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The hawthorne studies essays
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Human Nature is innately prone to flaw and sin…
Hawthorne’s characters in “Dr. Heidegger's Experiment” and “The Birthmark,” are far from flawless and sin tremendously, showing how prone humans are to making mistakes naturally and effortlessly. Both stories include characters who are prone to sin from their professions as doctors/scientists and show similar characteristics in how they handle experiments. The problems with their natural ways of presenting their new found remedies, along with an obsession to make appearances better, shows how prone the two scientists are to trying to better flaws, therefore creating sins. The scientist, listed in the title, Doctor Heidegger begins to show his natural gravitation towards flaw and sin early
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Nathaniel Hawthorne’s character in “The Birthmark,” Georgiana owns a physical flaw upon her face, a birthmark. This upsetting flaw on such a beautiful person results in Aylmer’s reaction to get rid of it, “...this possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection.” Similar to Doctor Heidegger, Aylmer knows the power of science and has the natural reaction that he can fix all flaws. This desire quickly turns into Aylmer’s flaw as he sins more and more, which upsets his wife and causes her to notice and be ashamed of her birthmark. His want to remove the birthmark is such a strong natural reaction, that his wife sees how upsetting it is and sins herself. She demands that, “Being what I find myself, methinks I am of all mortals the most fit to die.” Although the coupe was unhappy with the appearance of a flaw that was evident on Georgiana’s cheek, it would have been an even more capital sin to kill herself over the minor mark, but a worse sin for Aylmer to kill his wife. This was the result of his mental flaw that everyone needed to be spotless, and beautiful, so he finally committed a deadly sin. Hawthorne describes this flaw, leading to both of the spouses committing or thinking of deadly sins when he summarizes the problems that plague Aylmer, writing, “Yet, had Aylmer reached a profounder wisdom, he need not thus flung away happiness…” The human nature of the scientist was to abolish imperfection, instead of appreciate it as individuality, resulting in the death of his wife, the worse sin of
He succeeds in removing the birthmark; however, he unfortunately causes his wife’s death in the process. Through “The Birthmark”, Hawthorne suggests that nothing paradoxical can exist on this earth, and that being imperfect is just part of being human. Being a man of science, Aylmer rendered Georgiana's birthmark "as a symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death." Through the birthmark on Georgiana, Hawthorne is able to portray that nature didn’t intend for things to be perfect. People are not perfect because the human condition is imperfect.
In Nathanial Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark,” Aylmer, a crazed, “mad-scientist,” seeks to remove the scarlet handprint birthmark from his wife, Georgiana’s cheek. From the opening of the work, the third person narrator describes Aylmer’s obsession with science and the adverse effects it has had on his social life. Aylmer is tied up in this battle within himself and with his assigned association between the natural and the spiritual world. He wishes to have as much control over these colliding worlds as possible, granting himself god-like power and control in the process. In the art of manipulating nature through science, Aylmer believes he is able to alter the spiritual aspects of the natural as well. Aylmer’s focus on spirituality is Hawthorne’s way of commenting on mankind’s fixation on sin and redemption.
