly drug incites fear in her husband; however, the blemish on her face troubles her, as well as her husband, to the point where she believes her life means nothing unless she could get it removed. After much meticulous preparation, the wife takes the cure. At first, everything seems well as her birthmark faded, however soon everything goes wrong, and Georgina has a terrible reaction. Soon after taking the cure she dies, leaving Aylmer heartbroken and alone without his wife. In, “The Birthmark,” Nathaniel Hawthorne brings to light sin’s presence in society through the use of allusions, symbolism, color, and beauty.

Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne during the American Renaissance, the short story “The Birth-Mark” details the events of a brilliant scientist and natural philosopher named Aylmer who obsesses about his wife Georgiana’s birthmark in the shape of a tiny hand on her left cheek. The symbol of the birthmark causes the plot to advance in the story, as Aylmer is compelled by this red mark to act upon his emotions. Aylmer views his wife’s birthmark as an imperfection in her virtually flawless beauty and as a result, attempts to it via a potion that he strongly believes cannot fail. His interpretation of the birthmark creates conflict in the story, which is shaped by the symbolic meaning that he attributes it to. Aylmer’s failure to accept his wife’s appearance for who she is leads to misunderstandings, pain, and ultimately, death.

One of those signature tales is “The Birth-Mark”; it is a story about the union between a man of science, Aylmer, and a woman of beauty, Georgina (Hawthorne 12). Hawthorne adorned this piece with deep, thought provoking symbols; such as the one on Georgina’s cheek. The mark is more than just a physical attribute on her skin; to Aylmer, it was a “symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death”, in essence the mark is her humanity (14). All humanity strives to get rid of their defects; as well as Aylmer, as his experiment is to rid Georgina of her flaws. The birthmark became more and more present to Aylmer after his marriage; he began observing his wife’s appearance and developed a morbid obsession with the “singular mark” on her cheek (13). The mark is described as being “deeply interwoven” in her skin; it is a part of her being, and not just of her appearance (13). The birthmark resembles a hand; the shape’s importance is recognized

In “The Birthmark”, the relationships and behaviors of the characters play a significant role in the story by revealing more than the story itself does . Through the character’ different actions, characteristics, and behaviors, Nathaniel Hawthorne gives a deeper insight into his life, such as revealing his worldview to his readers, and also gives insight into a more relevant story. Hawthorne’s transcendentalist worldview is conveyed through Aylmer’s and Georgiana’s obsessions, Aylmer’s manipulation of nature, and the birthmark.