Symbolism In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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.

Aylmer was a man knowledgeable scientist had an obsession for perfection in all aspects of life. Aylmer also viewed his wife as being flawless, except for the hand-like birth-mark that appeared on Georgiana’s left cheek. One day, Aylmer sits looking at his wife with many thoughts wondering throughout his mind, "Georgiana," said he, "has it never occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?" "No, indeed," said she, smiling;

The Birthmark is the story set in the late 18th century, it tells about the scientist named Aylmer who wants to remove the birthmark from his wife’s cheek as he believes it makes her imperfect. Also, he sees it as a sign of Georgiana’s «liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death». He is sure that it needs to be removed. Aylmer succeeds in his attempt to remove the birthmark, but destroying the original design of Nature, he also destroys his wife. She eventually becomes perfect and

In “The Birthmark” we first learn about the main character named Aylmer. He is fascinated with science. “He has devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion” (Hawthorne 952) He eventually finds love with his wife Georgianna, but there is something about her he just will not seem to take much longer. Georgianna has a red birthmark on her cheek which is the shape of a small hand. While she thinks it is beautiful, the most important person in her life doesn’t feel the same way. In fact, Aylmer is truly disgusted and in shock by her mark, claiming it is a “visible mark of earthly imperfection” (Hawthorne 953). Finally telling his wife how he feels, Georgianna is in disbelief. She is upset, hurt, and confused, even questioning their marriage as she tells him “You cannot love what shocks you!” (Hawthorne 953). The last thing she would have thought is that the person she planned to spend the rest of her life with doesn’t see her beauty mark the way she does.

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)

The story written by Nathaniel Hawthorn titled "The Birthmark" left many feminist activist outraged by the way Aylmer, a renowned scientist, treated Georgiana, his beautiful wife. In "The Birthmark" Aylmer put aside his passion for science (so it seemed) to find a wife to wed. Soon after the marriage Aylmer’s disgust for a tiny hand shaped birthmark begins and only manifest as time progresses till he can't bear the site of it anymore and shudders when he sees it. Georgiana soon succumbs to this disgust and grows to hate the birthmark as well and agrees to let Aylmer get rid of it despite the consequences. "The Birthmark" has two major themes; nature vs science, and the unattainability of perfection. Perfection being one of the major themes

Aylmer’s craving to make his wife Georgiana perfect is destined to fail because perfection cannot be found on earth and only found in heaven. Aylmer obsesses about the birthmark that is on his wife for an extensive time that it actually starts to inconvenience him. For Aylmer, it symbolizes mortality and sin and comes to mast over Georgiana’s beauty in his cluttered mind. Consequently, her tiny imperfection, which is only a birth-mark, is all he can see and is so prominent to him. The desire for perfection not only kills Georgiana inside and out, but it also ruins her husband. Aylmer starts to break down because his desire to create the ideal woman becomes such a fixation that it prevents him from seeing all the good his wife has to over him and the world. Nevertheless, Georgiana says that she will risk her life for him and have the birthmark erased. Aylmer is very confident about it but ends up killing her in the process, emotionally and

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.

Portrayed as spiritual and intellectual in contrast with his crude laboratory assistant Aminadab, Aylmer becomes disturbingly obsessed with a birthmark on his wife’s countenance. The plot of the short story revolves around the man’s attempt in removing the mark, which results in the death of Georgiana. In the very beginning of the story, the audience discovers through the narration that Aylmer views his wife’s birthmark as more than a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin. In reality, the primary reason why he becomes severely obsessed with the birthmark is because in his eyes, the mark symbolizes something. Aylmer proceeds to further clarify his inner thoughts by replying to his wife, “This slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection” (Mays 340). Although Georgiana is initially mortified and even goes as far to question the existence of the marriage between them, the narration later sheds light and explains that the precise reason why Aylmer is excessively bothered with the birthmark is because he regards Georgiana as virtually the embodiment of perfection. As a consequence, perceiving a flaw on his wife’s image that clashes with the concept of her beauty inevitably leads him to feel aggrieved and begin to judge the birthmark as a dangerous blemish residing on her skin.

