The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction by Richard Bausch and R.V Cassill

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

Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. "Angelina E. Grimke." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 771-75. Print. Grimke expresses how slavery is not right in any way, shape, form or fashion. She states now God does not approve of this. She also states how it is not in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or anything like that.

Nathaniel Hawthorne like many other writers during the nineteenth century focused their writings on the darker aspects of life. “The Birthmark,” is set in New England and has a Puritan perspective. Aylmer, a well-known scientist, marries Georgiana who has a hand shaped birthmark upon her face. After some time during their marriage Aylmer and Georgiana decided to remove the mark through scientific means. Advancements in science and the ability to change nature were at the center of plots throughout their short stories and poems. Hawthorne believed that it was not unusual for science and women to rival for one man’s love (Hawthorne 12). Hawthorne used his critical thinking to write about taboos and dissention not spoken of during his lifetime to the forefront. In “The Birthmark,” Hawthorne focuses on science verses nature. Hawthorne attempted to create the perfect human being through science by using setting, character, and symbolism to undo the imperfections he saw within God’s work in “The Birthmark”. With all of his intellectual and spiritual qualities, Aylmer still does not have wisdom.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Birth-Mark", explains the relationship between Aylmer, a scientist, and his wife Georgiana’s birthmark. The story is told in third person point of view. The story gives access to both Aylmer and Georgiana thoughts. It allows readers to see that because Aylmer is a scientist and a perfection, he feels that Georgiana would be perfect if the mark was to be removed or on another woman besides her. Aylmer sees his wife's birthmark is a symbol of imperfection. The mark is described to be a small deep crimson mark shaped like a hand on her left cheek. As he sees the mark, he sees her becoming less beautiful. Once the mark is removed, she would become perfect and beautiful. However, Georgiana, Aylmer wife feels that the mark is a symbol of a charm because she was told that the mark was placed on her cheek during her birth-hour by a fairy. Hawthorne shows us that people view beauty in different ways.

“The birthmark”, a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1844 tells the story of a man obsessed with human perfection. He is a scientist by the name of Aylmer who has recently married a very beautiful woman named Georgina. Although Georgina is a beautiful woman, she has a birthmark in the shape of a tiny hand on her cheek. He sees the birthmark as a flaw and as an opportunity to perfect the already beautiful woman he loves. Aylmer, a perfectionist and ambitious scientist becomes obsessed with eradicating the birthmark, so much so that he plays with the natural order of human nature. At first, Georgina does not see her birthmark as a flaw, but as she sees her husband’s disgust by it she too begins to hate it. Georgina, guided by the

“As the last crimson tint of the birthmark-that sole token of human imperfection-faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere and her soul” (Hawthorne 358). In the short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne a scientist in the latter part of the last century named Aylmer is obsessed with perfection. Many men in the town believe that Georgiana is perfect, however Aylmer can’t seem to look past this birthmark because he believes it is an imperfection. He finds a way to convince his wife to let him do a procedure that will remove the birthmark and make his wife perfect. The married couple go up to the apartments where Aylmer’s laboratory is to remove the birthmark. Georgiana gets ready for the procedure and take the potion to remove her

“The Birthmark”, a story about science and a warning to females that men will try to sexualize them. Aylmer, the main character in the story, has a really strong obsession with trying to remove his wife’s birthmark on her face. He was so obsessed with it, that it ended up taking over his life, he had dreams about it and he even told her that he couldn’t stand to look at her because of her birthmark. Aylmer wasn’t the typical human being in any sense, he is considered a mad scientist, and he had no ethics in what he does and is willing to try anything. He loses focus of his life and can’t love his wife for the woman he is. Hawthorne was the very opposite of this in real life, he married a sick woman, Sophia Peabody, she had poor health and it prolonged the marriage. But Hawthorne married

Life writing is a genre that’s more equivocal than other genres. It has its own codes and conventions which help convey its own key ideas and messages. The arrangement of the codes and conventions help the audience recognize the connection between other life writing texts. One of the these is how perspective is used to convey the authors aspects of the real incident. This convention links to the one of the codes, language, where the composer uses languages to create personal accounts of a person’s life. All authors use language to express their experience. This verbalization is what links all life writing texts together.

“As the last crimson tint of the birthmark that sole token of human imperfection faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight” (Hawthorne 13). In 1843, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote “The Birthmark,” a tragic and unexpected short story. In the beginning of “The Birthmark,” Alymer, a man of science, marries a young beautiful woman named Georgiana. One day Alymer noticed a mark on Georgiana’s cheek, and over time his obsession with the thought of removing it scientifically caused the death of his wife. Therefore, in the short story “The Birthmark,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Alymer pushes the scientific boundaries too far and his experiment is unjustified.

Many people are born with a birthmark. These birthmarks usually are not considered to subtract from the beauty someone has. The main character in The Birthmark, feels differently. The short story The Birthmark, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, features many different archetypes. Most specifically, the story focuses on archetypal theme of life and death, which is exemplified by the Hawthorne’s implications as to how Georgiana acquired her birthmark. However, the story also uses the archetypal theme of love conquers all and the color red to further focus on human imperfections and why it is best to not to try perfecting them.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “The Birthmark”, demonstrates how Georgiana’s image of herself changed throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Georgiana felt as if her birthmark was beautiful, but as the story progresses, she begins to view that the mark as an imperfection. When Aylmer first addressed Georgiana about her birthmark appearing as an imperfection, Georgiana stated, “To tell you the truth it has been so often called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so" (“The Birthmark”). She had always viewed her mark as a unique and positive addition to her beauty.

The short story that I have chosen to examine will be “The Birth-Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The reason I picked this story was because it had a very interesting plot and had a great meaning behind its symbolism. In my opinion, the symbolism in “The Birth-Mark” seems to be something different than any other. The mark on Georgiana represents in Aylmer’s mind “...his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death…(Hawthorne 342).” In reality, the mark is a symbol of imperfection that is beautiful.

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.