Heidegger’s Experiment,” Hawthorne regards scientists as individuals who show a remarkable interest in human behavioral patterns. For example, Dr. Heidegger proclaims, “I am desirous of your assistance in one of those little experiments with which I amuse myself here in my study” (160). Since this experiment is being conducted for his amusement, Heidegger is clearly interested in its results. Generally, the doctor wishes to know whether individuals change when given a second chance. He gives the four subjects water from the fountain of youth to see if their behavior changes given a second chance at juvenescence. However, they commit the same imprudent mistakes that they had in their youth. This confirms Heidegger’s notion that people do not change, and Hawthorne is able to depict scientists’ interest in the human mind. The mysterious doctor also states, “Think what a sin and shame it would be, if, with your peculiar advantages, you should not become patterns of virtue and wisdom to all the young people of the age” (“Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” 162). Heidegger’s statements to the four subjects reveal his intentions and the overall nature of the experiment. The doctor is concerned with the behavior and recklessness of youth rather than the medicinal properties found in the water of youth. Essentially, the four subjects are being given an opportunity to return to their youth. They must not make the foolish mistakes that they each made earlier in their lives. Instead, the individuals should become sources of wisdom for younger generations. Hawthorne’s portrayal of Heidegger and his interest in the behaviors of his subjects demonstrates scientists’ love for experimentation. Hawthorne regards scientists as individuals who will carry out experiments to better understand human behavior. He clearly portrays this through Heidegger’s experiment in which the subjects’ behavior is analyzed to determine whether humans will change given a second
In Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment, Nathaniel Hawthorne creates a fictional experiment that resists both God and natures intentions. Dr. Heidegger gathers a few old acquaintances who seem to be unhappy with their lives and they all wish to be young again. They also hope having their wisdom from over the years, will allow them not to make the same mistakes that resulted in their unhappiness. Since they were so desperate, they joined a unpromising experiment, which turned out to be an illusion. Once the old friends started hallucinating their youth, they began to act out as they would have a decade prior. As well as forgetting all of their insight, as the narrator explains, “The fresh gloss of the soul, so early lost, and without which the worlds successive scenes had been but a gallery of faded pictures, again threw its enchantment over all prospects”(6). Clearly god did not intend the experiment subjects to be given a second chance and painfully strips them of their young age once again, “The delirium which it created had effervesced away. Yes! they were old again. With a shuddering impulse, that showed her a woman still, the widow clasped her skinny hands before her face, and wished that the coffin-lid were over it, since it could be no longer beautiful”(8). The fatal outcome in this story was the hope the old people once had in science. Therefore proving science is incapable of defying God’s power.
The birthmark is a compelling story of one man’s obsession with his scientific ability to produce perfection. Aylmer, a scientist, is married to a Georgiana who is a very beautiful woman. Not long after getting married Georgiana’s birthmark, which is in the shape of a tiny handprint on her check, really begins to bother Aylmer. He sees it as a flaw in an other wise perfect woman. Georgiana knows that her birthmark disgusts him and, having grown up not bother at all by it, begins to hate it herself. He asks if she has ever considered having it removed. This is not something she has considered since other people in her life, especially men, have always seen it as a “charm”. Aylmer being an amazing scientist almost sees himself as god and feels that he has the power to remove this imperfection. Georgiana, bothered by her husband’s reaction to her birthmark, agrees to let him try to rid her of it. She is taken to his laboratory and he immediately begins to experiment. After she finds Aylmer’s book of experiments, which all end in failure, she for the first time, has some doubt about how this will work and confronts him. He reassures her and begins to try a multitude of methods, with the help of his assistant Aminadab, which do not work. At one point, there are several experiments going on and he even refers to himself as a “sorcerer” (Hawthorne 232). Finally, he produces a potion, which she drinks, and the birthmark begins to disappear! Slowly though, even as the experiment is working, Georgiana is fading away. He finds that ultimately, the birthmark was connected to her very soul and in his trying to act god like he actually kills her. Really this short story just proves that science has its limits and no man should try to act like G...
In conclusion the theme of The Birthmark is expressed within the story. “The crimson hand expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthly mould, degrading them into kindred with the lowest, and even with the very brutes, like whom their visible frames return to dust. In this manner, selecting it as the symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death.” (Hawthorne 359). This story tells a lot about human nature, the most important one is that human beings are naturally imperfect creatures, trying
& nbsp; The Mark of Ugliness In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, there is indeed a representation of Although the other underlying personality is not represented within himself, it is rather portrayed through his assistant Aminadab. Since Aylmer is lacking so much within himself, he is unable to appreciate his wife even though she was dying. Basically, if Aylmer had the sensibility of Aminadab, he could have realized how beautiful she was even with her birthmark. During
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”, is the story of a crazed scientist whose strive for perfection not only leads to the death of his beautiful wife, but the attempt of man to have power over nature. It follows the story of Aylmer and his obsession with removing the birthmark off his beautiful wife, Georgiana. “His unnatural fixation to his wife’s birthmark even consumes him in his sleep as he dreams of cutting it off much like scraping an apple off its skin.” (Snodgrass 29). This narrative explores the themes of perfection, and the conflict between science and the natural world.
