More handpicked essays just for you.
Nathaniel Hawthorne themes in his writing
Nathaniel Hawthorne's life influences his work
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Imperfect Beauty In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s romantic short story “The Birthmark,” the main character, Aylmer, is obsessively plagued with the inherent thirst for perfection. Allowing his wife to be the guinea pig was the ultimate downfall for him, as he failed in his research, as well as his lovely wife, Georgiana. The classic themes of romanticism were very evident, such as the power nature controls over science, extreme scenarios, and intense emotions. Aylmer in “The Birthmark” risks the safety of wife for science, knowledge, and perfection, forgetting the beauty of imperfection. Long before Aylmer became acquainted with Georgiana, he was always a man of science, and a philosopher. Taking pride in his work, there was almost nothing that could form a wedge between Aylmer and his research. During his time, with exceptional discoveries being made such as electricity, “it was not unusual for the love of science to rival the love of woman” (Hawthorne). Despite this, Aylmer still set aside time in the pursuits of a woman to wed. Shortly after their marriage, Aylmer stared upon his wife Georgiana until he could not hold his tongue any longer. Her mark, shaped like a bright red hand, burned …show more content…
Aylmer, comforting his wife, assured her the removal wouldn’t be dangerous. As time went on, she confessed to her husband she wants the mark removed “at whatever risk,” even if it meant her own life (Hawthorne). This is an extreme case of the search for perfection. Georgiana, in simpler terms, would give her life to be perfect in the eyes of her husband, who cringed at the very sight of her mark. This is also exactly what Aylmer wanted to hear. He craved the approval of her, so he could justify his obsession with removal of the red stain upon her ivory face. She has completely forgotten how her mark was admired by other
Alymer's categorial thinking leads to idolize his wife. He refuses to allow her fault, instead, he makes her insecure with his incessant stares and questions regarding the virth-mark. He is a perfectionist and will not rest until his wife is flawless, even it may cost her dearly. He even projects his perfectionism onto Georgiana, who says she will go mad if he does not remove ger birth-mark. This is shown when we read about his dream, in whhich he attempts to remove the birth-mark, and though he has discovered that it connects to Georgianas heart, he persists, even to her certain death.
“The Birthmark” and “My Last Duchess” are two very different works, from two completely different genres. “The Birthmark” is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and “My Last Duchess” is a poem written by Robert Browning. Although, these are two different genres, they have very similar themes and parallels. These works explore the problems with power and control in marriages at two different time periods and places and shows what it can drive a man to do. “The Birthmark” has a lot of symbolism, imagery and allegory. This story is about a pretty normal newlywed couple, Aylmer and Georgiana. “Such a union accordingly took place, and was attended with truly remarkable consequences and a deeply impressive moral. (2)” This quote is very interesting because the word “union” means many things. From one perspective it can mean the marriage between Aylmer and Georgiana, and on the other hand it could refer to the union of Aylmer’s love for Georgiana and science. Aylmer is thoroughly devoted to his career in science, and he was recently married to Georgiana so he is just getting to know what being married is like. The birthmark is the conflict in their marriage and in the story, Aylmer isn’t into Georgiana’s birthmark and he requests for her to allow him to remove it. He soon realizes that taking off the birthmark isn’t as simple as it seems because it is interwoven into Georgiana’s face. Georgiana then allows Aylmer to remove the birthmark, even though she knows he isn’t a successful scientist. The liquid that Aylmer has Georgiana drink slowly kills her, and Aylmer is shown to be a complete fool. The actual birthmark itself is the main symbol used throughout the story. “My Last Duchess” is a poem about a Duke who showing someone ...
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.
When Aylmer tells Georgiana that her so called “beauty” mark is in fact an “earthly imperfection”, she is immediately affected and overcome with a thought that had never occurred to her in all her life. Having always been told that the mark upon her face was that of beauty, she was angered and appalled shouting
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...
...ection. By removing the birthmark from Georgiana’s face, Aylmer has taken away her humanity thus leading Georgiana to her death. Georgiana cannot live anymore because she is no longer a human being. Therefore claiming that science has its limits over nature and if those limits are crossed the consequences could be fatal.
There are many people out there who get married for the wrong reasons, and the wrong time. The scientist Aylmer, in “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Married his wife at first for all the right reasons. Her name was Georgiana, she was born with a genetic birthmark on her face. It was in the shape of a small hand, many people liked it. Said to have shown her personality, and a figure that represents her. Aylmer a philosopher began to try and change his wife. What started out as a happy and wonderful marriage turned into a nightmare.
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.
Out of love for her husband, Georgina agrees to go on with the experiment. Aylmer shows her that the elixir will cure her of her imperfection by putting it on a plant that was covered in spots and before their eyes, the spots on the plant disappeared. Right away, Aylmer gave his wife the elixir and, like magic, the birthmark disappeared. As the two were looking at what the elixir did to Georgina, they neglected to see the plant dying. Before they knew it, Georgina started to slowly die right in front of her husband’s eyes.
We see Aylmer’s disgust for Georgiana’s birthmark early in the story. One day Aylmer decides to ask Georgiana if she had ever thought about removing the birthmark from her cheek. She replies to him, “‘No indeed … To tell you the truth, it has been so often called a charm, that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so’” (212). Georgiana does not see what Aylmer sees about the birthmark because she feels like it sets her apart from the other women, making her special, even in the eyes of men. Also, in the past, some of “Georgiana’s lovers were wont to say that some fairy at her birth-hour had laid her tiny hand upon the infant’s cheek, and left this impress there in token of the magic endowments that were to give her such say over all hearts” (213). Even other men were willing to fight over her just because she had something uniquely and exotically different about her. Other women were jealous of Georgiana’s birthmark and describe it as a “bloody hand” because of the fact that...
The story is about Georgianna and how she learns through Aylmer to hate her birthmark and therefore herself. In the beginning of the book Georgianna and her husband are talking about the birthmark and how she considers it to be something of a charm and then Aylmer tells her that maybe on another face it would be okay, but on a face as perfect as hers it’s hideous. This makes Georgianna very upset and hurts her deeply, it makes her think less of herself just because of a silly birthmark. Which before now and before her horrible husband brought an attention to it had been nothing more than what it is: a birthmark. She even begins to bring the birthmark up without even being prompted by her husband. When they are sitting together one evening
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.
Aylmer: Hawthorne uses Romanticism to describe Aylmer’s character by focusing on his personal ideals. He is an egotistical maniac who risked the life of his wife in order to remove a birthmark that she has lived with and even been complimented about. His focus on science instead of love is his true wrongdoing. He gives her a potion to remove the birthmark and she starts to feel ill but Aylmer says, “ ‘Poor? Nay, richest, happiest, most favored’” (Hawthorne 409). Her sickness does not even matter to him, just the fame and wealth he has accumulated over time. His fame for making potions to remove freckles drives him to experiment with removing the birthmark. He is a famous scientist for his creations, and his egotistical attitude leads to the demise of Georgiana. Aylmer talking about his potion being the happiest of potions shows that he does not care that his potion is killing her.
In today’s society, it seems that we cannot turn the television on or look in a
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.