Aside from Hawthorne?s use of symbolism, his extensive use of imagery also contributes to the notion that man cannot perfect nature. Aylmer?s true goal in this story is to force Georgiana to believe that her birthmark is ?a symbol of [her] liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death? (204) and she must rid herself of it. He creates this image in order to brainwash her into believing that it is a ?dreadful hand? (207), and she, too, should wish it away. Finally, after gazing at, and studying the birthmark, this horrible image in which Aylmer had implanted in the mind of his lovely wife has become all too unbearable. Georgiana, feeling unworthy of her husband, freely surrenders herself to Aylmer and his science. ?Either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life,? (207) she tells him, while rationalizing the validity of science on such a thing. Another image Hawthorne makes use of, in order to potentially change the mind of Georgiana, is that of the geranium, once diseased with yellow spots of death, is now full of life. The diseased flower symbolizes, in the eyes of Aylmer, a diseased Georgiana.

The main theme in this short story relates to the world we are living in today. The theme is striving for perfection. In the novel, Georgiana is trying to fix her flaw just to please her husband Aylmer. Aylmer is being really unfair shaming her for something she is born with, why would you work against nature? This conflict ties into Man vs Nature because Aylmer is working against something that is created naturally; Georgiana and her birthmark. He is being ridiculously selfish by putting his own needs before hers, thus resulting in her death. I feel as if Aylmer felt relieved when Georgiana died, he felt as if he didn’t have to look and “deal” with her imperfection anymore. He felt so strongly about her birthmark accusing it of being a sin and connecting it with evil. I

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

Aylmer’s character, the man of science, is initially introduced as the “pale philosopher” who seems to be so dedicated to his love of science that he believes he possibly “possessed this degree of faith in man’s ultimate control over Nature” (Hawthorne 28). Almost immediately, Aylmer pronounces his masculinity and dominance over Georgiana and her feminine nature when he mentions if it had ever occurred to her to have this “odious hand” removed from her face. The desire of removing this crimson hand from Georgiana’s face dictates Aylmer intently, even causing him to have dreams of the birthmark because “the mind is in a sad state when Sleep” (Hawthorne 31). Until then, Aylmer wasn’t aware of the tyrannizing influence of the crimson hand, and how it put him in this “sad state,” yet this problematic birthmark ultimately causes him to feel the need to express his masculinity over Georgiana throughout the rest of the short story. This emphasizes Aylmer’s character’s need for control over Georgiana indefinitely. We see Aylmer’s character being moved to this situation, not because of the vision of Georgiana’s potential perfection, but by his horror at her present condition; “Aylmer’s compulsion to perfect Georgiana is a result of his horrified perception of what she actually is, and all lofty talk about wanting her to be perfect so that just this once the potential of Nature will be fulfilled is but a cover for his central emotion of revulsion” (Fetterley). Since this definition of masculinity is essentially a reflection of the male ideal of femininity, this threatens Aylmer and causes him to become resentful of ‘feminine’ Nature, which can govern all beings, unlike his scientific experiments. This, in turn, makes Aylmer fundamentally less than women, which undermines his masculinity even more

The Birth-Mark was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the story follows of a scientist who is named Aylmer, and the scientist retires in the field of science for the search of marriage and love. When Aylmer finds a suitable wife that he would fancy for himself, the scientist notices that his wife had a birthmark on her face that represented a tiny hand print. This birthmark actually makes Aylmer becomes obsessive about the mark itself to the point of confronting Aylmer’s wife. Aylmer eventually convinces the woman about experimentation towards her face and the experiment works but the wife had succumbed towards a fatal side effect which was death. Ending the story with a dreadful lesson, “If you love your own, then you will accept their facial flaws and birthmarks with no pain or regret for they are everything to you even in death”

The first theme involves perfection. Humans always try to pursue what they consider to be perfect. This is what Aylmer aims to do by attempting to remove the birthmark from his wife, Georgiana’s, cheek. He views her as perfect, aside from this mark, which is what causes him to set his sights on perfecting