The Birthmark and Symbolism Cloudy headed and conflicted describes Georgina, one of the main characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark.” In this eerie short story Georgina, who is seemingly perfect, is convinced by her husband, Aylmer, who is a scientist obsessed with perfection, that the small birthmark on her face is her only source of imperfection. While others have told her that this birthmark is a sign of magical endowments, Aylmer is disgusted by the sight of the birthmark, referring to it as a defect (Hawthorne 304-5). Georgina is taken aback by this comment and resents her husband for it. As the story progresses, Aylmer convinces Georgina to allow him to try and rid her of the mark.
“The Birthmark” starts out with an explanation of how the main character, Aylmer, was “a man of science, an eminent proficient in every branch of philosophy”. He cleaned himself up, washing the furnace smoke and acid stains from his hands, left his lab with his assistant, and then seduced a young beautiful woman to marry
Every relationship is different. Weather one may be in a relationship with a boy, or just a friend, it is different. Even though they are different, the characters in “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “IND AFF” by Fay Weldon are in similar relationships. That is, the male is dominant over the female, and the woman thinks the man is her knight in shining armor. In the beginning of “IND AFF” the unnamed woman thinks her professor, Peter, who she is having an affair with, is her ticket to creating a good thesis and higher standings. Similarly, in “The Birthmark,” Georgiana thinks her husband is her ticket to flawless beauty because he tells her he will remove her birthmark. Obviously, this is not how relationships operate in today’s society. These two relationships compare and contrast with each other as well as with relationships in today’s day-and-age.
In “The Birthmark” the relationships and behaviors of the character reveal much more than the story itself does. The characters of Aylmer, Georgian, Amenidab and Nature itself, through their words, actions, and behaviors give insight into a much more meaningful story. A deeper analysis of the characters reveals that they are archetypes, and as archetypes they provide a deeper hidden meaning to the story. By looking at Aylmer, Georgiana, Amenidab and Natures relationships and actions throughout the story we can see how they are used to give deeper significance.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”(Romans 3:23). Since the beginning of time guilt has existed, and in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, guilt illustrates itself through adultery involving Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale. Hester and Dimmesdale resided in New England during The Puritan Age and committed adultery while Hester’s husband was out of town. Hester’s sin did not go unnoticed, as her baby illuminated the situation. While Hester’s mister hid in the shadows, she was branded with a scarlet letter A for adultery as punishment for her sin. The scarlet letter was more than a piece of cloth over her chest; it was reminder to everyone around about Mrs. Prynne’s actions. Hawthorne uses biblical and spiritual allusions to argue that guilt causes individuals to change their lifestyles.
The tone adopted by Hawthorne from the inception of the narrative toward Aylmer urges the reader to respect Aylmer’s scientific ambition—directly his triumph of head over heart, but indirectly his objectification of Georgiana and subsequent attempts to fix something that she never thought was a flaw. Not only is Aylmer’s obsession with getting rid of her birthmark selfish in that he does it for “the sake of giving himself peace” (647) rather than any desire to make his wife happy, he also admits to feeling guilt over his tyrannical treatment of her. For example, his “horror and disgust” in response to her facial blight rarely escapes her notice, and when she reacts poorly to his “convulsive shudder,” he attempts to soothe her and “release her mind from the burden of actual things” (650) as if she is an empty-headed infant in need of a pacifier. Furthermore, in response to her desperate request for its removal, he isolates her from humanity, administers potentially harmful concoctions into her rooms and body without her knowledge, and ultimately—and rapturously—succeeds in shrinking the mark at the cost of her
Nathaniel Hawthorne did not do much explaining when it came to the characters involved in "The Birthmark". He did not portray the main characters: Aylmer, Georgiana, and Ambidab as human beings, but rather as symbols. While analyzing the story "The Birthmark", I have achieved some great insight of the author 's articulate writing style; especially, his style of making characters have symbolic meaning. In this story, Hawthorne uses his characters to symbolize specific things. In this ambiguous, short story, the three characters each symbolize Science, Beauty, and Nature. Each character represents an unusual force that has equally worked against each other.